Hi,

Just had my floors redone and I'm not satisfied with the work. Am I being unreasonable or should I try to get the contractor back in to fix this? The marks/ripples are consistent through the entire job and go from wall-to-wall. That is, it's not any worse in the middle or any better near the edges.



More pictures here.

He also didn't finish underneath the treads of the stairs. Is this normal? I can see it when looking up from the foyer and as I walk up the stairs.

The floors are select and better red oak and were perfectly flat when the contractor started. They were put down when the house was built in 1961 and never sanded. There was an old thin layer of wax that was worn off in traffic areas.

Let me know if you need any other info.

Thanks for any advice.

-Sam

hi
I had the same problem with the same wood. we are now in the process of correcting it .
the problem is caused by the sanding machine and in order to remove the chatter lines we sand the floor with a lagler trio . the trio took out the chatter marks .

I understand your dissatisfaction. This is the cause of an equipment issue and I suspect a drum sander with worn bearings. As the prior post mentioned there is more modern equipment that will eliminate chatter completely as they sand in multiple directions. As a flooring manufacturer we would run into the same thing on occasions with sanding machines which we would use prior to pre-finishing a floor. The chatter is difficult to detect until the finish goes on and enhances how the light reflects off the surface. We would sand and finish test pieces prior to running a project to ensure the sander was performing adequately which in our case meant that the third platten head was smoothing everything out. My point being, even though it is an equipment related issue the contractor should resolve the problem by sanding again with the sander repaired or with another sander and refinish the floor. The problem would have been evident the instant the they started to apply the finish. Sincerely, Kevin Pennington

IN my opinion , chatter is unacceptable and should be corrected.In some floors with lots of open grain like oak and ash , you can get dish out of the grain. But that isn't as sever looking as chatter.

And as mentioned, to correct this, you cannot use the same drum sander that caused it in the first place.

Looks more like a tight wave pattern to me.

The type of machine is necessary to diagnose the problem correctly..

Some wave effect is normal.
This looks more like rear wheel issue on a belt sander or possibly a top roller.