Installers damaged hardwood floor, what are my options?

[Matty-b]

I would greatly appreciate any opinions on what’s the normal plan here.

We have a heritage house, built in 1913 with original old growth Fir floors. Obviously the floors have a wonderful patina and were a huge feature when we bought the house.
We have had a woodstove installed. And during the install the installers gouged the floor with 4 long straight scratches right in front, center of the room.
It was extra frustrating because we said the floors were fir and so soft. And I cut and made wood pieces they could rest the stove on, to prevent this.
Anyway, I have had 5 wood floor specialists come in and they have all said they only would do a complete sand and refinish. Which will be very expensive and my wife hates the idea because it will completely change the character of the room. plus, being a 100+ year old floor, we have been warned we may only have one sand and refinish left before the nails become an issue. So to waste it on this is also frustrating.
We also had a furniture restoration specialist come in, and he said he could try steaming the area to raise the gouges. But he warned because it’s completely through the finish, it will never look the same. And he of course can’t guarantee any kind of results, good or bad.
I have spoken with the retailer that sold us the stove, stainless double walled liner and the install, and they have offered to take $250 off the bill (the bill of around $6500).
Maybe I am out to lunch, but $250 seems almost an insulting compensation. But maybe I am crazy.
Anyone else dealt with this? What’s the normal and fair way it should be handled?
I also kinda of don’t trust anyone the shop might send to do any work, because they also damaged multiple bricks around the fireplace and hearth, which I am just ignoring. But unfortunately overall, has not installed convince in the quality of work, at least so far.
Greatly appreciate any help. Thanks

 

[bholler]

Get a better flooring guy in who can fix it right with a combination of steaming sanding filling and then touch up. It can be done get the estimate and give it to the shop. They have insurance for things like this at least they should.

 

[Michael Sean]

My family owns a furniture and appliance business. There have been a couple of instances where the customers floors have gotten scratched up. Since it was our fault we fixed the floors. So for me the business that scratched your floors should absolutely fix them.

 

[brenndatomu]

I would bet someone can fix the floor...just a matter of finding the right skilled craftsman that knows the right way to handle this.
And I agree, they should be paying for this 100%...there's always small claims court...

 

[jetsam]

Rug.

 

[Supersurvey]

We also have wood floors and am amazed with the lack of common sense of most people. Do they think the wood is as strong as concrete? I actually have precut Masonite boards I lay down in advance of deliveries. Sometimes I get a puzzled look like why do you need that?

 

[jscs.moore]

I would greatly appreciate any opinions on what’s the normal plan here.

We have a heritage house, built in 1913 with original old growth Fir floors. Obviously the floors have a wonderful patina and were a huge feature when we bought the house.
We have had a woodstove installed. And during the install the installers gouged the floor with 4 long straight scratches right in front, center of the room.
It was extra frustrating because we said the floors were fir and so soft. And I cut and made wood pieces they could rest the stove on, to prevent this.
Anyway, I have had 5 wood floor specialists come in and they have all said they only would do a complete sand and refinish. Which will be very expensive and my wife hates the idea because it will completely change the character of the room. plus, being a 100+ year old floor, we have been warned we may only have one sand and refinish left before the nails become an issue. So to waste it on this is also frustrating.
We also had a furniture restoration specialist come in, and he said he could try steaming the area to raise the gouges. But he warned because it’s completely through the finish, it will never look the same. And he of course can’t guarantee any kind of results, good or bad.
I have spoken with the retailer that sold us the stove, stainless double walled liner and the install, and they have offered to take $250 off the bill (the bill of around $6500).
Maybe I am out to lunch, but $250 seems almost an insulting compensation. But maybe I am crazy.
Anyone else dealt with this? What’s the normal and fair way it should be handled?
I also kinda of don’t trust anyone the shop might send to do any work, because they also damaged multiple bricks around the fireplace and hearth, which I am just ignoring. But unfortunately overall, has not installed convince in the quality of work, at least so far.
Greatly appreciate any help. Thanks

That's very unfortunate. I had an insert installed a few years back. We have a Center Hall Colonial with a very nice mantel and brick hearth. My installers did some pretty serious damage to the brick because they didn't bother to put anything down to protect them before moving it into position. My wife was very pissed off and they essentially said call a mason? Sorry you had a similar experience.

 

[Simonkenton]

That is a real groan, to get your beautiful antique floor banged up like that. Plus they damaged the bricks.
The installers sound like a gang of real goofballs. I hope they installed your stove properly.

Good luck with that floor I hope you can get it fixed.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

The installer is responsible for any damage they cause. I had some goofball delivery people who gouged up my woodwork around my front door trying to shove a big fridge into the house without taking the doors off. I told them over and over i measured everything and it wont go through without removing the doors but they insisted until it got jammed tight. Long story short ,the company paid my contractors bill for repairs.

 

[Nick Mystic]

Your experience is exactly why I try to do as much work on my own instead of trusting the so called "professionals". I once had a repair guy come out to work on my refrigerator and when he moved it he managed to tear two long gashes all the way through the vinyl floor! When I pointed out the damage he said, "The floor looks kind of old anyway, so I didn't think it would matter." Can you believe such crap? The floor was old and I was planning on replacing it eventually, but I wasn't planning on replacing it at that particular time.

I hope you get some satisfaction from the stove dealer, but I wouldn't hold my breath. You might need to get a lawyer or try small claims court if you are up for it. I do woodworking semi-professionally and I can tell you it takes a real specialist to fix what you described. Get the wrong guy and it could end up even worse than it is now. Good Luck.

