Got laminate installed, has matching boards next to eachother

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119472109#Comment_119472109

It's not fixable without redoing half of the floor.

From the first pic, it looks like they'd need to work their way back from the front door right down the hall. The skirtings etc will need to come off again.

Ouch Chinese Byrne

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119478784#Comment_119478784

Then that’s what they need to do. Floor fitters lay floor incorrectly then fob off customer. Based on previous comments It’s stereotypical of the Irish accepting what you are given rather then accepting what you requested.

There is no way that that’s supposed to be the design of the floor. The OP paid 1000s for the laminate and install so it would be 100% correct.

RainInSummer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119471572#Comment_119471572

I'd guess you know what laminate is from your other posts about here, but it's effectively a photograph of some walnut on a man made plank. So yep, someone in a design capacity likes sapwood.

The Continental Op

Thanks I'd know about the solid stuff and some thats real veneer but honestly didn't know they'd go to those lengths to produce boards with so few pattern changes.

RainInSummer

It's typically not an issue if it's installed somewhat sympathetically to the design.

There's lots of it in the house here and it's a good ten years old, looks like new in a lot of places and you have to go look for repeats in pattern. They are there but unless you are a shoe gazing type you won't notice.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119485811#Comment_119485811

Not a shoe gazer but I'll soon spot if your shelves and pictures are plumb or not ;-)

ec_pc

I had a similar concern when we got our hall done with semi-solid herringbone in 2020, you can clearly see some brighter contrasting pieces, but this never really bothered us and we don't even notice it. I think they have dulled a little since being installed, but we do not have any mats etc in place. Nor has anyone ever commented on it.

embracingLife

I got laminate flooring fitted few months ago. The fitters are very reputable and have a waiting list for several months.

When they finished the job, they walked me around and insisted I inspected it and was happy with their work. Also they showed me some off coloured planks similar to the OP's photos but instead of laying them they discarded them and opened up all the remaining boxes and used enough planks so everything was the same. They said that there's no way they'd fit the discoloured planks.

Btw I contacted them in the past few days and showed them this thread and the OP's photos. They laughed and couldn't believe a fitter laid these planks.

So yes I stand over what I said and clearly the OP isn't happy with the way the fitters did the job.

Hotblack Desiato

I'd be annoyed if I got a number of pieces of flooring that were very different from the rest - and with laminate there isn't the excuse of the variation in natural wood - somebody chose to make those pieces look very different to the others.

When we moved into our current house we had lots of renovation to do, we did the whole ground floor (except kitchen) in the cheapest possible B&Q laminate inexpertly installed by myself. At the time we thought we'd have got our money's worth if it lasted ten years. I honestly thought it would wear out fairly rapidly in the heaviest wear areas due to being cheap. 15 years later it's as good as new, the feckin' stuff will outlive me at this rate 😆 but the main thing is that it's reliably bland throughout in appearance and doesn't draw attention to itself, unlike having dramatically lighter bits on a predominantly dark floor. Tbh if that was me I woudn't be asking for the sapwood-coloured pieces to be moved around, I'd be asking for them to be got rid of if they weren't included in the sample pieces.

Call them back! They'll have it done in no time!

You'll be looking at it longer than it will take them to fix it!

mickdw

Surely that's a semi solid of some description and we are dealing with a rear walnut layer.

Anyway, I wouldn't fit it like that but it's not terrible. What is terrible is the edge strip butted up to the skirting to finish the floor at the edges. That shows up the whole job as being fake as fake can get.

Curse These Metal Hands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119518295#Comment_119518295

Don't know how many times it needs to be said but it's laminate.

eddie.g

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119472256#Comment_119472256

i would agree with the above,, if you are like me you will lift the rug to show others 😂 i see these things too and its only when you point it out to others they tell you they did not notice but now that its seen it cant be unseen.

if its possible for your own sanity see if they will fix it, just show them the picture,

your lucky you went for a good laminate some have so little variants that it replicates loads.

GreeBo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119478784#Comment_119478784

It was easily fixable when the OP drew their attention to it (the original photo)

OP I think you are getting away with it due to the herringbone style, as the boards don't look identical (to me), they look more like two plans from the same original piece of timber with the sap wood being narrower in one than the other. If they were laid any other way I would have a real issue with what they did but I think I could accept this. However 100% you were within your rights to get them to change/fix it when you originally asked.

I had a walnut semi-solid floor laid before, and while he did a great job, he used a couple of rows of small planks consecutively (each box had a mix of short, medium, long boards). This annoyed us as we had bought plenty of extra boxes to ensure that this wouldnt happen and by the time we spotted it the floor was complete.