Ok, I just had my hardwoods refinished. (It's an engineered floor). All the companies that came out said no problem. The wear layer is plenty thick enough for one or maybe two sandings.

Anyway, I have several issues with the floor and I just want another opinion. Am I expecting too much out of a sand and refinish? Or what are my options.

Pretty much every "wall" or boundary has uneven amount of stain (in my opinion) - it looks darker and "wavy" and there are "grind marks" along most of the boundaries as well. And then there are places where you can see the original floor (orange) shining through.

The contractor is coming back to meet and look at the floor.

See pics











Thanks for any help!

bad sanding job they weren't good with the edger.

Field is slicker/smoother so the stain went lighter than the edges. Looks like the edges were done by the new guy. Common beginner mistake shouldn't need any help with this one its a pretty blatant example of what can go wrong if you dont know what you are doing or in a rush.

As mentioned , the sanding is very mediocre. The grind marks are usually referred to as "spinner marks" or" edger swirls"

Also, your picture near the fridge shows a terrible blend line between big machine and edger.It's an amateur level of sanding that you received and the floor should be completely re sanded, just not by the same guys.

When I stain a floor, you will have a very hard time finding any edger swirls and my blend around the perimeter of the room is usually perfect. So be sure to point out the bad blend near your fridge and other areas to your contractor.

IF they can't provide you with a competent crew, then the best course of action is to get your money back and have a competent crew re sand and start over.

hopefully there is enough for another sanding since it is engineered.

i dint it amazing how many times this stuff happens and I wonder...didn't they see this as they sere finishing, let alone getting ready to finish//?? why not correct the errors before completion?

don't they think people will see these things? either I have the toughest customers in the world..its on thing to make a mistake..its another thing to leave it...

funny thing is often these crews get the same rate, sometimes more, or just a fraction less than competent crews

if it's a 3/8 floor its done...

You would be surprised what gets by a lot of people. Back when things were busy I saw a ton of one cut with a 60 belt edged one time, buffed hard with an 80 screen then coated. Of course these where natural but they looked ok for a year or two. Just long enough to get paid and on to the next.

Thanks for all the replies. I had another contractor out to look at it and he pretty much echoed what you guys have mentioned - bad sanding, bad blending, didn't take his time, etc.

Meeting the contractor today, so we'll see what he says... it seems that there aren't many options for me. Another sand attempt would be risking sand-throughs, and I don't know how you fix those grind marks without re-sanding?

Chances are, you wont be happy looking at the mess the last crew created so find a pro that can show you his portfolio . IN his portfolio, there should be some stained flooring photos where there are no edger swirls .

If he's careful, there's a good chance he wont sand through the wear layer.

Ok, I met with the contractor. He agrees that whoever ran the edgerdid a very poor job and did not get it smooth, therefore, the stain soaked in more in those location. Not to mention all the edger lines around most of the perimeter.

His solution is to redo the floor. And of course, I am hesitant, but he assures me that he will make it right, and there won't be any edger marks.

We do have some parts where the floor stain is uneven. His solution there is to "water pop" the entire floor before he puts down the stain. Any pros or cons there? Or is this a band-aid?

Also, he's using water based Bona poly. Would oil be better?

Thanks for the help and I look forward to your responses.

-Water popping might be a band aid based on what his crew did last time. It is sometimes desirable depending on what you are trying to achieve. Water popping will make the stain appear to be darker but also raises the grain of the wood and makes the wood rougher.This means that you must build up finish on top of the roughness before you can start to smooth out the finish. Anyway, sometimes , popping is what a customer wants and sometimes it is a band aid for a lazy sanding crew. It depends.

_Bona water based polys are generally excellent .They have various versions like Mega , Bona Sport and Traffic .Mega is their least expensive and Traffic is their best finish. So which type is he actually using ?

Yeah, I asked the same question - "Is this just a bandaid?" He thinks that it will deliver a more even coat. Of course, my wife is worried that it might make it too dark. It's "Minwax Dark Walnut" over a red oak floor. And yes, he confirmed that it will be rougher and that they will have to build it up. We are going to do a walk through after the stain is applied to verify there are no edger marks or missed areas, or uneven stain. I told him that he should have done that before he sealed it the first time!

I'm pretty sure he's using Mega.

Any other stains in the "brown family" that we could look at? My wife wants a "dark brown" but not "black". The minwax page is so hard to gauge.

Thanks for the replies!

Minwax or duarseal provincial is a very common and good looking medium brown tone .Dark Walnut is considered a dark brown . Jacobean looks like dark walnut but it makes the open grain a bit darker and closer to black than Dark walnut does.

A simple way to gauge colors is to get some red oak and test the actual stain on the oak before it goes onto your floor. I make my samples by sanding my displays to about 120 grit and then I finish off the wood with a 120 grit screen. Popping can have the effect of making the color darker and somewhat more even.


Mega is a decent finish. Oil wont necessarily be better or worse. But Mega is not intended to be applied directly over stain .I hope he's using a good sealer in between. IF you have any questions about how Mega works over stain , you can contact Bona technical service and get their advice too.