Hello everyone,

I had my wood floors refinished with Bona Traffic. The contractor said that he normally applies the stain and two coats of Bona Traffic but for better durability, recommended a third coat. I opted for the third coat.

After two coats of Bona traffic, his guys buffed the floor and at this point it looked patchy in places - not specific strips of wood but larger areas covering several flooring pieces. See attached pics that clearly show the differing texture or color - in front of and to the right of the fireplace and in the other roughly in the center of the photo. The technician said that the floor would look fine after the third coat but per my understanding, the role of the third coat was better durability not better looks. After the second coat and buffing, I would expect the floor to look finished not patchy since two coats is the norm. The current patchy look is, in my opinion, possibly because the first two coats were too thin and were damaged by the buffing or something similar.

The contractor, who hasn't seen the floors himself - only the photos I sent him, said that it looks like work in progress and shade differences are normal "in the *middle* of the buffing process". Except that this was not the middle but at the end of the buffing process! So it shouldn't look like "work in progress".

Even if the third coat improves the look, I suspect that I'll not be getting what I'm paying for which is 2 coats + 1 coat for durability but something inferior. Could you experts on this forum please weigh in on this? Thanks.

P.S. I've got to figure out how to attach the pics to this post.

Seems to me the affected areas are sucking up more finish. Or maybe some areas didn't cure as well as others for some reason. It should look more consistent after a screen buff. Maybe they had some "troubled areas" to deal with. Hopefully some more skilled guys can better answer this than I.

is that the way it looks after the third coat was applied and dried?

or is the floor just buffed at this point?

if it looks like that after 3rd coat has dried,then I suspect they used a new screen and started right there and when the buffer started in burnished though the coats.

if it is just in a buffed state , wet a rag and wipe is down..if the color goes even, then it is fine..if it still appears the same..then there is an issue

Thank you for your replies James and Ken,

James, to answer your first question, the pics show the floor after the second coat was buffed.

And your other comment addresses the issue I believe. One of the technicians did wipe the buffed 2nd coat with a moistened cloth and at that point the floor looked more even (for the area near the fireplace - didn't try the other area) till the moisture film dried off. Could you tell me what was going on there? Was the patchy look just an optical effect of the coats + buffing?

Now the third coat has been applied, it has dried and the floor actually looks great!

Thank you very much.

Prao

Well heck, lets see the finished floor please.