Hello,
we purchased a condominium with 114 sqm (1,227 sq ft) and selected the flooring. There was an upcharge of 40€/sqm (4 USD/sq ft) net to upgrade from strip parquet to wide plank flooring. The floor is glued down, and we were genuinely excited, but now that it has been installed, we notice significant brightness variations. In the showroom, it appeared much more uniform. I have attached some photos here.
When we raised the issue of the inconsistency, we were told that they generally don’t mix planks but install them package by package in sequence as they come, and the floor will still be oiled. The company is actually quite reputable and correspondingly expensive, but I would have sorted the planks better myself.
we purchased a condominium with 114 sqm (1,227 sq ft) and selected the flooring. There was an upcharge of 40€/sqm (4 USD/sq ft) net to upgrade from strip parquet to wide plank flooring. The floor is glued down, and we were genuinely excited, but now that it has been installed, we notice significant brightness variations. In the showroom, it appeared much more uniform. I have attached some photos here.
When we raised the issue of the inconsistency, we were told that they generally don’t mix planks but install them package by package in sequence as they come, and the floor will still be oiled. The company is actually quite reputable and correspondingly expensive, but I would have sorted the planks better myself.
H
hampshire18 Apr 2021 09:10NoggerLoger schrieb:
Unfortunately, it wasn’t cheap; the hardwood flooring usually costs over €100 per square meter (10.8 sq ft).Hey, you mentioned 40€ per square meter (4.3 sq ft) and, judging by the photos, got excellent quality flooring—although the installation wasn’t done with the same level of care. Of course, that was a bargain and probably not the "official" price. In the end, that price doesn’t really matter. Better to enjoy it than to worry about the darker spots. If it’s a premium supplier who carefully selects their installers, you might be able to address this through their quality management.
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Bertram10018 Apr 2021 09:18Phew, as a company, I wouldn’t be happy if customers used the product’s characteristics as a reason to complain. If the installer worked for 60 euros/hour (about 60 USD/hour), they certainly won’t get rich from it.
Asking politely once is still okay in my opinion. But making a big fuss about “poor” installation performance seems way over the top.
Yes, most installers don’t pay attention to the order of the boards or the planned furniture arrangement. But you have to keep things in perspective. Or call in the high-end installers from the royal house and the powerful, who don’t face cost pressures and therefore have time to inspect every single board individually.
Here, I really don’t think anything went wrong. Sure, a wooden floor can vary in redness, knot frequency, and brightness. And with a floor that costs 40 euros/sqm (about 11.7 USD/sq ft), the variations are naturally greater. Not so with a 300 euro/sqm (about 88 USD/sq ft) floor, because 90% of the boards are sorted out beforehand.
I would rather make peace with my floor. And then it becomes much more enjoyable to look at it. 🙂
Asking politely once is still okay in my opinion. But making a big fuss about “poor” installation performance seems way over the top.
Yes, most installers don’t pay attention to the order of the boards or the planned furniture arrangement. But you have to keep things in perspective. Or call in the high-end installers from the royal house and the powerful, who don’t face cost pressures and therefore have time to inspect every single board individually.
Here, I really don’t think anything went wrong. Sure, a wooden floor can vary in redness, knot frequency, and brightness. And with a floor that costs 40 euros/sqm (about 11.7 USD/sq ft), the variations are naturally greater. Not so with a 300 euro/sqm (about 88 USD/sq ft) floor, because 90% of the boards are sorted out beforehand.
I would rather make peace with my floor. And then it becomes much more enjoyable to look at it. 🙂
kati1337 schrieb:
Yes, yes... we debated for weeks back and forth about whether to choose a country-style staircase or not – in the end, we invested a four-figure sum in the beautiful stringer staircase, instructed the moving company and all the contractors to be EXTREMELY careful with it – and then my 1-year-old throws his constantly drooling “feed-me” dinosaur toy full force down the stairs over the safety gate. 🙄
The worst scratch is right in the area where the daylight from the front door hits. You basically can’t not see it. Brief off-topic, how is the “feed-me” dinosaur? Did it survive the daring fall? 😀
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NoggerLoger18 Apr 2021 09:45So the 40€/m² (about $37/sq ft) is the surcharge compared to the standard flooring. The original price including installation was, I believe, around 100-120€/m² (about $93-$111/sq ft). Okay, let’s see how it looks after oiling.
pagoni2020 schrieb:
Within a family, this is easier to solve than with a contractor:
Either you just give him the cheapest mush from Aldi for the next few years, or you deduct it from his allowance during school time. Then you’ve replaced the sheep.
Be glad it wasn’t the contractor, it would be almost impossible to get your money back from a professional, but with your own kid it’s much easier; so you’re lucky! If I deduct it from his allowance, he’ll probably get his first allowance at 54. :P
tomtom79 schrieb:
Cool, only one ding? We already have three 🙂
Okay, we’ve been living here for over five years.
One is about 2cm (1 inch) long, half-round like the bottom of a glass bottle including the ridges.
Since our wood is beech, I assume it might be possible to repair it by somehow swelling the wood and then sanding it down. Sanding was the only thing I had in mind so far as well. But our surface is sealed, the carpenter somehow explained that to me. And it’s quite new. So at the moment I don’t want to touch it and will have to live with the ding for the next few years. We already have similar marks in other parts of the house; those are just signs of life that won’t disappear. The house wasn’t brand new for long with us. And honestly, with every new ding somewhere (not just on the stairs), you get a bit more relaxed. That’s worth something too.
seat88 schrieb:
Quick off-topic, how is the Feed-Me-Dino doing? Did it survive the daring jump? 😀 I’d like to say it’s doing fine. It has already survived several of these jumps by now, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t have a few screws loose. :P
I’ll be changing the batteries soon. These devices — we also have countless noisy cars and other things that, as a childless couple, we promised ourselves we’d never buy for our kids — usually show better overall performance when you replace their power source.
I find it very interesting how different the opinions are here, but with a large portion saying it’s good as it is 🙂. I didn’t expect that, but it’s nice to hear.
I’m also curious to see what effect the oiling will have. The floor will definitely look a bit nicer, that was also the case for us.
I can still only recommend to every homeowner to glue the flooring themselves. There’s hardly an easier task than laying a floor, even if you’ve never done any DIY before. Just spread a bit of adhesive with a notched trowel and lay the boards down—it’s not complicated. Usually, the salespeople also explain what to watch out for. Otherwise, common video platforms are very helpful 🙂. You also save quite a bit of money that way!
I’m also curious to see what effect the oiling will have. The floor will definitely look a bit nicer, that was also the case for us.
I can still only recommend to every homeowner to glue the flooring themselves. There’s hardly an easier task than laying a floor, even if you’ve never done any DIY before. Just spread a bit of adhesive with a notched trowel and lay the boards down—it’s not complicated. Usually, the salespeople also explain what to watch out for. Otherwise, common video platforms are very helpful 🙂. You also save quite a bit of money that way!