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Home > Neighbor drilled holes into our floor! What is reasonable here?

Neighbor drilled holes into our floor! What is reasonable here?

November 20th, 2011 at 06:06 am

I was washing the floor today and notice that there is a bunch of hole going all along our bedroom wall (the wall that does NOT have any furnishings or rugs near it. These are small, but very numerous. There are dozens of them:







They are each the size of a think staple. I don't know how the heck they got there, they were not there before. The only explanation is that the neighbor downstair (I'm guessing their contractor) did it during the renovations.

We will go and talk to them tomorrow. The thing is, I don't know what to do or what to ask of them? I've never encountered a situation like this before :0

On one hand, asking them to replace entire hardwood floor, it kind of ... well, very expensive. On the other hand, this will affect our resale value. And, it is impossible to replace part of the hardwood floor and make it seamlessly blend with the rest.

And I don't want to create antagonistic situation with neighbors, but this is really bothering me. The floors are damaged.

I don't know what to do.

I have to talk to them tomorrow - just because I don't want this to happen in other rooms and along other walls. They have to know about it, so I can't postpone. But, I don't know what exactly we should demand they do about it. What do you think is reasonable?

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “Neighbor drilled holes into our floor! What is reasonable here?”

  1. LuckyRobin Says:
    November 20th, 2011 at 06:34 am 1321770888
    1321770888

    I should think the contractor would be liable for any damages he did during the renovation.

  2. Amber Says:
    November 20th, 2011 at 10:26 am 1321784800
    1321784800

    I agree with LR, the contractor is responsible. Don't feel bad it's your floor that is damaged. Simply inform your neighbor, be assertive and polite. Good luck.

  3. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    November 20th, 2011 at 03:15 pm 1321802149
    1321802149

    Those look like staple marks from when there used to be a carpet in that room. Typically when you remove carpet and go to just a hardwood floor, your buy filler made from dust of the same species of wood as you floor, fill the hole and finish the surface after it sets and dries.

  4. Looking Forward Says:
    November 20th, 2011 at 09:24 pm 1321824252
    1321824252

    Joan is right - There is a filler made just for this type of thing - filling little holes. But I think if the contractor below did the damage he should repair it.

  5. patientsaver Says:
    November 21st, 2011 at 02:48 am 1321843725
    1321843725

    I would also be extremely upset. Obviously, the contractor is inept.

    It is 100% their responsibility to restore your floor to its original condition. Why don't you let the professional that you hire to fix it (which neighbor will pay for) decide how best to restore it?

  6. Nika Says:
    November 21st, 2011 at 04:46 am 1321850790
    1321850790

    We are going to have someone who knows about these things come look at it. We need to be more informed before approaching them.

    Joan, if they were carpet related, they would be along all walls, right? but they are only along 1.2 walls.

  7. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    November 21st, 2011 at 06:28 pm 1321900100
    1321900100

    I can't remember where they were on the floors I removed carpet from. Except that there were some bigger holes --faintingly big holes which we were able to repair-- about a meter out from one wall! I could not figure that out. Thought it might have been from built-in furniture (bunk beds?) years ago as there had been 8 people living here in only 450 sq ft. Someone told me those holes were left from nails used in some kind of stretcher used to install the carpet.

    Your wood looks very nice, worth repairing.

  8. whitestripe Says:
    November 23rd, 2011 at 01:54 am 1322013261
    1322013261

    There is a filler that can be used that can also be matched to the colour of your floor, if the right shade is picked it should not be noticeable once finished and should blend seamlessly with the flooring. I doubt that the contractor would accept having to replace the entire floor - because it does not affect the usability of the floor and only the aesthetics, you would probably be looking at a repair job. (I say this only because I have dealt with this industry for 10 years - you could fight it, and might get somewhere, but it would be a tough battle).
    DH is a flooring installer/sander/sealer - he uses a wax that is melted and pushed into the holes, or a putty as well (usually when people pull carpet or vinyl up and re-sand the existing floors)
    Although it's rare, the filler could have been there before and come out while you were cleaning or with temperature variations (wood expands and retracts in hot/cold weather). Though I doubt that because they would not have ALL come out, only a few, or one.

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