Terrible quality on the installation and no customer service! The floor looks terrible as a result. We had maple hardwood floors installed in our main hallway, entry steps, dining room, front room, study, bathroom and first floor closet. All of the floors were installed incorrectly!
For starters, the entry stairs which have three steps are now all different heights (7", 6" and 5") and do not meet code (less than 3/8" variation). Our sales rep, Amir, claimed that they were this way to begin with and we would have to live with it. Fortunately, we had taken a photo during the installation showing the stairs before they put in the new hardwoods showing all three steps with a 6" height. We also paid extra for maple treads on the stairs but were given some inferior, soft wood that can be scratched by applying pressure with your fingernail.
The rest of the flooring was also improperly installed. Per the manufacturer's instructions and industry standard, the ends of the planks in adjoining rows should be more than 6" apart. This was completely ignored with approximately 25-30% of the rows being less than the 6", usually 3-4" and looks terrible as a result.
Worse yet, it appears that they didn't butt the planks together properly as there are numerous gaps between the ends of planks and even side-to-side. In some cases, the gap is large enough to fit a penny into it! The installers must have known they were doing a poor job because some of the worst of the gaps were filled with a soft putty to hide it.
Also, in several areas, clusters of short planks were cobbled together as if they were trying to get rid of a bunch of scrap material. It looks very amateurish. Per industry standard, the plank lengths and product from different boxes/lots should be randomized.
From the start, Floormax and Amir claimed there were no issues and have dragged their feet to respond. We had to prove to them with before and after photos that the stairs were installed improperly before they even acknowledged anything. We also had to resort to hiring an independent contractor to document and point out the issues. This has been going on over 1 month with no resolution! Avoid Floormax!!! read more