Hi all,

I have applied my 2nd coat of absco semi gloss polyurethane on my hardwood floors. I rolled on the coat, but missed a line with a slightly thicker coat of poly, now the thick coat looks "shinier" than the rest of the floor. its a small spot but unfortunately, in the center of the room. Is there a way to fix without buffing and re-coating the entire surface?

pic below:



thanks,
Alex

If it hasn't been over a couple of days you can tape off the boards with masking tape and just coat the ones you missed. The finish will stick. Pull the tape after 15-20 minutes.
If you have a river, then you will need to wait several days, before scraping with a sharp scraper to thin it down. Then tape, hand sand the area with 180 grit and apply a coat after cleaning up the dust.

thanks for your reply, i was referring to the dark streak (slightly thicker coat as i did not flatten it) towards the right of this image. think i need to wait a week or so before i sand this area down?

Also the new coat of poly, will that cause an overlap? want to make sure i don't cause a double/different coat in some areas.

thanks!

Remember that the coats of finish dry from the top down, so event though the top coat seems hard the coats below are not fully cured. You may disturb the lower coats by starting to work on the surface too soon.
It depends on how much ventilation and how warm it is to guess on the time.
With extra coats over an area that has been touched up you will naturally see a shinier area.
The finish will cure more slowly with heavy build-up. All you can do is wait for it to cure and then if it is too shiny, polish it with steel wool if necessary to create fine scratches that will scatter the light and make a lower luster.
0000 steel wool may help without too much trouble.

Awesome! thank you. So technically - i dont need to reapplu a coat on the line in image below. Since its only slightly thicker - ill just adjust the sheen on this layer itself.

ANy tips/techniques on how to rub steel wool? Scratches in the direction of grain or against it?

Go with the grain. You can always buff a little more if too shiny. It will help to dull the surface, but it is not really a satin finish.

Hi Pete - i waited 2 weeks - light sanded and applied a very light coat with a brush - but unfortunately it left brush marks on the layer when it dried out and it looks bad from certain angles. Any tips on how i can smooth this out?

next time i'm hiring a professional!

I haven't worked with ABSCO enough to say anything with certainty. I have used it, but I hated it...so there's that.

I fix things like this for my shop all the time. The outcome is usually dependent on the finish, what the spot in the floor is, and how long it's been since the finish was applied.

In your situation, if the thin coat of finish took the same sheen as the rest of the floor, I'd try again, but use a foam brush to lay the finish on the floor.

The biggest problem I run across doing this kind of work is that layering a spot coat of finish isn't always going to suspend the dulling agent in the same way as the full strength coat. A thin coat will disperse it evenly and on the same plane, as a thick coat will allow it to suspend at different levels within the coat. Thinner usually means duller if using the exact same finish, and multiple thin coats might be needed. It's a guessing game and experience makes it an educated guess. Most of the time I'll use a heat gun on a small sample to make sure what I'm putting down will be a close enough match.

In your case, I'd tape off the boards affected, and then roll on a coat over it with a hand roller, then pull the tape off as soon as you are satisfied in order to eliminate a ridge. Chances are you are going to see the "patch", but with time and use, you will "sock polish" the floors over the next year and you won't even notice it after a few months. This is a case where it takes time to heal wounds. You'd be surprised at what eventually hides or "disappears" in polyurethane. I've exposed shoe prints and bad brush work when buffing floors to do maintenance coats.

Don't worry too much about it. If you can get it close, then leave it and don't overwork it. Let everything cure, put your furniture and rugs back and move on.