I have been working on finishing my floors. I sanded the floors up to 120 and then screened them with 120. I then water popped the floors to take more stain because we wanted them dark. I stained them with bona dri fast stain. I then started to apply the poly. I'm using bona mega. The floors felt rough after the the stain due the the raised grain I assume. I put on two coats of mega ad then abraded the floor with the maroon buffing pad and put on a third coat. I used a t bar to apply it. I did get a few particles in it and I ca live with that as I'm an armature and I'm not expecting this job to be perfect however it is turning out ok. The problem is that I'm getting a rough finish still after three coats. I think my coverage rate was good because I got about 600 sq ft per gallon. I think some of the roughness is from raised grain still. Can anyone suggest a solution?

Should I abrade with the maroon pad and recoat again?

Should I use something more aggressive like a 220 screen and then buff with the maroon pad and recoat?

One last thing that is confusing me is that the Bona directions state to shake the mega before applying but won't this make bubbles in the finish?

Please help this has been a very long process and I want to get it finished but I want it to look the best I can.

I will try to post a pic if that will help,

Thanks,

Dan

Hopefully the picture will show below. If not I posted the direct link also.




http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd314/dmarshall83/IMG_4394.jpg

As one more note I was wondering if the yellow siafast delta sheets used with the conditioning pad would be a solution. THe only issue is I'm using a 12 x 18 rectangle buffer so I'm not sure where they would go no the pad?

Thanks again for any help,

Dan

Yeah Dan, you've done pretty good so far. What you have is grain raise, probably from both the finish and water-popping. You will need to abrade and coat again. The BONA Mega is not a high build finish and can take 4+ coats to deal with a situation like yours. Since you're using an orbital sander instead of a rotary buffer, I'd suggest trying 220 screen, followed by the maroon pad. Be careful not to buff through the finish and sand out the color. You can thoroughly stir the finish instead of shaking it. But sometimes, the finish has sediment on the bottom of the bottle that needs mixing. Plus, to stir, you need to pour it all out. By shaking it, you can leave it in the bottle and pour it on the floor from the bottle. If you do shake it, let it sit for 15 minutes before attempting to use it. Bubbles should be gone by then. Don't apply the finish coat too thin. 5 to 6 hundred ft. per gal. per coat is about right.

Gary,

Thanks for the reply. I will try the 220 screen and then the maroon pad and then coat again. Maybe coat again after that if needed. I will post some pictures once the job is done. By the way I have a lot of respect for you flooring professionals. This is some of the hardest and most time consuming work that I have done so far in my remodel ( that includes roofing, plumnbing electrical and drywall).

Thanks again,

Dan