Merkel Carpet One Floor & Home

"Mr. [member name removed], I am sorry that you have had so many issues with your wood floor that we installed in your home April of 2013. We at Merkel Furniture and Carpet One have had a long standing relationship with our customers, and do everything within our power to make sure that the products we install are of the best quality, and our installation department is second to none in Washtenaw County. That said, once the material is installed, it is up to you to maintain the floor to the guidelines that are prescribed by (in your case) the National Wood Flooring Association. There are certain guidelines in which to follow in order to keep your wood floor from having problems due to physics and nature. Wood floors are a natural product that expand and contract due to atmospheric conditions present inside your home. Too much moisture, and your wood floors expand. Too little moisture, your wood floors contract. This winter was one of the worst winters on record for low temperatures and dry cold air. Everyone's wood floors took quite a beating from the inside dryness that compounds the situation in the heating of your home. Almost all of the new thermostats on the market today have a meter to show the moisture content in the home, so monitoring that is essential in maintaining a proper humidity level, both summer, and winter. Your wood floor was inspected in March by an accredited, independent inspector and our installation was not only found to be satisfactory, it was shown to be without any flaw whatsoever. The inspectors findings were that the moisture levels in the home were half of what the normal range should be, and that is what caused the problems. The other issue is that you did not choose to believe an unbiased independent report and took it upon yourself to contract another flooring installer to make "repairs" to your wood floor, replacing boards that were gapped due to low moisture. When the moisture returns (as it always does in the higher humidity months of June, July, and August) the new boards were not acclimated to the existing dryer boards, resulting in expansion of approximately 1/8" per board. when you get 20 new boards expanding at that 1/8"rate, problems ensue. Just do simple math and you will see.(1/8"=.125 inches per board x 20= 2.5 inches of expansion displaced over a 25 foot span). I have witnessed personally the power of wood floors pushing walls off concrete foundations, so this behavior is well documented. Listening to your wood flooring contractor, adhering to the laws of physics, and doing your part to maintain your investment is always prudent advice. As for your wood floor, if you hadn't listened to people that know very little about wood floors, and had you not "repaired" the areas that nature would have (and did) repair for you, your wood floor would be perfect right now, and you wouldn't feel the need to slander us on a public medium. I wish there were something that we could do for you to reverse the flooring problem you have created, but it would require removing the wood floor and starting over. For the many people who may be reading this, please beware of taking the advice of novice installers, or inexperienced trades."