installed a glue down laminated floor. used Olympic water based poly as per instructions on can. first half of room went well.very good gloss. using paint pad for application. on the second half of room, the first and second applications dried with "dimples" and "craters" . also, the ends of the planks showed buildup of poly, like it did not go into cracks. cleaned excess glue first with low-odor mineral spirits. completely sanded this bad coat off, almost down to wood with #400 sandpaper and also synthetic steel wool. it was smooth, and the rings were gone. re-applied first coat, thin, of water based poly, and when it dried, the same thing happenned. used poly out of same can as first half of room that looked good. there seems to be very tiny pin holes in the center of these round rings. would appreciate advice on what to do, can sand entire area again by hand, but dont want same rings and craters to appear again.

What are you trying to do? It sounds as if you are attempting to recoat a factory finished floor. Depending on the finish of choice, different procedures are required. Tell us exactly what you doing and what products (brand names please) you are using.

Fisheyes, fisheyes, rolly poley fisheyes.

Who remembers the old Doctor Demento, radio show?


Ya, I'm kinda unclear on what your trying to do. It does sound like your trying to topcoat a prefinished floor and are now in way over your head, and have a messed up floor.

If so, why in the heck are you refinishing a prefinished floor?

yes, the floor is prefinished. the company that made the floor told me on the phone that it would be much more protected with several coats of clear poly, and would resist scratches that would normally go thru the thin veneer. the first half of the room did very well doing this, only htis one section is causing the fish eye problem. thanks for your help

Whenever one gets "fish eyes" in a finish coat, it is usually due to some form of contamination. I can't say what that would be. Maybe the mineral spirits used, something spilled on the floor, ????. On occassion, it can be a bad batch of finish itself. Time to call in a pro.

Gary, thanks for your help. maybe it could be that when i cleaned the floor with mineral spirits prior to finishing, i did not allow enough time for it to dry. and the spirits came up thru the water based coat. cannot afford to have it done by someone else, would if i could, wish i could, but just dont have the money. if i were to sand off all of the finish i could, could there be any m spirits left in the wood that would evaporate? it has been a couple weeks since it was done. as far as a bad batch of finish, i used out of the same can as the first application that worked well, only the can was covered tightly, but less than half full. can sat for a couple of months. will use a new can and a new pad for future coats. also, i used the old pad that had been washed out for the coats that had fish eyes. bought new pads, and they are softer than the used ones. thought of one possibility, don't know, maybe use oil based poly on this section with fish eyes? or try some kind of sealer on affected area, let it dry, then continue with water poly?? thank you for your help, tom

Try this. Clean the floor with a mild solution of TSP. Do Not over wet it. Then rinse, being careful not to over wet. Then go ahead and sand the floor with a buffer or what have you, ROS, pad sander, by hand. 220 grit should be fine enough. Go with the direction of the planks/strips. Then vacumm well and tack with lint free clean cotton towels and BONA hardwood floor cleaner. There should be no dust or debri at all. Now go ahead and apply another coat of your finish, using clean applicators and pan. Don't let air blow across the floor while applying the finish and for 1 hour afterwards. This should work. If not, I have no idea what the problem is then.