During a remodeling job on my house back in February, we had the hardwood floor sanded and refinished. It looks great. Problem is, its now July, almost FIVE FULL MONTHS LATER, and I can still smell it... I'm not sure what I'm smelling, but I'm imagining it must be either the stain or the sealer/finish.

When the floors were done, it was either damp or raining outside, and uncharacteristically cold for SoCal. I remember the contractor did not wait more than a day between stain and sealer. Not even sure it was a whole day. I'm wondering if that perhaps caused the stain not to dry, prior to application of the sealer? And now I'm still smelling wet or excess stain underneath the sealer? Otherwise, could the sealer still be in the process of drying and off-gassing after five months? Any help would be greatly appreciated... I'd like to know whats going on before bugging the contractor once again about this. Especially with the recent hot weather, the smell has gotten much worse, and I'm now a little worried about the family's health too... we do have all the windows open, all the time, which helps but I know the smell is still there.

Thanks so much!

in so cal most due to the voc laws require waterborne finishes. it sounds like they put oil down on yours. OIl is slow drying and drys from the top down. if you coat oil too soon there is the possibility that the previous coats solvents are trapped by the top coat and the result is a very slow curing finish because the solents cant gas off. Also have seen guys flood the floor with poly on a floor tthat has large gaps between boards will do the same thing. ive seen the smell get trapped in heavy curtains and furniture if left in close proximity as well.

Thanks. That makes a lot of sense... there are indeed gaps between some of the boards, and I noticed some pooling going on... areas with very thick coat of poly that have a hardened "flowing" edge, so he must have put a lot on. Sigh... so I guess the only remedy for me now is to sand everything off and start over? Probably with water base this time?

(Rooms were bare when the work was done, so it wasn't the furniture or curtains... unfortunately!)

it will eventually cure all the way out so if you have put up with this long id be willing to bet that its got to be close to being fully cured out. id just live with it if its not getting any better, plan a vacation!.

Hmm... I guess the question is how long "eventually" is... I wasn't clear about this in my original post, but the new bedroom with the new floor is not being used because of the smell, and we tend to try to avoid the hallway, stairs, and living room because the hallway and stairs were refinished and open into the living room. So, basically, its both smelly and a pain in the butt b/c we can't actually use multiple parts of the house.

I've been told that with a re-do using water base, there would be no smell within two weeks. Would you agree with that assessment? Or is that too optimistic?

Whereas, I guess if I sit tight, I'm having a hard time estimating how long the smell is going to last, certainly a few months at least... it doesn't feel like its gotten any less smelly in the last, say, three months. The first couple months we were hopeful, b/c it felt like it was getting better... but I think that improvement has plateau'ed! So unless the two weeks is too optimistic, the water base re-do is looking real attractive right now!

Passadena, can you update us on what happened with your floors? I am currently in the same boat as you were, and trying to evaluate my options.
Thanks so much.

No matter what finish is used heat and ventilation will help it cure.
A small fan to help circulation of the air and prevent stratification of the heat rising to the ceiling will help.