 

[Matty-b]

Get a better flooring guy in who can fix it right with a combination of steaming sanding filling and then touch up. It can be done get the estimate and give it to the shop. They have insurance for things like this at least they should.

Thanks, I guess I will keep looking and try to find someone willing to take on the repair. Its been very difficult even finding people to come. All trades jobs are booming here at the moment, and so lots of guys I call say they either won't come or cannot even come look until the new year.

 

[Matty-b]

Your experience is exactly why I try to do as much work on my own instead of trusting the so called "professionals". I once had a repair guy come out to work on my refrigerator and when he moved it he managed to tear two long gashes all the way through the vinyl floor! When I pointed out the damage he said, "The floor looks kind of old anyway, so I didn't think it would matter." Can you believe such crap? The floor was old and I was planning on replacing it eventually, but I wasn't planning on replacing it at that particular time.

I hope you get some satisfaction from the stove dealer, but I wouldn't hold my breath. You might need to get a lawyer or try small claims court if you are up for it. I do woodworking semi-professionally and I can tell you it takes a real specialist to fix what you described. Get the wrong guy and it could end up even worse than it is now. Good Luck.

Yes, thats my worry. The furniture restorer we talked to seemed very knowledgeable and he warned that with this damage there is no guarantees, and he said that is probably why the flooring guys were only willing to do the full sand and refinish.

 

[Matty-b]

That is a real groan, to get your beautiful antique floor banged up like that. Plus they damaged the bricks.
The installers sound like a gang of real goofballs. I hope they installed your stove properly.

Yes, I agree. The cap at the top originally they made a complete mess of. It looked ridiculous, even my neighbour asked if it was a mistake. Thankfully I called the owner and he did a drive by and admitted that it was terrible and so they returned to redo it.
But I am worried what else was done poorly. Its extra frustrating because we had 2 quotes and this company was a full $1000 higher then the other in labour. But the owner who did the quote gave the impression of his company being professional and highest quality, and since we wanted the results we decide to pay the extra. Of course, then a couple monkeys show up. Definitely a lesson learned, you don't always get what you pay for. Next time I need something done I will think twice about paying extra for quality, it seems it doesn't really matter.

 

[Nick Mystic]

I've had similar experience with trying to size up the competency level of a company. Unless you are willing to take the time to go look at the work they did for at least a couple of customers it can be a real crap shoot. The companies that give the best sales pitch (as in your case) often seem to have the the least competent workers for some reason. Maybe they pay the sales guy the big bucks to get the jobs and then scrimp on getting good workers that would cost them more.

 

[Doc C]

You can always post pictures of the install here to make sure it was done properly. Also you might try some of the flooring forums and post a picture of the damage to the floor and see if there are people in your area on the forums that can fix it.

 

[begreen]

Thanks, I guess I will keep looking and try to find someone willing to take on the repair. Its been very difficult even finding people to come. All trades jobs are booming here at the moment, and so lots of guys I call say they either won't come or cannot even come look until the new year.

You might try and locate a fine woodworker or cabinet maker as an alternative. Furniture restoration has some similar challenges.

 

[brenndatomu]

You can always post pictures of the install here to make sure it was done properly. Also you might try some of the flooring forums and post a picture of the damage to the floor and see if there are people in your area on the forums that can fix it.

You might try and locate a fine woodworker or cabinet maker as an alternative. Furniture restoration has some similar challenges.

Good ideas...

 

[begreen]

This may take a surgical removal of flooring from a less visible location and then grafting the piece in place over the scarring. How long are the scratches?

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I understand how frustrated you feel.

There are lots of knuckleheads around, and you got involved with some here. In a perfect world, they'd have not scratched your floor. Second choice, the company that you paid for the install would make sure it was fixed so only the memory of the scratches would remain.

Now for reality. You will not get satisfaction from the installer. Ride off from that. Get it fixed by someone else, and swallow hard on the idea that it is not going to look exactly how it did before. It's an old floor, it's not supposed to be perfect.

Or, get all balled up by the situation, hang onto it, and make yourself miserable over something that is really totally irrelevant in the big scheme of things.

Unfortunately, I too often do the latter. I'm trying to let go. But, I know it's no good for me, and I know it'll be no good for you.

Have you seen how far left linoleum has come?

 

[Beldin]

I know your pain. I have refinished old fir flooring, and you will never get the exact patina back. I love the patina of old fir myself. Having said that, fir is too soft for most familys. Imagine a young newly wed couple buying a home and putting their bed frame directly on their old beautiful fir floor. Think about that poorly written sentence. It happens. I had to sand bowls in that bedroom. I will look through my files and try to find the stain pigments I used to duplicate the old red look. It may take awhile. Tell the Mrs. That there is hope for a close match.

 

[Beldin]

By the way, remember fir will get darker with age. So you WANT a lighter stain tHan you match at first.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

This reminded me of another situation in my past.

I had a little get-together at my house years ago. I invited a woman that I was infatuated with. She was far more beautiful than I had any business thinking about.

She wore spikey high heels to the party. The hard rubber caps had broken off both heels, and every step she took punched little holes in my wood floor.

Things didn't work out for me that night (or any other, with her, despite my feeble efforts), but all the little punch wounds remain in the floor to remind me of my failed efforts.

Some character building leaves more than one kind of scar.

 

[Beldin]

I have the bill here. Unfortunately all I have written down is "custom pigments". That's means I played around with different mixtures until customer was happy. No matter what, I hope they pay for it.