Cracks in boards

Q: I had prefinished oak flooring laid in my new home three months ago. There are several boards with cracks forming in them. One was so bad they had to replace it.

Can you tell me why this is happening? Do I have a poor quality floor or was the installation not done properly? They had tested the humidity and said it was okay.

A: I do not know who the manufacturer of your floor is, but it is not unheard of for a couple of boards with splits in them to slip in. It does happen. It is likely that a couple or a few bad boards just slipped in unnoticed into the installation. At this point, I don’t think any blame has to be assigned. It does happen innocently enough.