Who Will Pay for This Bizarre Wood Flooring Problem?

Underneath lighter-looking areas of filler, these round poker-chip-like wood pieces were embedded in the prefinished wood flooring.
Underneath lighter-looking areas of filler, these round poker-chip-like wood pieces were embedded in the prefinished wood flooring.

Underneath lighter-looking areas of filler, these round poker-chip-like wood pieces were embedded in the prefinished wood flooring.Underneath lighter-looking areas of filler, these round poker-chip-like wood pieces were embedded in the prefinished wood flooring.

The Homeowners' Issue

The customers purchased a new engineered prefinished wood floor from a local flooring retailer. The floor was glued down over a plywood subfloor throughout their main floor and into the bathrooms. After six months, they noticed a couple light-colored areas within the knots. They called the retailer to take a look. Both the retailer and the installer went to the home to review the owners' concerns. The installer said he could fix the areas by using a hot-melt system. Once the repairs were done, four months passed, and 10 more spots began to show. The retailer came out again and decided to call the manufacturer's rep to file a claim. The manufacturer contacted an inspector.

Roy: The Inspector's Observations

I observed multiple areas where the knots were filled with wood filler, however there were also wooden plugs below the filler. The plugs were round in shape, like poker chips, and were coming loose and breaking up the wood filler. Using a dental pick to break away the filler, I could see these chips were of different thicknesses and appeared to be glued with some type of epoxy. In some cases, there were two to three layers of chips. Using the depth blade on my calipers, I found most areas had only 0.020–0.030 inch of filler over the wood plug. I concluded that movement of the wood plugs from lack of adhesive and dimensional change caused the wood filler to break up. I determined this was a manufacturer defect.

Blake: The Attorney's Analysis

Clearly the manufacturer made and sold a flawed product, and the condition was not detectable at the time of installation. Removing the floor will tear up the subfloor from the adhesive, require removal and reinstallation of millwork, a pedestal sink and toilet, and furniture storage.

The manufacturer caused the problem. However, like most companies that make flooring, this manufacturer's warranty limits its liability to only product replacement, not labor for tearout and replacement.

So who pays? It depends if the retailer's and installer's contracts included similar disclaimers for defective materials. It could also depend on who hired the installer. It would be typical for a flooring store to hire the installer; if so, is there an agreement with the store that requires the installer to cover labor for warranty issues? If the homeowner hired the installer, the installer should have no liability for extra labor costs since the flooring was purchased from the retailer.

If the homeowners cannot pin the extra costs on someone else, they would legally be stuck paying for them. With that said, from a public relations standpoint, it would be hard for the flooring store to hang its customer out to dry by refusing to stand behind the product or help with the replacement costs. The "high road" would be for the retailer to cover at least part of the consequential expenses, but if the retailer's documentation is in order, then legally it could refuse and be on solid ground.

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