We don't wear our shoes inside but that seems like just an excuse. Even if you shouldn't have been wearing your high heels on the floor it doesn't seem at all reasonable that your GC would allow construction to take place on finished floors. Our floors are covered with thin chip board until the last minute so there is no need to be careful and no excuse for damage.

Your builder is crazy. He absolutely needed to cover and protect your floors...still does, in fact. However, he warned you about your heels, and you still wore them in the house?! I will host parties at my home in the future, and I will not ask my female guests to remove their shoes. But, I would not walk around in my half-finished house with heels on either...especially after my builder commented on the potential for damage. Too many risks of a he said-she said confrontation...which is exactly where you are right now.
The manufacturer will probably say that heels are a no-no, but they'll also confirm that pre-finished flooring needs to be protected in a construction site. I don't know what your contract says, (my builder would be in breach of contract for not having protected those floors!)but I think you might have some trouble with this issue.

Oh no...not another take your shoes off thread! :c(

molly, I would tell your builder that it's unacceptable the floor was not protected during the finish work. Put your foot down....Pun intended!

High heels cause dents, not chips and splintering. The damage is clearly your builder's responsibility, and he needs to pay to fix it.

If your wood has bevels, you may want to repair it sooner rather than later. The wood in the house can start moving, making an exact fit with a replacement board challenging at a later date since you can't rip the replacement to fit (or make it wider, for that matter).

You may want to just go buy some floor protection on your own. At the least throw some moving blankets and plywood in the areas where work is going on. My (limited) experience with contractors is that if there's something nearby to protect a delicate surface, they'll use it. Otherwise they'll take their chances rather than go out of their way to find something to protect the surface.

OMG! High heels causing splinters! He sounds like a macho creep!

Tell him to fix it asap. Your money, your floor.

Is there anything unusual about your heels, your gait, or your weight? Because as much as I think your builder is wrong (and a jerk to boot), I find it odd that he would bother to bring up your heels PRIOR to the damage being done.

What manufacturer is that that warns against wearing high heels? A floor should be able to stand up to shod foot traffic. Is it common for people to install floors that they have to walk on "gingerly?"

I think you are taking the right tack by checking with the manufacturer. Call him on the lie.

"A floor should be able to stand up to shod foot traffic."

It is fairly well know that high heels can cause dents. The narrower the heel tip the more likely it will happen.

Unless the OP weights 500 pounds and drags her leg when walking, there is no way a heel could cause gouges in the floor. I am sure her builder knows that. But he is clearly an idiot, which he showed when he said the 9 coats of poly would protect the floors from workers. Poly scratches pretty easily.

btw, if I were you, I would get a camera and take pictures of the floors.

Thanks, everyone! FWIW, I am 5'4" and weigh 120 lbs. I admit, AHEM, that I am carrying 10 more lbs. than usual from having an infant back in the summer, but I don't think that would make or BREAK the floor! And no, I don't drag either leg! I know that my builder is a complete moron and a liar--believe me, this is not the first time! He'll say anything just to deflect the suggestion that HE or HIS WORKERS are responsible for something. When I challenged him after he made such an asinine comment and said, "You're not REALLY going to try to say that 'I' damaged those floors are you?" he responded by saying something like, "Well, maybe it was SUPPOSED to be that way, since you did buy the 'character' line." [referring to the "aged" appearance the hardwood has.] I was like, "Oh, so which is it--did I do it or is it SUPPPOSED to be that way?! So it's SUPPOSED to have bare wood showing and splinters" He backed down and simply said they would fix it and that they would cover the floors from this point. The guy has NO credibility, none whatsoever. When we're finished with this house, if I have anything to do with it, he'll never build another house again... Molly, who's biding her time!

I have heard that STILETTO heels can sometimes dent floors (depending on the size of the person and their style of walking), but I have never heard of normal everyday heel damaging a floor. I've always lived in older homes (and one new home with an old floor), so maybe denting would have been a little less obvious but I'm having a hard time getting my head around the idea that walking on a floor in heels can damage it. Seems to me that's a defective product.

Now, in this case it seems pretty clear the builder is at fault. I'm just really surprised that people would tolerate a flooring material that was apt to dent just from being walked on with street shoes.

Molly, stand your ground. We have site finished Ipe, which is the hardest wood out there, and my floors were not properly protected. I, too, was LIVID about 3 weeks ago when I saw all the scratches after they were cleaned (I had been saying all along that I thought they should be protected and was concerned about the possible damage). One of the workers (and I happened to see it happen, and refused to be challenged on it) was literally laying on the floor to hook up my cooktop and was WRITHING if you will on my floor with his tool belt on.

Oh, yes, I know where you are coming from. I, too, have a gc who goes about things the hard way. He denies responsibility, sees if he can deflect responsibility on me, or on my husband since he has tried unsuccessfully to play divide and conqueur between DH and myself for 21 months. He resists accepting the fact that it was one of his workers, and then finally, after all hope is gone for him, fixes his mistake. It has been like this all along. My sympathy is with you.

