Glad to know it's not normal for a not quite finished floor. I didn't want to over react with the flooring company as I was warned that the floor wouldn't be perfect at this stage. They said there would be "boogers" and other imperfections that would be worked out with the final finishing coat. This, to me, is more than an imperfection. Bmore--You can see the raw wood, no stain, in the opening. It doesn't look like poly got in there either. I KNOW that wasn't there yesterday. The kids were sitting on the floor watching the second poly coat in a few spots, including that one. I was squatting down next to them for most of it. I'm sure I would have noticed that. It's in a visible spot right near the mudroom entrance. Good thing I carry the camera around with me now, I didn't hear back this afternoon from the flooring company. I'll let you know tomorrow what they say. So far, they've been reasonable about fixing some issues along the way. Fingers crossed!

Given my choice, I do all my prep in a room first, then paint ceiling, then woodwork, and then paint the walls last. Is much easier to get a razor sharp line at the baseboard to have all caulking and painting of the baseboard done before painting the walls. I blue tape the baseboards using the low tack 3M tape. However, this procedure requires that the walls be painted the following day. Sometimes you don't have the luxury of time. If possible, I prefer to do all painting before new carpeting goes down. I prefer to work after new hardwood floors installation, taking the trouble to completely protect it with rosin paper.

Thank you to all who replied with support and advice! I had trouble with my original post and accidentally posted the same issue twice. The poor workmanship was done by people who should have been appropriately supervised and trained. If their work is poor (as is the case in my house and probably all other houses in the growing development), then it is the fault of the supervisors/inspectors/managers. If a finisher (or anybody else) is doing crappy work, it’s their supervisors’ responsibility to correct, educate or retrain them, and if these things can’t be done, then to fire them. The horrible state of my new house is 100% the respnsibility of the builder, not of any one individual actually doing the work. It is not a cheap house, so I wasn’t expecting those in charge to sign off on such shoddy workmanship. I’m currently in a house is the same area as the new disaster house that I moved into brand spanking new 1.5 years ago, with Zero significant problems. Same area, but a different builder. And a much cheaper house. With so many problems to fix, I’m not moving into the new house until they’ve completed the work. The good news is that I itemized everything, marked with blue tape, sent them the list and they showed up the next day with a team of 4 people to address all of the issues. One of them was a finisher who got to work immediately. I was prepared for a fight, but they seemed amenable to fixing just about everything. They said my list was by far the longest they had ever received. It took 3 hours to go through. In addition to the interior problems, there were leaking gutter, broken roof tile, broken fence, unsecured downspouts and air conditioner hose, holes on the stucco.... And yes, again, this is brand new construction. I did get a lot of “this is not a custom home,” “these are not custom cabinets,” and it turns out all of the trim is MDF (of course) and the method needed to get a good finish on nail holes isn’t something they’re willing to do. But I’ve been assured that the cracked tub, scratched stainless kitchen sink, scratched and marked master tub can all be patched/buffed to look perfect (look brand new? Lol) And they’re going to fix the carpets, fix the tile, fix the LVP...... holy S&!t there are so many things wrong with that house. And yes, I’m now *very* worried about what may be wrong with things that I can’t see behind the walls, and overall regret this purchase, but just have to move forward now.

Any advise? yeah, don't pay him a dime. what is wrong w/these shady A contractors? holy hannah. That's the laziest crappiest baseboard job I've seen. I swear to god, Helen Keller could have done a better job! those should look like this. beautiful job you shouldn't be able to see where any of the holes were, any caulking, mismatched corners, etc. the nail holes are filled w/wood filler and excess wiped away. when dry, you go over every single fill spot w/a 220 grit sandpaper until it's nice and smooth. wipe away all dust w/a damp rag. prime. if you don't prime the filled spots, it will 'flash' after painting. (the filler absorbs more paint and it just looks horrible). So when I do baseboards I install, fill holes, sand, then prime, sand again (primer leaves a rough surface) wipe clean, then apply my paint. A lot of work? yes. Now you know why you got what you did. all of that takes a lot of time. time is money. you know what your guy did? slapped on some caulk (which can't be sanded smooth) with his finger, wiped it, didn't bother to wipe the excess and just slapped paint over it this needs wood filler (the front corner where the ends don't quite meet) filler that comes out even w/the surface. then it's sanded so you can't see the gap. large gaps should be filled w/sandable spackling/filler your guy is clueless. Tell him to read this. It basically says what I just wrote https://www.wikihow.com/Fill-Nail-Holes-in-Trim What are you paying him? whatever it is/was, it's too much. don't pay or he'll never fix it. tell him you want it all sanded smooth, all the holes/gaps filled w/wood filler (white) not caulk, sanded again, primed and painted.