I had a very reputable firm install and finish my Patagonian rosewood. trouble is aft they put the 2nd coat of finish down (not stain- they use ZAR polyurethane satin) the floor began to show thousands of white spots, nothing larger than a dime. They said they never seen this before, so they sanded (after it was sanded or buffed what ever term you guys use--you could see where the white blemishes were) and put ont he 3rd coat and the white spots disappeard but then where ever the spots were there were "dimples" so to speak of where the spots were almost like little depressions. They came back and resanded and this time put a bonding agent in the ZAR (something called #7) and the dimples or depressions are still there but not as bad but are noticible in certain lighting conditions. It almost looks like high heel marks in the floor, other than that it is a beautiful floor!!
I am getting frustrated and so are they. They are coming out again!! Any suggestions.

Material was acclimated for 2 weeks with HVAC on set at 75(our normal setting)

thanks in advance for the replies

I will also post this in the finishing section in case I am in the wrong area.

ok just a wild guess here, i have seen it before in a b. chery floor. All these exotic floors contain a large amount of oils in the wood itself. If the floor was sanded and not sealed quickly enough then the oils wick to the surface of the floor. what this will do will give you extended dry times and possibly adhesion failure. The white spots sound like there has been some kind of reaction going on with the poly and the wood itself. Were the spots soft? Are they in the board seams? post a picture if you can. What leads me to belive this is how you say a depression was left after they screened and recoated the floor, if the finish was soft in the spots(not cured) then when they hit it with a buffer it would rip those open like a scab for lack of better explaination. Now when the new coat was put down it just falls down in the depression.

Kevin, thanks for the quick reply. Ok they started coating right after they finished sanding. They told me they did use a drying agent to aid in the drying because of the type of wood. Spots do not appear to be in board seams (am at work now and dont remember exactly) and I do not remember if they were soft. I know when he screened them down to put on the 4th coat you could still see where they were because of lightness in color but they were flush with the wood (I was there w/installer and we checked) but once poly'd over they were ok till about 5-6 hrs into it and they came back.
I talked to the finisher this morning and they put a call into ZAR and their response was to wait 5 days to see if they go away.

I don't know how they can go away once hard and the finisher doesn't know either but I am to call them in 5 days to let them know so that they will correct.
Sorry about photo posting--I do not have any shots of the white spots, but if I can get a shot of the finished floor spots I will post.
Flooring guys going out of their way to work but just frustrating to both of us.
I will get back with a photo--once again thanks
bill g

Like Kevin states. The finish, is nor compatible with the natural oils in the wood.

Oily over oily is a gamble. Water over oily drys fast enough to grab, or it will "fish-eye" to let you know.


Kevin is right on the money.


Just like scabs!!! Perfect!!!

ok the question i would ask the finisher is why he put an additive in the finish and didnt use zar's quick dry poly if that was what he was after. Many of a floor finisher try a little tail gate chemistry in an effort to help with a situation they are dealing with. Finish companies pay chemist big bucks to do this kind of thing so the contractor doesnt have to on site. Find out about what was put in the finish and contact them as well, more than likely one manufacture will blame the other and in the end it will be the contractor that will have to bite the bullet for mixing chemicals together that were not compatable. One more note call the people where you bought the material as well, it is possible they might be of some insight. Good luck. I would almost bet my dog that those spots are all going nowhere.

ok here is the pic. I was told he added a Zar quick dryer due to the temps we're having up here in the northeat--very humid lately.

Before the install I gave them a sample to see what finish we wanted--satin vs semi and that sample is perfect no dimples. The installer added the bonding agent on advice from I assume ZAR--dont know.

Anyway I contacted the flooring mfg and they have no known problems with this hardwood, they do have problems with brazillian walnut but not the rosewood.

Guess I will be waiting on what Zar says.
ANy thoughts or comments on the pics---looks like they are in the seams also,
thanks
bill g

Doesn't that look like "fisheye" from silicone contamination?
If it is, there's any easy solution.
Charlie

Thanks Charles for the reply, I am going to give this info to my installer--very easy to work with and see what he says, but I have to wait till Zar gets back to them. They(installer) mentioned fisheyed also and that is another reason they added the bonding agent.

I don't believe any bonding agent will eliminate fisheye.
Charlie

That's a total resand, right there.

Ditto that, Floorguy (If that truly is your name!).
Charlie

Ditto that, unless . . . . . . . . . IF your guys can screen off all that fisheye, and I mean to say that IF he can agressively screen down past the fisheye, then he could put the Universal Sealer (SealCoat) on. Then top-coat with a 2-component water-based OR oil-based poly.
This, by the way, would not have happened if he had used water-borne polyurethane. Water-based products do not re-act to silicone contaminates (or wax contaminates for that matter).
Charlie

ok if the white spots are in the cracks and became apparent not on the first coat but the second leaves me to belive that the finish was not fully dry before theh second coat went down. My guess and i am guessing is that the floor was installed a few weeks maybee a couple of months ago. You ran the a/c for two weeks witch draws the wood down leaving hairline cracks. first coat goes down fine no problem. second coat is put down just a bit early and now you have a finish still trying to off gas under another coat of finish(especially in the cracks were it seeps down). the result is craters. My suggestion would be sand back down to bare wood(ouch) then trowel fill the floor put down either a waterborne sealer of if want oil some universal sealer like charles recomended. then follow with a waterborne top coat. We have been seeing unusually long dry times here in our area too(smokey mtns). I have seen oil based first coats take up to five days to dry on oak floors.

Kevin, floor was installed 2 weeks ago and finished this past Monday. Spots came the after the 2nd coat ws drying. 1 coat one day, 2nd coat the next and so on.

well then i still say the first coat was not dry and you have a finish trying to off gas under another finish coat.