TOPIC: Manufacturer's Defect

My daughter and son-in-law bought a new house, in another state far from me.  They have been in it only a few months.  Some defects in things are beginning to show up.  Caulking is "disintegrating" (their word), leaks are occurring, cabinets are coming off the kitchen walls (I had a blog about that, although it was a different house!), and a big problem is the Pergo flooring.  It is separating.  And not just their flooring, but also the house next door, built by the same builder. The problem(s) next door are said to be worse!

They have counted 15 places where putty was used to fill gaps in the flooring.

I happen to know that putty is not used to install Pergo flooring.  I also happen to know that if installed properly it shouldn't separate.  Minor expansion and contraction is one thing, separation is another.  Some gaps are said to be 1/4" wide!  I also don't see 1/4" gaps or quarter round on the sides.  That is improper also.

But putty?  How did the putty get there in the first place?

Oh, the painters did it.  That's right, the painters did it!

My question was a simple one - why are painters putting putty in flooring anyway?!

Well, putty should NOT have been put there by anybody.  That is not proper installation.

When this continuing problem was brought up to the builder, do you want to guess what his response was?

IT'S A MANUFACTURER'S DEFECT...  and he disclaimed responsibility!

I had a lot of questions for them about this, and the other problems.  I suggested they share my comments with the builder.  I further suggested that they have him call me.  Do you think he will?

My recommendation:  When a builder disclaims responsibility for things that are obviously an installation problem, it is a cause for concern.  It lacks integrity.  When your clients are building/buying new construction, be sure the subcontractors are bona fide companies and not a "crew" working out of the back of a pick up truck with a "supervisor."

Any updates from the builder? Sounds like they have some warranty work to do.

Turns out this is an engineered wood floor (3/8" thick) and not Pergo, as they had told me.  Nonetheless the gaps should not be there.  It is likely they didn't let the flooring acclimate to the house for 48 hours before installation, on either their house or the neighbor's next door.  And it turns out the builder's out of work brother-in-law installed the floor, without experience in doing so.  They spoke with Marcel Cyr about it and he has helped them.  I don't know what is happening with the builder.  They are still lining up information for their speeches.

Hope it help Jay, but was assumming it was a laminate.
Here are a few pics of an engineered planking system.
One picture shows how it looks when not engaged together and look at the seam when it locks together.
It disappears.
You are right on the acclimation, usuall 3-5 days.
But the defect is the installation.

Marcel - we were assuming it was laminate because they said so.  They called me to say it is engineered flooring.  Finding out it was engineered doesn't help the builder's case though.  It was still crappy installation and due to inexperience in installing the product.  The neighbor's problem is worse than theirs, perhaps because he installed theirs right after delivery and it had even less time to acclimate.

Even acclimation not done properly would not cause joints as I saw in the picture.
Engineered wood is usually about 5-6% on delivery, and unless there is a humidity climate problem during the installation that would elevate that to higher than 9% it shouldn't happen. If high humidity were the problem, it would have buckled.
This is opposite, shrinkage. That means the product was over 9% when delivered and shrank. That almost never happens.
The only other possibility is installation error, which I am sure it is.
That is why I recommended a manufacturers Rep. to evaluate their product.