I refinished my pine flooring about 8 years ago and it went fine. They needed some help thanks to our dog so I thought it would be easy to do again. I was wrong. The room is about 400 sq feet.

First I used Minwax oil based poly and the finish went on really uneven, we waited a few days then rented a sander and sanded off the top layer.

The I used Varathan oil based poly, first coat went on fine and had about 25% of the can left over. For the second coat I mixed what was left from the first can with a new can that I thought seemed thicker but wasn't sure. I got to about the final 3ft by 17 ft strip in the room and I ran out. I opened a third can and I really noticed the difference in consistency then. I finished the room and the next day you could tell the last part was different. There was even a difference in the can lining between the second can and the first and third.

I bought another can and put a third coat on and it looked great except for some places where the finish crinckled up.

I rented a sander, sanded off the coat and spoke to a pro finisher I know. He sold me some Bonax Mega water based to use next. I am still having some problems, where the finish was crinkled it is really gummy and I am having a problem smoothing it out.

My wife is ready to divorce me, or cry. Is it safe to use water absed Bonex over oil base sanded down? How do I get rid of the gummy stuff? Can I just put down the Bonax Mega with a water based applicator, ie, no special tools needed? Will 1 gal of Bonax Mega do two coats in a 400 sq ft room?

Thanks for any help!

Take it down to bare wood and start over or hire a pro. Stop adding to the problem. Or your wife will divorce you.

I think the air quality police got you. All the finish manufacturers are being required to reduce the amount of volatile organic compounds, VOCs, in theur formulations. The oil base of a few years ago, while slow drying, flowed out really nice. The new low VOC stuff is like trying to finish with glue. Your good coat was probably just old stock.

When you have problems with oilbase it's a bad idea to keep putting on coats. Low VOC or not it's still very slow to cure. Putting on a lot of coats really slows it down. You're already at a point where it could take months to cure and you definitely cannot put on a waterbase until it's fully cured or the waterbase will fail to adhere.

You really might want to hire a pro or buy a bunch of sandpaper and strip it off and start over. It's a shame, but you're not alone; the internet's full of complaints about the performance of the low VOC oilbase finishes.

Jan