Hi all,

Just had a solid 4&1/4 maple floor with a border sanded and finished (I installed it). I selected what was supposed to the best company in the area. All Bona products. Selected the traffic 2 part finish.

I originally wanted to inspect the floor after sanding for flatness, fill quality etc. but the installers insisted on sanding, fill and sealer in 1 day.

Here is what I'm seeing -

1. Pin holes in many of the nail hole filler and some shrinkage of the filler in nail holes (I can overlook this).
2. Some sander chatter marks in random places when seen in low angle light. I can easily feel them and they always seem to occur where there is change in wood grain. They did use a Hummel. To tell the truth I always see some sanding defects in almost every floor I have seen so I don't want to be unreasonable here.
3. Some areas/boards have little finish build on them so they have a slightly rough appearance (s/b semi gloss). This is what really bothers me. I know maple has a lot of porosity variability but sealer+2 coats should have plenty of build IMO. I think the first finish coat was somewhat of a bust as it was loaded with brush marks (looks like they worked it too long or to little finish). When the tech came back for the final coat I told him that he had to level that finish before applying the final. Perhaps the first finish coat was largely negated.

I may try to get them to add a third coat but I hate to be a nit picker. I belive it must be done within 48 hours.
Thanks for any tips, the floor install was an incedible amount of work ( I even coated the back of the boards before install) and I was hoping for a near perfect finish.

Here are some of the chatter marks -

I'm not no finish guy and others may chime in but your complaining about 2 little chatter marks in reflective lighting? I would let it go myslelf unless you think you could do better yourself .

Actually they are everywhere you look. Some serious brush marks also.

Where the chatter occurs, it's seems to be associated with a brown mark that spans more than one board. I don't know if this could be a burn but it's bizzare.

And I did finish my Braz Cherry stair landing with Fabulon supergloss. Used a half sheet RO sander so it's not a fair comparison but it looks like a sheet of plate glass. Lots of dust nibs though.

Well the industry standard is from a standing position and not in reflective lighting. I think it looks superb myself. How about a standing wide shot with no reflective lighting? You cannot expect the floor to have a piano table top finish.

Nobody pays for the work necessary that it takes to make a sheet of ice..NOBODY.

it can be done

the floor would need to be cut 5 times, disc sanded, screened,,,cleaned and coated.

2 opposite 30 degree cuts...3 strait progressive grit...disc sand with buffer same grit as finish cut..screened higher grit then finish..then clean and coat.

for me..i would charge at least 4.50-5.50 psf for this..this based upon volume...more for a smaller project.

would you pay me to do it?

no of course not..but you expect that work..typical HO...

The job actually consisted of 2 rooms and I got a chance to walk around the other room and it looks good - I can barely detect any deviation from total flatness. So I assume they may have trained someone on the other floor.

it's difficult to take a good picture showing the defects but I can do it. I have to take it at night with normal room lighting and no flash. I don't think there is even 1 sq ft w/o chatter.

I did pay $5 for sanding, finishing of 600 sq ft. They charged me a <500 sq ft rate and might have assumed I did not notice but I didn't mind. Some of the increased cost (0.50) is for the HD traffic.

Again, not a fatal flaw but what is the edge staining seen below?
About 10% of the board ends have this.

Edit - this may be my fault. I coated the back side of the boads with poly before install and on many of them the poly leaked to the front side at the ends. You would think it would have been completely sanded off but with end grain I know the finish is more likely to be pulled into the wood.

theres filler in the joint

and i would like to work where you live, because we just do NOT get those rates here in NJ..

i thought i was quoting high and where you are seems this is a standard price..

Probably because San Jose, CA. Problem is, wages are stagnant or dropping here so I doubt this can continue.

Thanks guys for all the replies, even if not supportive.

Thanks also to Gary who gave me some pointers on bordered floors.

I have done lots of finish carpentry for myself - trim, cabinets, built ins but this was a real SOB, technically and physically.

Sorry guys to beat this to death but there is one minor issue which really bothers me. There are amber patches on my floor that look like a stain was applied and it settled in the rougher areas. Of course no stain was applied but I did request the tinted Bona sealer. In most cases the patches are confined to a given board so I figure it was just natural variation. However, I found many places where is it contiguous over 2 or more boards.

Here is a pic where the amber stain runs across 2 boards. Hard to believe the natural coloration would line up like that. Any idea what could cause this?

This one is very light - others are much, much more obvious but I wanted to show one that runs accross boards to proove that it is not natural variation.

Yo sure did a fantastic job on that floor Alex. The install looks perfect. And so does the finish job from that pictures perspective. Maybe that why your not so satisfied with the finish job, cus it's not as perfect as your install?

Thanks for the kind words,

I had the estimator come by and he said those are not chatter marks, they are caused by varying wood density and I agree. Still seems like they are particularly severe but at least he agreed to do an additional recoat to correct the brush marks.

I can't tell 100% from your pics but I think I see some serious streaking in the finish.I do see the orangy blotch too. It looks like their sanding was mostly decent but they might have gotten speed bumps from some uneven butt ends.When butt ends don't sit together nice and flat, the big machine rides up them and makes a bump .Then the wheels on the hummel continue to follow those bumps as you go along. But I wouldn't call it chatter.

As for the finish, it should be super smooth. 1 coat of Bona DTS or Amber seal will seal the floor just fine.Then that should be buffed out with 220 grit sanding screens.Then 1 coat of traffic should be applied at a spread rate of between 400 to 450 sq ft per gallon. I always buff in between coats rather than stacking up multiple coats in one day. Mainly because hte finish comes out much smoother.

As for what you paid , $5.00 per foot is twice what I get . I want to work in California I think.