However, after all of his ranting and raging he usually does the right thing, as he is doing in this case. My floors will be screened in the area where there was writhing, and all of my wood floors will be professionally buffed by the company that installed them AFTER we move in. That was the nice part for me. My gc said he felt move in might be rough on all the floors and is sending a carpet cleaner of my choice over as well. So all's well that ends well. I hope it is with you too, this damage was not your fault.

Amy

Two weeks after they took possession, the owners of a home I built called me about the mysterious dents that had appeared in their red oak floors.

I went over with the flooring installer. He tracked the dents all over the home. Lots of them were in the kitchen, but trails led to the dining and living rooms too. Exactly where the homeowners' very petite, very hot next door neighbour had been circulating during their housewarming party. I was there and instantly recalled her--a curvy 98 pounds and barely five feet tall, augmented by open-strapped stiletto heels. Mystery solved!

Even though finished wood floors are usually the last thing in they should be covered to prevent damage from all the fixups that follow till the homeowner inspects the property prior to closing.

The custom here is not to wear shoes in you home. And for those who may forget when visiting us:

Rats, it's just a picture of a sign. I thought we were going to see a picture of the neighbor! :)

I'm so sorry. That would be distressing. I'm not sure what type of floor we are talking about here. If it's laminate or something, that's probably different. However ... if it's "real" wood floor like oak, the bit about the high heels is, IMO, bullsh*t.

We have prefinished oak floor in our current house, and we do NOT treat it gingerly. At all. I wear every type of shoe. We also have nine cats and dogs that play in the house regularly.

After four years, we have scuffed areas where we scoot chairs a lot (like in front of my vanity) and one area in front of a glass door where the finish has faded and peeled a little, but that's about it. The only thing I know of that has ever penetrated the surface to actually scratch or gouge the floor is when a piece of gravel got stuck on the bottom of a sofa leg and scraped against the floor with the weight of the sofa. And that's just a minor, minor scratch - not something where you can see bare wood.

Unless you got down on your knees and beat the hell out of the floor with the tip of a stiletto (I assume you didn't), then I can't imagine that a good quality, solid wood floor would get dented from a heel. And even if it could dent, there's no way it would actually cut into the surface and chip and CRACK it like you're describing. That's absurd.

Yep. No way stilettos can damage hardwood. It's all a conspiracy of the wood suppliers, like these first four names on a Google search. 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Not all hardwoods are the same hardness. There is a scale of different wood types and their relative hardness. Red Oak is a fair bit softer than white oak. I would not use red oak for a floor. I know its done a lot because its cheaper but you hear a lot of complaints about it too. Unfortunately, people not knowing the difference will sometimes say "I'll never have another wood floor again" or "I'll never have another oak floor again"
Regardless your builder should have covered the floor and it sounds like builder damage. Also sounds like you may have problems with how he fixes it. I'd do some research and lay out whats acceptable to you right up front.

Not all hardwoods are the same hardness.

Exactly!

Around here, Brazilian cherry and Brazilian walnut, near the top of the Janka hardness scale, are quite popular. At the same time, easily marked, restored antique pine plank floors are at the high end of the market.

Maybe the builder was just doing some faux antiquing for the OP.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood hardness scale

"Yep. No way stilettos can damage hardwood. It's all a conspiracy of the wood suppliers, like these first four names on a Google search. 1, 2, 3 and 4. "

Worthy, I have no idea what your point is in this post.

I'm taking away something valuable from this thread - I will be careful to never, ever install a floor that could be damaged by heels. Because even if you have a daily habit of asking people to remove their shoes, are you really going to do that at a party? I can't imagine having a holiday party and expecting guests to remove their carefully chosen shoes. I know customs differ and everyone is entitled to run their home their way, but I would be a little surprised if I had to take my shoes off at a party. And conceivably annoyed if I ended up walking on the hem of dress pants all night and ruining them. Of course, if that's what everyone does, then it's a different story. But I have never, ever in my life attended a party where people were expected to remove their shoes.

OTOH, I'm also wondering if its rude to wear stilettos to a private home? Opinions? I just got a new pair of Jimmy Choo's (a splurge for me) and now I'm thinking I can't wear them?!

Solie, I think you made the point when you said, "Of course, if that's what everyone does, then it's a different story."

I'm in Nova Scotia and I think Worthy is Canadian too. I've never been to a party (except outdoors) where people would consider leaving their shoes on. It works for me b/c we have wide plank pine flooring ;)

But he said his client's neighbor wore her shoes. But maybe that was unusual and that was why they were able to identify the perp!

I would (of course) have no problem taking of my shoes as long as I knew it was a possibility ahead of time. So when people wear cocktail attire they still remove their shoes? Or do people just always entertain informally so guests wouldn't be dressed up?

