We just glued down a black handscraped(distressed) engineered product, but upon cleaning up the adhesive that got onto the wood, things have gotten ugly. This particular product has a very uneven surface, and anywhere that the cleaner can't be cleaned off goes whitish (like a water mark). Unfortunately we thought it was adhesive residue so we kept trying to clean it, hence making the problem worse.
At this point I think we'll have to use Bona's Hardwood Refresher, or another full coat.

My problem is that the manufacturer is already laying the ground work to leave me with the tab. My installers used the recommended system but because they didn't get it in 100% clean, I get to pay for a recoat?!

Excuse me, but how much of this stuff goes in 100% clean?
Any adhesive left on this stuff would've been too much (stick out like a sore thumb), so it had to be cleaned.
Am I being unreasonable to believe that a glued down that has to go in 100% clean is a job to be refused? Had I known this problem in advance, I wouldn't have sold it.

Thoughts?

Aint' that the truth. That's a tough one Andrew--maybe they should have some disclaimers on certain products? I'd be pretty angry too..

The rag with mineral spirits stays within an arms reach at all times, when placing boards in adhesive.

I don't think 100% is obtainable. with the brown tinted adhesives. If it doesn't show in the glare of the light, I can't see it!

I like how Mannington added lime green to their adhesive! You can see it the second it is there. I can acheive 100% when using that adhesive.

Try wiping the floor with denatured alcohol. I use it all the time. It leaves the place shiny clean. I wipe down my nail down jobs with DA. It removes any mallet marks and leaves no residue. It is pretty safe to use,too. No dain bramage.

Hey Floorguy, when I say 100% clean, I'm mean you put it in without getting any glue on the surface. That means you don't need the rag.
It's because my installers cleaned after themselves that I have the problem.

Andrew, I have yet to be able to do that. My fingers are glue magnets!

It will be on there before I know it. You have to have very small hands, to stay out of the glue. For me, the thicker the flooring the easier it is to keep clean.

Some guys are palm pushers, I am a finger puller.

Don't worry, you are not alone. Truth is I have yet to meet an installer that can put it in 100% clean without doubling his regular rate. Unfortunately that brings me back to my problem.
My installers put this stuff in and cleaned up after themselves, but the act of using the cleaner left the floor as ugly (if not worse) than leaving the glue on it. Because of this it needs Refresher or another full coat.

Now my rep wants to know why I feel they should pay for this extra work. In his opinion his product isn't at fault. If the installers hadn't tried to clean up the glue, it would've been fine. He told me that sometimes it's better to explain to the customer that eventually the glue will wear off, and will be less noticeable than trying to remove it.

Apart from how bad that would go over, shouldn't I have been told this before I even got a chance to sell the stuff?

I used their product and their system. It Failed!!!
Why should I be the one to pay to fix it?

Perry,
I am a foot stomper. My method kicks arse.

Andrew,
Have you considered renting a buffer?

I think I may be able to help. I had a carbonized bamboo job in port St. Lucie, the installer tried to clean the floor with mineral spirits , denatured alcohol, ultimate hardwood floor cleaner. The complaint was the floor was cloudy / hazey and footprint would show. I told him that there was still glue on the surface. I drove there and used Anti-bond 2015- (a urethane adhesive remover- that does not disolve the glue but merely debond it from the surface of the finish. ) i spray it on a 3' x3' area let it set while I entertained 10 people including the builder and home owners. after 5 mins I rubbed the area with my fingernails and small particles of adhesive started debonding from the flooring. after I removed the adhesive I rinsed with Bona Hardwood Cleaner and repeated the process. You have to be carefully with Mineral spirits because when you rub M.S it creates heat and can cause shiny spots. Denatured Alcohol , which has worked for some can impair the finish.

as long as the integrity of the finish is ok the process may help.

Chris @ CWF

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the tip I'll keep it in mind for the future. Unfortunately, for this particular case it won't work. I actually did some testing on some extra boards, and it's actually the cleaner that is causing the problem. Boards that we cleaned went hazy, even though they didn't have any adhesive on them.

My Rep and his technical guy are coming over thursday so we'll see.

Well we finally worked it out.
The problem was caused by the adhesive cleaner.

The remedy is;
#1 - wipe down the wood with the cleaner again

#2 - wipe down using a rag damped with water and palmolive

#3 - wipe down using a water damped rag

It took one and a half days for a young guy we have work for us to clean up 450sqft.

Guess who's got a new disclaimer for glue down installs. I'm not taking a hit for that again.