"Duane Bozarth" wrote in message
...
Kyle Boatright wrote:

...
The contractor blew it when he selected the matching grade for the
installation. ...

With all due respect (tm) , I think you blew it when you accepted the
proposal w/o verifying the material specified matched your
expectations...

You probably missed any reasonable opportunity to rectify the problem by
not stopping work as soon as the first sign of trouble showed up while
they were laying it...to wait until now when the whole floor is
installed and partially finished leaves no recourse other than to scrap
the material whereas before it could (most likely) have been returned
for no worse than a restocking fee and (if you were willing to pay the
difference) an acceptable flooring substituted...

I suspect you're right that I'm more or less screwed, and there probably
won't be a resolution that will please me. I thought I was avoiding this
kind of problem by going with a contractor who was highly recommended by a
friend of mine who is the owner of a flooring store. I try and hire good
contractors so I get the job done right. Until now, the strategy has worked
well.

From my perspective, the point of no return was day 1 when the wood was
laid, but the problem wasn't obvious until stain was applied on day 2. The
problem wasn't apparent with the unfinished wood, but the staining process
on day 2 (I was off at work, arguably a good place to be when the house is
full of fumes) made the grain difference stand out like a sore thumb.