ᐅ Parquet flooring installed with numerous small holes (woodworm)

Hello everyone,

We bought a house and had 120 sqm (1,292 sq ft) of new hardwood flooring (Joka country-style oak planks with knots) professionally installed by a flooring specialist. The flooring looks really beautiful and was expertly glued down, but over the past few weeks, on closer inspection, we noticed that a large portion of the planks have small holes in the wood, similar to those caused by woodworm damage. Some of the holes are filled with putty, while others are not.

I assume that some of the holes are too small to have been detected and filled during the machine-based puttying process. So: I don’t believe there is any active woodworm present (we haven’t seen any beetles, frass, and the planks were treated by the supplier anyway). However, it seems likely that woodworm was once present, and I’m quite bothered by the number of holes. Dirt can get in everywhere. Of course, we paid a significant amount of money for these 120 sqm (1,292 sq ft) of new hardwood flooring! About half of the planks are affected.

Therefore, my question is: is this considered a defect that we are justified in complaining about? Or is this within the acceptable range of “tolerances” or “natural imperfections”?
If yes, should we address this with the flooring installer or directly with Joka?

I look forward to hearing your opinions.

Best regards

Let's ask [USER=28384]@KlaRa
As an expert, they should have an answer for you.

Next time, I would recommend inspecting carefully before the final acceptance and not only weeks later, after the contractor has glued down the entire 120m² (1,292 sq ft) and effectively created a done deal. If 50% of the installed area is affected, it could have been noticed in the first room already, and maybe something could have been salvaged then.

Either replace the floorboards or lay the “worst” pieces where furniture will be placed anyway...

I hardly believe that those few tiny defects will lead to anything more than a small discount from the manufacturer now...

Woodworm in the timber is, in my opinion, not a minor defect. I find it absurd that such material is even sold, especially as the child of two carpenter parents. It's unfortunate that the issue is only discovered so late.

No, that’s not acceptable – you didn’t agree to second-grade material, right? I would definitely raise a bigger issue about that….
Gerddieter

Then it’s best to have vinyl installed right away once the parquet ends up damaged. Natural products are natural products; you don’t discard an entire oak just because it has wormholes.