Wood floor - finished product

The installers ended up finishing and leaving while I was out taking the kids to their piano lessons on Friday so I never got to inspect the finished product with them. We were a little disappointed in the finished work that was done. Several of the baseboards that had been removed were definitely worse for the wear and the room just looked somewhat incomplete. Also, the transition pieces leading to the tile in the kitchen and entryway seemed really insecure since they weren't attached to the tile at all - there was somewhat of a gap under the transition piece where it overlapped onto the tile. So while we really liked the wood floor itself, we weren't 100% satisfied with the end result of the project. The installer had mentioned something about having to come back so I could sign something so DH and I considered saying something about it when that happened. It didn't really state in our contract how much of an obligation the workers were under to return things to their previous state so we decided that it wasn't really that important.

On Monday I got a call from a lady at Sears asking if she could bring out some papers for me to sign stating that the work was completed. When she came by I decided to point out the problems to her and see if there was anything that could be done. She said that she could talk to the project manager and have him come out to put caulking around the top of the baseboard and to glue down the transition pieces to the tile. So I signed the paper and she said she would call the manager as soon as she left. I kept waiting for the manager to call me and he never did, but the installers showed up a couple of hours later and said that they had been sent to caulk and glue for us. We had already moved the piano and the couch back into the room so I had DH come up to help move the piano out away from the wall so the workers could get to the baseboards behind it (DH had had a dentist appointment earlier in the day so he was working from home again). The workers said that we would need to prevent anyone from stepping on the transition pieces for several hours while the glue set up and dried or it would push the glue out onto the tile. I ended up spending a good portion of that time in the kitchen so I could remind the kids not to step on it and to lift Kay over it whenever she came into the room...

All I can say is - Wow! What a difference the caulk and glue made! The room looked so much more put-together and professionally finished! I'm glad I pushed the issue a little! We absolutely love the floor! It looks beautiful and DH and I both love the creaking noises that the floor makes! While I'm sure we paid more for the floor than if we had done it ourselves, we are glad that it is done and with relatively little effort on our part. We also wanted to make sure that the project was done right since this is part of the main living area of our home and the first room that people see when they enter the home.

Now we are in the market for new living room furniture and some area rugs - and that is turning out to be a much bigger task than we initially anticipated... We also need a good doormat and entryway rug so people can clean off their shoes nice and good before walking onto the wood floor.

Finished floor with some furniture on it: