Glenn - the parquet itself is very thin, seems like someone did an uneven sanding job at some point. It's as little as 1/8" thick in some spots, up to about 3/8" in others. The main floor itself is 3/4" tongue and groove with no subfloor - just directly nailed to the joists. When I get to refinishing these (hopefully next weekend) I'll be sanding the parquet with a hand held random orbital and with normal sandpaper - even with the big random orbitals, I'm worried about removing too much material on the parquet - the center will be sanded with a rented random orbital. Thanks! MPEDrummer

I can see light from my basement too, and its usually where there is a knothole, or in a place where the house has settled and pulled the boards far enough apart that the tongue is fully out of the groove for a few inches. I don't mind it, but if I did the simplest solution would be to nail/screw some panels of luann plywood to the underside of the floor in those places.

If you can utilize at least one of the existing holes for new hardware, the second hole will be visually masked by the replacement handle. That being said, an approach I've used with success is to cut wood doweling a hair longer than the door/drawer thickness. Usually 1/8" dowel will fit in the old screw hole, but if not, you can run a 1/8" drill bit through the hole. Then apply a little wood glue to the dowel and tap it in gently from the front until it's flush with the door's face. Wipe the exposed dowel end with a damp cloth to remove any glue that might have squeezed out. If you think it's necessary in order to get a perfectly smooth surface, apply a little wood filler with your fingertip. Then, when dry, sand very lightly with 220 sandpaper and stain the dowel end to match the cabinets. (Since this is end grain, you might want to experiment on scraps of doweling and lighten the stain until it matches the cabinets.) Apply a little polyurethane with an artist's brush to seal the fill.

@tahoeshack- The radiant heat and the fact that the improper material was used is the cause of this situation. While solid hardwood can be installed directly on top of certain radiant heat systems, rift and quartersawn solid hardwood should be used. The way in which this floor is milled is what makes it the right material for radiant heat. Rift and quartered hardwood is milled in a way so that there is minimal expansion and contraction. Do you know which type of radiant heat system was installed? Do you know if the reclaimed oak was milled rift and quartersawn? How was the hardwood installed?(glue down, staple/nail, floating) 1. What is the industry tolerance for gap width? Is there one? Gaps in hardwood are to be expected. However, for there to be a 1/4" gap in the middle if your floor that was installed and finished in 2016, there must be an underlying issue for that to happen. Unless there is an underlying issue, a 1/4" is not normal especially in a floor that is a year old. 2. Is it reasonable for us to expect the floors to still look like the stairs do? The hardwood and the steps are two different entities. I think you are justified in your expectations of the floor vs. what is going on with them now. You really can not compare the steps(as the pictures seem to show full treads) to the hardwood. They are installed in different ways. 3. What is the likely cause of the crowning and gaps? What is likely causing the crowning and gaps is the type of material that was used over the radiant heat. Although I am not sure which heating system you have, rift and quartered solid hardwood would suffice as the proper material to use. 4. How do we fix the crowning and gaps? The flooring may need to be replaced(This is purely suspect as we have not been able to come out and visually see the space and all circumstances) 5. Is filling the gaps the proper solution? There are a few issues with wood filler. My first concern is them using grout/caulk- not sure what type of grout they are going to use and if by "grout" they mean "wood filler". Do not use caulk to fill in the gaps. If they are going to use wood filler, it is going to be a short term, band aid fix. The floors will continue to expand and contract and sooner or later, the wood filler will start to come out. Also, ask them how they plan to match the wood filler to the stain color of the hardwood. 6. Who should I hold responsible? This is a tough question as I have not heard both sides. 7. How do I proceed if the only remedy they have provided is the one above and refuse to do anything else? In conversations they have claimed the floors are rustic and not meant to be perfect. Reclaimed hardwood is definitely not meant to be perfect. And actually, the blemishes are what gives reclaimed hardwood its charm and character. However, i think the radiant heat is the underlying issue. Let us know how your meeting turns out and what the outcome is. Feel free to post an update here or email us customerservice@thecouturefloorcompany.com from our team here at The Couture Floor Company https://theflooringblog.com https://thecouturefloorcompany.com