We installed top nail oak floors in our kitchen to match the rest of the floors in our 1925 Seattle home. We had them finished at the same time we refinished the old floors so they would match. We worked with a company that has been in the business for over 40 years and was recommended by a couple of people.

They hand reset all the nails in the old floors before sanding, staining and applying three coats of low-VOC satin finish. Now when you look across the floor, you see a horizontal banding where there appears to be a very slight plane change along the nail lines—you can’t feel these “dips” at all—the floors feel perfectly smooth. In addition, the stain is a bit darker along those lines—mostly very subtle, but more noticeable in other areas (unfortunately the most noticeable stripe is in the front of the living room where it wouldn’t make sense to have a rug—you’d essentially have to have a giant rug covering most of the floor). There are some other areas of blotchiness that I have to think could have been avoided.

None of these issues existed before—the old floors were in great condition except for some pet stains, and those boards were replaced. The problem is most noticeable in the living room, and to a lesser extent the other areas. There is no “banding” on the new kitchen floors (set with a nail gun), although there is some blotchiness in areas.

The company owner says he has not seen this and doesn’t really know what caused it, and says the only remedy is to refinish it all or live with it. But if he doesn’t understand what caused it, I don’t know that I trust them to get it right a second time. He sent me a bill for the full amount (minus deposit).

I am no expert, but I wonder if it is possible the nails were reset more vigorously in one room than in the others and should have been sanded a bit more to even out the high points between the nail lines?

Whatever caused it, I now have to decide if I can endure another refinishing job (moving out of the house for two weeks, emptying the contents of the first floor, protecting the new kitchen cabinets), if the 100-year old floor can endure another refinishing job, or if we figure out a way to make peace with it. If the latter, I don’t feel I got a top job, but he’s charging top dollar (about $10K for those three rooms and two hallways—another $5K for the kitchen install and refinish). What would be a reasonable way to arrive at a fair price?

Thanks for any insight,

Chris in Seattle