I had our floors refinished by a company last week, they started on Monday and took the day to sand the floor. Tuesday, they applied the stain and let it dry. Wednesday, supposedly applied 2 or 3 coats of the water-based poly and were done by noon (they came at 8am - seemed kind of fast/rushed!). I went home in the evening and found bubbly texture and marks everywhere. Researched online and generally read that the poly was probably shaken and they didn't allow enough settling time. Called them back, they came friday and resanded the top coat, and reapplied the finish again. This time, the finish was smooth (i.e., no bubbly texture), but the ring marks from all the bubbles before were still visible! On top of that, as you can see from the attached pictures, there's so many streaks on the floor, i saw him when he was applying the coating and he wasn't going very straight as you can see from the pics. I was wondering why he woudln't line up the end of the rectangular applicator with the lines on the wood floor panels and go straight like that. Also visible, are scratches from a standing position from their sander I take it.

Called the owner of the company, he was very apologetic and a good business person and mentioned it's not right and he will do what he can to have it rectified. He said that an oil-based coating will eliminate the streak marks, is that true? I live in Orange County California, and apparently oil-based is outlawed for sale in LA and Orange County, so the owner is having his guys drive to San Diego County to purchase the stuff (it's legal to buy there) so I know the owner is really trying to go out of his way to fix the issues. Also, what do you think about the ring marks? I think it's under a deeper coating or something, i don't want them just sanding the top layer again and applying the oil-based coating and the ring marks will still show through.

Also, to do a PROPER job, will they have to re-sand right down to the finish and reapply the stain and then the oil-based coating? Or what will happen if they just sand down a coat or two and apply the oil-based coating on top of one of the water-based coatings? I read that an oil based coating brings out the color of the wood much nicer, but if they're putting the oil based on top of the water based, will the oil penetrate through the water based coating?

Thanks in advance for any input.

do you know what brand of finish was used?

Yes, it was a big white 1 gallon bottle of Dura Seal.

Any comments regarding the oil based finish on top of water based finished?

This is not really a reply, but I am experiencing the EXACT same problem and was wondering if you found a solution.
I know exactly how you feel. It sucks!!!

Looks like a bad job applying the finish. That'll happen if you try to apply water base too thin. It's not an easy task to apply a perfect coat, there's not much chance of going back over mistakes because it dries so quickly. Definitely requires a bit of experience, which someone obviously did not have.
In the pic of the hall, it looks like the stain may be blotchy/patchy. If this is the case, it will need re-sanding.
If all the problems are in the finish, it can possibly be buffed out, and re-coated properly to bring it up to par. If the bubbles/rings occurred in the first coat, it'll need to be re-sanded.

Re coating may improve the look but one of your pictures of the hallway appears to show some burn through where either stain was lifted off the floor or a buffer burned through.

Either way , any bubbles, drips or streaks that are buried in the finish will really not improve simply by putting another coat on top .And there's no reason to believe that oil will change anything unless this company's guys simply stink at putting down water base finish and are relying on the workability of oil poly to make up for their lack of talent.

In the sand + finish industry, many companies still lack people that can properly apply water based finish.It can be hard to work with and multiple coats of finish in the same day can be a big problem.I do realize that multiple coats can be applied in one day but I rarely do that for reasons that aren't important at the moment.

One other thing. Companies that put on multiple coats of water finish with the intent of getting done faster to make more money generally put on super thin coats and avoid inter coat screening / buffing. And this can result in the type of results that you have . I recommend asking your contractor to not send the same guys back.

Here's the floor that I completed on Friday in Milford,Connecticut .it has one coat of Bona Dri Fast sealer and two coats of Bona Traffic waterborne finish. THis is what a finish should look like.

springtime 004 by paulsecondino, on Flickr

i will take a stab at this...they used a lambswool applicator to apply the waterbase.....
that will cause that effect.

if they used a synthetic applicator(not a T Bar)...this will cause it to..they brushed the finish to much and spread thin.

when they "re wet" the applicator, it left a heavy wet edge which wont level out with waterbase..it need to be leveled out with applicator and respread ..

this is the result of over working/stretching finish i wont call ti worng applicator, unless labswool, but wrong procedure in application with applicator.

It looks to me like the streaks will probably not buff out. Also, it looks as if they used too heavy of a grit screen when buffing in between coats, to the point that it actually took up some of the stain in your hallway. I would let them try to recoat it again, but more than likely it needs redone.