I'll try to keep it short and simple. We decided to have our hardwood floors refinished with a water coat and uv finish. The floor guys made the mistake of using oil based poly instead of the water based we paid for. They're now saying they'll just apply water over the single coat of oil and it'll be fine.

So far, everything I've read (isnt much) says you can do this provided the oil has had time to fully dry. The oil was put on yesterday evening (Thursday) and they'll come back on Sunday to apply the water coat to finish the job. I've read oil can take weeks to dry properly, so the couple of days theyre giving it, wont cut it.

I'm starting to get concerned that these guys might be a little shady and not too sure where to go at this point. Should I try and have them remove the oil coat to have them do it the way we asked and paid for?

Until recently, I thought you could put water over oil within days. I recently talked with Bona about this, and they recommend more time. I believe they said to wait at least a week. I can't find my notes on that, and they're not in on weekends. I would hold off on a Sunday coating, even though I know it's tough to be out of your house.

You can call the 800 number for whatever oil poly your guys used, and find out what they recommend in this situation. But you will probably have to wait until Monday to get any tech support.

You can put oil over water in a week but water over oil you need at least a month.

I think it's the other way around, Jeff, but I could be wrong on that. The water base adheres with a chemical bond, not a mechanical bond. That's why you don't need to scratch / buff a water-based coat, but you're supposed to always do that with an oil sealer or an oil coat. I think I heard it explained that when putting oil on water, the water had to be fully cured in order for the oil to get a mechanical bond. Whereas, the water doesn't need the mechanical bond, so not as much need for full curing of the oil finish.

I'll ask Bona about this on Monday.

If you put the water over oil while it is still curing and off gassing the water won't cure or adhere properly.

Thanks for the reply guys. He was supposed to finish the work yesterday but he left the windows open in the house all weekend and it turns out one of their workers cut the line from the thermostat to the furnace so there's no heat in the house now. He's having a guy come over this morning to repair (and charge us!) the line to bring the temps back up. Then it's two coats of water with a UV finish.
This whole process has been a giant and costly pain. Staying at the in laws, dog is in a kennel, just ready to get back home and settled.

If he cut the line he needs to pay for the repair not you.

I talked to Bona tech support. You were right, Jeff--it's a longer period for water over oil. It's the curing time--Bona oil finish takes 14 days to cure, so that's the wait period before you can put water over it. Water-based finish takes 7 days to cure, so you can put oil over water after seven days.

I thought it was a month but it's good to know Bona said 2 weeks, But I still win.

Bona pointed out that this timetable is based on the curing times for their products, and may not apply to other products. It sounds like a good general rule-of-thumb, though.

I had always heard longer as well.

But, what is the purpose of putting the water based on top of the oil. This doesn't make any sense to me. It seems that they should refund the difference in price.

I'm not sure WHY you chose the water base (and this is not a criticism), but if the reason was for lighter color/less yellowing, you're still going to get that with the oil based being there.

I just don't see why they would even recommend this. But, I may be missing something. And, further, they should know that the time frame they recommended is way too short.

Debbie Gartner aka The Flooring Girl
Owner Floor Coverings International - Westchester NY
http://TheFlooringGirl.com