1. Tell us your home's HUMIDITY CONTROL...yes...I said 'control'. That indicates an ACTIVE system. You push a button and your home's humidity goes up by 5%. Do you have in-home humidity control?

2. What PRODUCT did you use? Name, Line, finish, etc.

WIDEPLANK_specs-2019.pdf (somersetfloors.com)

3. Do you have any LEFT OVER product? If so, INSPECT IT for gouges. If you do not see anything, then your installer is telling tall tales.

4. Who installed these floors? Was it the company you purchased the floor from? Or was it a 'pro' you found yourself?

These are thin floors (1/2 inch with 3mm wear layer + 7 birch ply). But they have a nice wear layer. When wood dries out (not enough humidity in the home) can have issues with checking (big splits) or chipping.

How long was the wood acclimated in the home before installation.

Thank you both for your responses! In response to your questions SJ:

- I do not have home humidity control. I live in a foggy area, and all the flooring companies I went to suggested engineered floors. I've never thought of home humidity control, so I really appreciate the info.

- I do have leftover product and looked for defects - I did not see any.

- The floors were installed by the company from whom I bought the floors. The installer has been with them for over 20 years (that's not to say he didn't do a great job?)

- The floors were acclimated for 5 days before install (which the flooring company said was fine for engineered wood).

Thanks again for your insight!

The humidity in the home will be listed in the installation instructions.

SomersetENGINEEREDInstallinstructions6-20v1.pdf (somersetfloors.com)

You will find the humidity (RH) requirements here:

Bottom of Page 1/9

"The End User (homeowner) must maintain the flooring in accordance with Somerset floor care guidelines, including maintaining recommended temperature and relative humidity levels year round."

Top of Page 2/9

Interior Conditions:

"Test and document (photograph) temperature and relative humidity in each room receiving Somerset flooring. A temperature range of 60-80f and r.h. of 30-50% is appropriate for most areas. [See NWFA Technical Publication C-300; Regional Climate Variations for additional information.]"

Still on page 2 of 9 (and there's SOOOOO much to learn in this document...they've REALLY done a great job writing it): Acclimation: hmmmmmm....NOTHING about '5 days' being good enough for engineered hardwood.

Hmph. I'm feeling a phone call to the manager of the company you purchased from. YOU will need to PURCHASE a hygrometer from Home Depot ($35 each...get one for each room). You will have to PROVE your home sits above 30% Relative Humidity (RH).

As for fog, It can occur in a desert...and the humidity during the day can still be 7%. In fact the west coast of Africa has a phenomena just like this. The cold ocean air hits the sand dunes and causes fog...but the humidity in the air is still less than 10% at all times. Super cool phenomena.

You MUST check your humidity levels. Must.

Can be the product, a thin veneer with a soft core engineered flooring will damage easily.

"The floors were acclimated for 5 days before install (which the flooring company said was fine for engineered wood)."

Unfortunately time is not the measuring stick needed as time can be immaterial. What were the moisture level readings for the subfloor when the wood was brought in? What was the moisture readings for the wood when it was brought into the home? What was the moisture readings for each on the day the wood was installed? These all need to be with the manufacturers allowable range as well and documented.

All of you are so knowledgeable and helpful! Thank you! I will purchase some hygrometers and start documenting humidity levels.

To the awesome experts who have helped me on this thread - I now have a board that is buckling (see pic). Is this linked to floor quality, install, or just plain humidity? The flooring company and their installer never mentioned anything about humidity (before or after install). Thank you in advance!

Ugh, ok, thank you! The floors went in only a couple of months ago and the subfloor did show any leaks. I'll see if I can wedge myself into the crawl space :). Much appreciated!

if, isolated yo one individual piece. Most likely a defective piece that had delaminating to begin with. Remove and replace.

1) You don't necessarily have a leak based on a single board delaminating. It's certainly NOT the first thing I'd assume if I saw a delamination, especially without any other signs of moisture. Tap on the board lightly and see if you can hear a hollow sound extending down the piece. Sometimes an anomalous piece of core or veneer, or a manufacturing mistake can result in the veneer not being adhered to the core. The piece will need to be replaced and at that point the top veneer can be peeled off to inspect the adhesive layer. I had something exactly like this happen to one board on a Somerset job within the last year.

2) Recommendations on acclimation of engineered products vary across manufacturers. Quite a few don't address it at all, and some I've seen who do were in the 24 to 48 hour range. Since engineered wood doesn't move that much with normal humidity changes, I suspect that the intent is to allow it to come up to temperature. Being in Florida we don't have this issue but one might have it elsewhere.

3) Somerset uses the same type of Birch plywood other use and it's not a source of chipping or any other issue I can think of.

4) The tiny chips you have can be filled and Mohawk markers can be sourced to touch up any small worn corners or spots, though navigating their site to pick out the proper color is a challenge.

5) You should determine what made that double scratch and avoid sliding that item across the floor again. It might be possible to touch the scratches up with the Mohawk marker but deep scratches running perpendicular quite often require replacement. If a marker comes out too dark over the raw/torn wood, you can put a little clear sealer on it first (and allow it to dry) to avoid this issue. A lighter marker in the right color range is preferable to a darker marker since the lighter one can be used multiple times to reach the right depth of color.