Finishing Touch Carpets Inc

Review: Finishing Touch Floors installed wood floors in 2011. Within 6 months the floors began to bubble. It took nearly 3 months for company to come to residence to check floors. In 2013, Finishing Touch Floors had their own inspector come to residence along with manufacturer of wood flooring. Finishing Touch said the bubbling had nothing to do with installation or manufacturer defect. Finishing Touch offered to fix the bubbling, but requested I sign a release of all liability. I had concerns because there was another section of bubbling occurring in another room. I would not sign release. October 2013, I filed a complaint with the CSLB. March of 2014, CSLB sent an inspector and his findings were Finishing Touch Floors improperly installed the wood floors. In late March 2014, it was brought to our attention that the inspector who was hired by Finishing Touch Floors concluded the floors were improperly installed by Finishing Touch Floors. The owner had this information before he requested we sign a release. Furthermore, the manufacturer of the flooring came to the same conclusion. Finishing Touch Floors has retained an Attorney and stands by their installation. I have done business with this company for the past 10 years. The owner of this company has lied and withheld pertinent information from us.Desired Settlement: Cost to remove and replace with new wood. $19,000

Business

Response:

We appreciate hearing the [redacted]’s version of the facts. Finishing

Touch Flooring, Inc. has been in the flooring business for over 35 years and

has earned a respected reputation in the Orange County and Los Angeles County

areas. We strive to satisfy our customers’ diverse needs. We always offer to correct problems

experienced by our customers due to defective materials or workmanship.

However, if a flooring problem exists due to the homeowner’s negligence or

fault (e.g. poor yard drainage or moisture intrusion) we cannot repeatedly fix

other peoples mistakes that they refuse to take responsibility for.

On July 21, 2011, Finishing Touch entered into an agreement

with the [redacted]s to install Provenza “Antico-Heritage”

engineered wooden flooring at their residence located at 24262 Via San

Clemente, Mission Viejo, CA. Between November 18-21, 2011, Finishing Touch

performed the following scope of work: demo and haul away existing flooring;

installing Bostik Vapor-Lock™ moisture barrier and adhesive; and,

installing 1080 square feet of engineered wooden flooring in the living room,

kitchen, family room, and laundry.

Upon arriving at the [redacted] residence, Finishing Touch

conducted moisture testing on the bare concrete slab and detected very low

moisture readings of 5% MC in each of the four rooms. Finishing Touch conducted

moisture testing, surface preparation, waterproofing and membrane installation,

flooring installation, and curing according to the recommendations of both

manufacturers (Provenza and Bostik). The [redacted]s inspected and approved

Finishing Touch’s installation and payment in full was made on November 22, 2011

prior to the winter rain season. Six months later at

the conclusion of the winter rain season, the [redacted]s observed blistering on

the surface of their wooden flooring.

Finishing Touch has retained an experienced construction

expert [redacted] to analyze the [redacted]s’ flooring complaints. Mr. [redacted]

is a licensed Class A and B contractor, Professional Geologist, Certified

Hydrogeologist and Professional Engineer. Mr. [redacted] concludes

the wood finish blistering occurring to the [redacted]’s flooring has been caused

by excess external moisture from poor rainwater and irrigation drainage. As

long as this deficient drainage exists any wood flooring installed at the

[redacted] Residence will likely be impacted by moisture and blistering. Mr.

[redacted] has concluded, based on the existing facts, Finishing Touch met or

exceeded all applicable industry standards and professional standards of care

and its flooring performed as intended and expected.

Mr. & Mrs. [redacted] and the CSLB hired a flooring

inspector [redacted] who believes the flooring was not installed to deal with

the current high moisture content of the foundation slab. Mr. [redacted]

lacks expertise because he is not trained, experienced or licensed to evaluate

the cause of moisture intrusion or its effect on flooring. Mr. [redacted] will not

talk to Finishing Touch or Mr. [redacted] about his incomplete analysis. In

addition, the [redacted]s refuse to let Mr. [redacted] examine their slab and drainage

systems.

There have been no facts submitted indicating any

wilful or deliberate violation of any building codes, industry standards, or

general standards of care. Finishing Touch complied with applicable building

codes, industry standards, and professional standards of care. Finishing Touch

also agreed to replace the flooring at no cost to the [redacted]s but needed to be

released from liability for future damage caused by their drainage problems.

The [redacted]s refused this generous offer. Thus, the [redacted]s alone are

responsible for investigating and remedying their defective site drainage and

repairing their flooring.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

After reading Finishing Touch's response I am baffled at the fact that he makes reference to Mr. [redacted] who has never step foot in my residence. Furthermore, during the winter season of 2011-2012 there was very little rain. Our property has sufficient drainage. Finishing Touch hired [redacted] to complete a inspection in 2013 and his conclusion was Finishing Touch improperly installed the wood floors. [redacted] has kept this report in hiding. Tri-West concluded the same. [redacted] is a certified inspector. He is more than qualified to determine the floors were improperly installed. This makes three reports which indicates Finishing Touch failed to properly install my wood floors. Finishing Touch did offer to repair the small section of damaged flooring (100+ sq. ft.), but wanted us to sign a release for the rest of the flooring. I then noticed bubbling in adjacent rooms. At this point I began to have suspicion of Finishing Touch's actions. Once again, three reports indicate poor workmanship.

Regards,

Business

Response:

This is our response: