Hi Guys,

Time for me to pick on your collective wisdom/experience.

I am off to finishing my herringbone parquetry.
I got myself a wide (24") bona applicator and going with bona products (prime and 2 x mega for the first floor, prime + 2 x traffic for the ground).

I figured out with the applicator you keep on going with the longest possible sweeps, maintaining some finish (wet edge) under the applicator. The way I do it is I poor a puddle on the floor, close to one wall, and try to sweep finish to the next wall, if it is a long sweep I make a puddle in the middle. The subsequent sweep overlaps by ~1/5 of the applicator width with the previous one. Eventually I got handle of this and it works ok, not perfect but ok.

The problem that I have is that inevitably you have to go back (say to blend the seams between adjacent sweeps) or in a narow passage and that is when the problems arise.

For the life of me I cannot figure out how not to overapply the finish in these situations and not to leave puddles. I've tried squising the excess of finish from the applicator, but still the result is less then perfect.

So far I've done coats of prime and one coat of mega, so I can correct mistakes with buffing/ sanding, but once I move to the top coats and traffic (which I believe is more viscose) I really would like to be in control.

How do you guys do it?

Thanks and regards,
Alexei

Bona makes a roller for Traffic that you may find easier to use. That 24" T-bar is fine for large areas but when the space gets tight, it's difficult to use. My preference is to use a 10" Padco pad for smaller areas and to "cut in" on larger areas.

Thanks for the tip. I am using a similar pad for the edges, but it is small.
I'll see if I can find a larger pad, being on a different continent does not help
Otherwise it is back to the roller.

What do you do if you need to go back to the area that have already been coated?

a

Wait for it to dry completely. Then repair it. With waterborne finishes, you have to work very fast and do it well the first time.

Ditto that. You dang near need to drag out the edger to fix a drip in Bona Traffic. Waterborne has come a long way, baby.

Thanks for the replies, that is pretty much what I intend of doing:
use a square orbital sander with 120 grit mesh on few high/bad lap mark spots and then going with it over entire floor and then a second coat of mega. The prime was done reasonably even, so the darker spots are only due to thicker mega layer and I am hoping to get away without sanding .

Still not sure what to do if I need to go back to do minor corrections while I am coating and it is still wet, I guess I'll keep padco like pad close and use it.

The small Padco Pad on a broom stick will reach over to that puddle you just left and you then can feather it out or just mop up the excess. A 24" T-bar is abit overkill for a residence; 16" would be better to deal with. T-barring waterbornes is very tricky and usually requires two people; one to cut in with Padco pad and feather end turns and the other to t-bar. It is a team effort and like any team, takes practice, co-ordination of effort and planning.

Thank you Gary. I've figured that out. I'll stick with the roller and padco pads.
Tried roller in the walk-in-robe -- far more control. Than in one of the smaller wardrobes watched the effect of over-brushing -- too many litle bubles.
In essense apply even, liberally and in a fewer strokes possible -- tricky.