Milos Jiricko, an engineer by training, has seen both sides of the building business, first as owner of a hardwood flooring subcontracting business and now as owner of Matrix Development, a design/build company in Silver Spring, Md. He also does consulting work and teaches a seminar, “Successful Subcontractor Relationships” for Remodelers University (www.remodelersadvantage.com). As a hardwood flooring subcontractor, Jiricko learned that many general contractors needed more education on the complexities of properly installing hardwood flooring at their project sites:
“We found lot of situations where the GC would have to weave in new wood with the old wood and didn't know what type of existing wood they were working with. Typically it's either red or white oak. There is a test kit available to identify the wood type. They must learn this in the design phase of the project in order to match the color and the grain of the wood flooring properly.
“There was also the issue of acclimatizing the flooring material to the project. We had a lot of situations where I'd go in after the fact and see jobs that had very large cracks. We found that the GC didn't get the new space conditioned properly prior to installation.
“In most cases, you should put the wood flooring in the space and let it sit there for one to two weeks. Separate bundles and stack the material throughout the work area so the wood can air out and get used to the moisture content of the space. While that's happening, check the moisture content of the wood and the space by using a moisture meter. You want the moisture content of the wood and the remodeled area to be relatively close.
“If the room's moisture content is high and the new wood has low moisture content and it gets installed, the flooring will swell and compress itself. When it dries you will have large cracks in the floor — and mistakes in wood flooring are expensive to repair.
“To cover yourself, specify in the subcontractor's agreement that acclimatizing the wood to the site is the sub's responsibility. If you don't do that and there's a problem with the floor down the road, the hardwood sub can say, ‘You told me to install it.' But if you have the moisture readings and you have the procedures written out, you'll be protected.
“Finally, to really protect yourself, make sure you get a warranty from your subcontractor for the materials and for the workmanship.”