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I recently had some 5" oak unfinished, glue-down, wood floors installed on a house that I am remodeling to flip. Let me start and say that I have used this hardwood sub on at least 20+ houses including new installs and refinishing and have never had an issue.

I just had my 7th coat put on this floor this morning and it still doesnt look right! What you can see are several lap marks/applicator marks and lots of bubbles. The applicator marks are the main thing. He will make it right and come back free of charge but he isnt figuring out the problem.

He has blamed it on it drying too quick, drying too slow, the mineral spirits he was using so he changed that, then he blamed it on his applicator so he bought a new one, he has tried a couple of different finish sheens, and tried a different grit for the buffer.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have seen a couple of puddles too but I think that was his error as well as a few places where it looks like the poly didnt take. Thanks in advance for your time!

I have been finishing floors nearly 30 yrs. now. I'll say situations like this occasionally crop up. It's disheartening to everyone involved. After 7 coats, your finisher is left with three possibilities.

1) Re-sand the floors down to bare wood and start the finishing process over. Some in the industry believe that after a number of coats, additional coats only magnify problems. I'm not sure I'd always agree with that position.

2) Allow the finished floor to cure for a couple of weeks. This is done to allow the finish to be abraded with coarser abrasives successfully. Then I'd thoroughly screen with 100 grit in both directions. Then do it again with 180. Then a final time with 3M maroon pads. At this point, the floor should be free of any bubbles and debris from previous coats. Any puddles should be scraped and hand sanded out prior to the first screening.
Now it's time to make sure the house is at the right temp. Set the HVAC to 65 degrees overnight. Place the finish cans in the house so they are the same temp as well. Vacuum and tack the floor as much as needed to ensure it's dust and lint free. Tack the floors with water, not solvents. Turn off the HVAC before this process. Make sure all windows and doors are shut or are barely cracked. We want zero air flow and zero air movement during application and drying, until the finish it tack free. Make sure the finish is mixed well and allow to sit for 15 minutes prior to applying, to allow any bubbles in the finish to release. Then apply the finish evenly at approx. 500 ft. per gallon, using clean applicator. Make sure there is good lighting to be able to see any flaws and get to them before the finish sets up. The person applying the finish needs CLEAN shoes or finish booties and clean clothing so crud off their clothes are not falling in the finish. After the floor has dried about 6 hours, open some windows a bit to allow fresh air. Then , in a day or so, go in and open them some more and turn on HVAC. Now, we want to get fresh air in and bad air out. Wait the recommended time prior to moving in on the floors or covering them.
If he still cannot do a relatively decent job ( not flawless ), he's either not experienced enough and lacks the skill, or he's using the wrong products.

3) At which point, he should just hire someone else to do it and get out of there. He doesn't have what you're looking for.

Also, consider, floors are not furniture. Some flaws here and there may be present and the floor could still be considered acceptable. There's the NWFA guideline, which states, " If a person viewing the floor from a standing position in normal lighting ( not glare across the floor from a sliding glass door ) cannot readily see the flaw, then the floor is considered acceptable."

Thanks for all of your help. The guy has done many houses for me and I have referred him many many times and never had an issue at all.

I just got off the phone with him and he told me that he has recently done some hiring/firing and he almost things that one of the guys that was fired could have possibly came in after the 1st coat of poly and spayed something like ArmorAll on those floors just to cause problems. Could be another excuse but the guy has always done good work for me in the past.


I have had a random number call my cell (which is on the sign in the front yard) and randomly ask me if I had any hardwood floor work for him and that he specializes in refinishing floors. Kinda fishy.



He said he will screen it down a good bit then use Permabond to help out with bonding with the next coat and if that doesnt work he will take it back down to raw wood and start over. Does that sound right? Thanks!

It could explain the bubbles perhaps but not the puddles of finish and missed spots, nor the applicator streaks. Those are application issues and not contamination issues. But sounds as if he is willing to work to make it right, whatever it is that needs to be done. If he believes the floor was contaminated, then how does he know which coat was the one that got contaminated? Just screening and applying a bonding agent may not get down into the coat that was contaminated. His final repair coat may bond fine to the abraded floor, but the contamination may be below that and the finish could still peel. I'd ask for an extended finish de-lamination warranty. Sometimes, the problems do not crop up right away.

Yes, I agree. He is and will be willing to do whatever it takes but I still think he needs to take it back to raw wood and start over. I just dont think anyone went into that house and did that. It is in an upper end neighborhood and I had $10k+ worth of tools and materials in the house that I think someone would have taken.

His bubble issue is more than likey from stirring the poly and applying it right afterwards.

I almost believe that something got mixed in with the 1st coat that shouldnt have and it is causing all these other issues. Thanks again for your time! It is greatly appreciated!

In reading this thread, I am of mixed mind what the correct course of action should be.
But, 7 coats, soon to be 8; will never be a hard finish simply because of the overall thickness of the combined coats. Nor will adding a transparent coat on top of a blemish do anything to conceal the blemish. More likely, it will accentuate it.

Having said all that, my vote is for full resand now, instead of after the 8th, or perhaps 9th coat of finish.

Since your flooring guy usually provides the quality you expect, I think this is the right way to go.

Having multiple coats would be OK IF every coat was allowed to fully cure. But typically, they are not. Dennis got it right, 8+ coats applied one after the other; the finish will not cure well.

I can say that it has been at least 4 days between screening and recoating. It has been cold here so after setting up good the heater was on in the house the whole time.

I think I am going to request for him to just take it all the way back down and to be done with it even if I have to throw some money at him. He did put my quarter round down for me for free.

It takes one to four weeks for floor finishes to fully cure, not days.

Just one more word of caution, if the finish is oil-based, and there is any solvents still trapped in any of the coatings, there is a risk of creating an explosive situation when resanding. I am sure your finisher knows this, but just a reminder, no point in burning the house down.
I would be waiting as long as I could before putting the machine on a fresh finish.