To Fill or Not to Fill?

I went to an inspection where the client expressed their concern regarding snagging their socks on the wood floor. The inspection showed compressed filler (filler push-up) that was raised above the wood floor surface:

The flooring contractor refinished this floor six months ago and the condition did not exist previously. Who’s at fault? The flooring contractor was the last person to service the floor, therefore he or she carries the liability. 

Let’s take a closer look at some aspects of this job: 

Sales: Many times when bidding the floor, you are faced with bidding against four or five other companies. Therefore everyone tries to sell themselves and their service to rise above their competitors. One of the biggest statements I hear is, “We’ll make your floor look like new” and trowel fill all the gaps at no charge. The client feels they are getting a premium service for free.

Cause of Concern: The floor was refinished in January when seasonal gapping was taking place, creating many small and large gaps. This would be considered normal. The flooring contractor has to project what dimensional change will take place when installing, sanding and finishing any wood floor.  

Cure: The current condition was caused by trowel-filling the wood floor in low-RH season. The floor will have to be re-screened, have stain touch-up on the filler and be recoated at the flooring contractor’s expense.

Prevention: The estimator has to educate the end-user regarding proper HVAC control and seasonal change in the wood flooring. Seasonal gapping is a normal condition. Having an explanation of the results of trowel filling and a photo of filler push-up in your portfolio usually sets you apart from the competitors. On future jobs, there are only three ways to prevent this:

• Wait until high-RH season when gaps close, then trowel-fill all remaining gaps
• Spot-fill only large gaps and leave small ones for normal and required expansion
• Trowel-fill the floor in its current condition with a disclaimer of filler push-up in your proposal and the cost to re-coat floor in August at their expense to correct the condition.