I have no idea what your point is in this post.

Too ironic, I guess. Just reinforcing the fact that hardwood is very susceptible to damage from narrow heels.

Incidentally, the wife's sister in the home in my story understood completely. Combining fastidiousness and graciousness, the "public" areas in her new home were all in granite.

ajpl Yep.

On Long Island, I remember friends whose parents had living and dining rooms that were off-limits for strangers and family alike. One even had staunchions and ropes across the entries.

"If it's laminate or something, that's probably different."

Actually, most laminates are LESS prone to dents and scratches than most hardwoods.

From a technical perspective, the pounds of force per square inch is the thing which may damage surfaces by embossing. The 98-pounder will exert more pounds per square inch on the floor as the area of the heels decreases. It may well be that the 98-pounder in stiletto heels exerts more force per square inch than would a bulldozer. As an extreme example, a needle pushed with the hand may exert several million pounds per square inch due to the very small frontal area of the needle.

Even a slim woman in stilettos has got a heavier step than an elephant.

Here is a link that might be useful: These Boots are Made for....

Just for the record, a "stiletto heel" has an extremely small base (where the shoe meets the floor). Most are 1/16th inch square, although 'larger' heels may be ¼" square -- that's about one-fourth the size of a dime. The general figure is that a 100-lb woman taking a step in stilettos can exert as much as 6,000 pounds as that tiny heel hits the flooring. Only granite can tolerate that sort of abuse -- and even stone will eventually show wear if enough stiletto heels are pounded upon it.

However, note that size makes a difference! The usual heel found on a shoe worn for office has a sole about 1-inch square, and that doesn't make much of an impression on flooring!

Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to ask that stiletto heels NOT be worn in the house.

An additional issue with stiletos is that the tip often wears off, exposing the metal, making a dent even more likely.

I am working on a project with 126 condo units in a downtown high rise. The building owner chose a prefinished hardwood floor for all units in 4 different species. I have not found one to be more a hassle than the other, but that may just be because I won't be living here.

Floor protection sounds great in theory, however think about laying a protective film, mat, barrier, or pad on the nice wood floor and getting a grain of sand underneath that mat. Everytime you walk across that mat, you are in a sense grinding that sand, metal shaving, sawdust, etc... into the floor. On our build, we require "booties" on all workers when working in a finished space. You leave the finished space to walk on an unfinished floor - you remove the booties. The subs grumble at first, but they know it is a requirement. All ladders must have soft cloth tapped around the legs, and all wood cutting must take place away from finished floors. In our house - this will be the garage.

When we bid our house out, we will ensure our subs know our requirements for finished areas and as such financially plan for the extra trips to the garage, etc...

As for the hardwood installers themselves, they own the floor until they deem the work complete, so if they are in there using their saws on their own floors, then it is their resp to repair them until we both agree they are complete.

I have to say that aside from the above mentioned "writher" in the tool belt, most of our subs have been extremely concientious, without input from me, of taking their shoes off (our painters always take their shoes off) or changing from outdoor to indoor shoes on our finished flooring. I think that is courteous, and none of them would have it any other way.

For instance, my security system guy took his shoes off, came into the house and into the master bedroom to take a look at my portable dvd because I had brought the wrong plug and my 3 year old (grumpy and sleepy and bored) wanted to watch "Oswald". He then went out, put his shoes back on, grabbed the proper hookup for the plug (12v, not 3v!) came back to the house, took his shoes off and came in to get the dvd running. I told him he didn't have to take his shoes off, and he insisted.

Amy

Solie, a wedding or something would probably be hosted off site at a hotel or resort etc and shoes woudl stay on. If it was hosted at a home, I think people would take their shoes off. A dinner party? Definitely shoes off around here.

Interesting. Thanks ajpl.

Your builder is wrong and he should have covered the floor. Also, I just wanted to comment that we are a shoes on house and all of our friends have shoes on houses (for guests anyway) and we (and as far as I know my friends) have not had any damage to our floors from shoes, including high heels (but I don't recall anyone wearing stilleto heels in our house, although I have worn high heels with the larger or 1/3" or so sqare and I am 5'11" tall and weigh well over 100 lbs:). The finish on our floor does have small scratches (just in the finish) from my boys dragging our 80 pound golden retrieve across the floor when our golden retriever had his claws out resisting. We have site finished qs oak floors with an oil finish and it is my understanding that the factory finishes are supposed to be more durable than what we have. However, the finishes on prefinished wood are really hard and any hard surface can chip when something metal with a sharp edge is dropped on it like saws, screw drivers, levels, tool belts, etc. and will get gouges in it if heavy objects with sharp edges are dragged across it like table saws, boxes with staples on them, etc. Your builder is dreaming (and really lazy) if he really believes that hardwood floors (and vinyl--the vinyl at our old house got a cut in it when the plumber dropped a big metal wrench on it that had a sharp edge) do not need to be protected during construction.