New Blackbutt hardwood floor defects

Hi Guys,

We have gotten a new timber floor installed and finished recently. We have some timber defects that I feel pretty uncomfortable about. Some may left you with the splinter in the foot. I have never seen anything like this on a newly installed floor.

I want some sort of advice/opinion on that to understand the situation better.

I give you as much info as I can without finger pointing.

We have concrete slabs as the sub-floor. The way it was installed:
- black plastic membrane over concrete;
- 12.5mm ply nailed down into concrete through membrane;
- 14mm timber TnG glued and secret nailed to the ply.

Timber installed: Blackbutt Selected grade 14x83mm.

I wasn't happy with the way it was laid down. The installer’s process was pretty messy. As an example, when timber was delivered it was nicely placed in one stack in the corner. Because the installer was doing the whole floor, after he had done half he had moved the timber into another corner where he had already finished putting timber and half of the material was piled like an ant-hill. I don't know if he was throwing it around. I was not on site that day and did not take photos of it.
Now we have a bunch of torn grain holes in the planks. The installer company have rung the mill about it and mill people asked them haven't they seen these defects when they installed it? The installer claims they are timber defects and result of sanding. I'm not sure if defects were there when the installer was installing it, because as I said it was pretty messy and there were different problems that I was focusing on before the floor was finished.

I'm still puzzled how the installer applied the finish without noticing the defects. I think the installer guy just didn't care and this makes me really disappointed.

The installer company want to bring in their ATFA guy to assess and recommend what to do.

I can't say anything about this timber as I have never done any work with Blackbutt. I did work with spotted gum floor boards though and did not have any problems during cutting or sanding except that it was pretty heavy :)

Can it really happen because of sanding? And what are some ways to fix these problems?

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OK i've never used Blackbutt, and i'm a newbie and a half at woodworking, but the 2nd last photo looks like he's wacked the board agaist a door knob and a corner of something or other pretty hard. I'd struggle to figure out how sanding would put a dent in timber... unless you're sanding with a bloody hammer!

Mate i'd be livid! hopefully you get it sorted at their expense and they sack the bloke!

Insist on a rep from AFTA, the supplier of the boards and the contracting company who installed it.
90% of those defects were obvious prior to installation and must be rectified. Failing a favorable response from any or all of the reps, inform them you are contacting Dept of Fair Trading. In most cases this convince them to rectify the defects. The problem with rectification now is the pieces will have to be cut out in situ, and the WHOLE FLOOR RESANDED AND REFINISHED.
I speak from experience as I have had to rectify floors under HOW insurance claims.

This may be slightly hard to hear but IMO you're in a bit of a tough situation at the moment, as its partially the installers fault, partially your fault and partially the mills fault.

Most of those photos the defects are due to poor milling/incomplete milling, so thats where its the mills fault. Where its your fault is when the material was delivered you probably didn't inspect the goods and assumed all was ok. The installer is also at fault as they should have pointed out these defects before they began or notified you immediately once they noticed the defects. This may be how I'm interpreting your story, however if the same company supplied and installed your boards then its definitely 100% the companies fault in which case they should rectify the entire situation, as that kind of work is unacceptable.

Mate we have installed a select grade blackbutt floor and I can say don't accept this. Easy to say as you already know you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Our floor boards have some natural defect but you have mechanical damage in your photos. We have had issues with tradesmen in the past, the BSA was not helpful? We had to make an insurance claim.


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