These are normal attributes of unfinished flooring. You will have nicked corners and rough sawn edges. Filling and sanding will take care of it. The gaps underneath are glue traps. The adhesive will work its way in those gaps and anchor the boards down.

@ G & S, thanks for your perspective

If glue traps are necessary, shouldn’t there be more of them?

I’ve been through 12 boxes & only 2 planks have those gaps.

I’m learning a lot here.

If those edges are typical of unfinished floors, I don’t understand why the floor manufacturers bother to create tongue & groove on the ends of the planks.

My installer will have to cut off every damaged end, which means he’ll be cutting off the tongues & grooves.

Hmmm...

Those frayed edges is from the mill, caused by a dulling cutter. It is common, if, the core and base of the engineered flooring is softer than the top veneer. Harder material will dull the cutters faster. Unsealed edges are more prone to chipping. Severe edge defects should be trimmed off and used as a starter row piece. Minors like in the images are installed, filled, sand and finished.

Glue traps are specified by mfg and will differ between mfg. It is a 5", which can be installed without glue. Perhaps that is what the mfg design for. A glueless installation.

@ rpwoodard , Do you remember the chop waste factor your installer likely specified. When they do the installation the can neatly trim any ends or edges that need to be trimmed. When they sand the flooring it will also clean up lots of those things you see. If it were prefinished all those things would be addressed at the finish line. You dont have anything to worry about. The floor looks very pretty!

@Uptown Floors - I never saw your 3/4" engineered floors - darn!

@Oak & Broad - thanks for the encouragement. I have culled 25% of the boxes of flooring. a whopping 46% of the planks have issues, mostly the chips on the ends. That means 46% of the planks will have the ends trimmed = no tongue & groove on those ends. Waiting for response from retailer.

@Uptown Floors Glue traps are located along the joints and those relief/weight reduction/pliability slots. Engineered floors are installed backwards when gluing. And the adhesive is troweled in a fish scale pattern, you know that. It's listed in the NWFA handy book.

Sye:

They have gluedown stuff in there finally? They were really behind the times at one time. Does it really mention traps? If not, you've coined a new term!

"46% of the planks have issues' " 46% of the planks will have the ends trimmed "

If these "issues" are similar to the teeny tiny chips you showed in a picture, you're better off having the chip and keeping the t&g on the end. Once the floor is laid, filled, sanded and finished, they will be inconsequential.

@Johnson Flooring, thank you for your reassurance.

It isn’t unusual to need to fill in almost 50% of the white oak planks?

I’m surprised, because this wasn’t the case w/the French oak engineered flooring we installed in our apartment.

During the sanding and finishing process the floor is often trowel filled over the entire area, or if there's minimal cracks it can be spot filled.

Trowel Filling Video

Applies to new as well

Trowel filling is an option with added cost.

"Trowel filling is an option with added cost."

Wow - I was going to say - I have never heard of anyone having that done. I would bet there is a huge cost for that.

Trowel filling is standard on most every refinish we do. If there are few cracks, one can get away with spot filling. Considering the minuscule cracks the OP noted, they could probably be spot filled.

Trowel filling will work under certain conditions. If, you have humidity swings between seasons. It is not worth trowel filling. Instead of having clean lines along your gaps. You will have jagged lines. Spot filling will do for these conditions, such as in the northeast region.

I described the issues in detail to the flooring manufacturer. I sent him many photos of piles of damages planks. I informed him that because of the extensive damage to the flooring, our installers have spent about twice the amount of time they normally spend installing the planks properly.

The manufacturer said he’ll replace the unused cartons, which is about ⅔ of the order. I’m waiting for confirmation from him or the retailer, but nothing yet.

Our installers are on hold.

Crossing my fingers

". If, you have humidity swings between seasons. It is not worth trowel filling. Instead of having clean lines along your gaps. "

That was what I was thinking. Definitely would not be an option in this area.