I had a 6" Santos floor installed sanded stained and polyurethaned. After third coat was finished I inspected the job and found many flaws such as cupping, edge sanding marks, bubbles and debris. Also the butt ends of the planks seemed to be bumped like the sander glided over instead of cutting and leveling. The installer claims humidity but the house maintains 45 to 55 % and basement is the same % with the temp never below 61 degrees and the house at 68 to 70 degrees. I agreed to live with the cupping but wanted the floors screened and polyed to get rid of bubbles. On his 1st attempt he choose to put satin over the original semi gloss without informing me and the job now had streaks and flat areas. So he brings in his #1 man to make a 2nd attempt going back to semi gloss but this time the floor is left with many many stop and go marks. So they do it again using minwax semi-gloss fast drying, I told him it didn't make sence to have 1 man doing 1500 sq' with fast-dry He said to turn the heat down to 60 and it would work fine. Well Im back to bubbles and debris like lambs wool. Im up to 6 coats should I find another finisher and try a 7th coat ? And how long should I wait before rescreening and poly? Will I get checkering at some point? thanx for any help .

6 coats of oil based is quite a bit of finish. It must be starting to look pretty thick. Sounds to me as if you have given them every opportunity to get it right and they still can't seem to deliver a good floor. I will tell you, on 1500 ft. there will be a few flaws here and there. You will not get a piano top finish on a floor. It's just not possible. But you should get a good looking floor without a lot of noticable flaws. If you think they are unable to get it right, perhaps it's time to call someone else for an opinion. I have been called in many times throughout my career to recoat another contractor's floors because they don't have the skill to get it right. You can continue to recoat and if the coats were properly prepared and abraded, you should not have an adhesion problem. I've seen gym floors that have been recoated every year for 20+ years before refinishing. But the more coats, the more "plastic" looking the floor will be. Some really like that thick, heavy coated look. Others don't. If it were me, I'd most likely start looking for someone else at this point. You know, three strikes and you're out (the door).

Yup its getting to look thick and yes there is a lot of bubbles and debris. My wife doesn't like the thick finish now even if they do get the bubbles out she thinks its starting to look laminated but we need to move in and resanding is a scary thought.

If there are indeed serious issues there are some things I'd like to mention that I hope will help.

He claims humidity ... hmmm.... how long did he let it acclimate ... 6" wide material demands nearly twice as much time as strip widths. I give a plank that wide MINIMUM 14 days. Especially an exotic with a decent oils content.

Did he full trowel glue as well as nail/staple. NWFA tells me that anything over 4" wide demands it due to lack of proper amount of fasteners per sq. ft. Many people pay no attention to this ... Im just glad they don't install for me...

There is multiple times more hydrostatic pressure in 6" wide planks than normal strip widths.

How long did he let the floor 'set' before sanding and finishing. Does he know that the stresses relieved in wood during nail down cause it to continue moving for up to 14 days after install? ESPECIALLY wide planks and ESPECIALLY exotics. If the floor is still moving and he sands it flat .... well ... you get the picture ... cupped edges and high butt joints ... If you look along the cupped edges I'll bet you can tell every spot he put a fastener ... hopefully more often than once every car length ...

And again I reitterate that wood 'personality' totally changes after the boards are more than 4" wide. There are a few new rules to follow.

Our company's SPECIALTY is long length, wide (up to 21") width plank flooring. And believe me, there IS a learning curve.

No offense meant, but the fact that he's using minwax as a floor finish tells me alot about this guy as well.....

Hope this didn't come off as too arrogant but istallations and finishings are NOT one size fits all.

I guess the point is ... you cannot fix a bad install ( if that be the case) with more coats of cheap Home Depot finish...

Final note ... maybe you should contact National Wood Flooring Association by using thier link on this site. They may be able to have a certified inspector contact you to act as a middle man between you and them. He is nutral and will help you and them understand what is wrong and what may be done to fix it. I'm sure you spent near $20,000 for this nightmare and IMO I don't believe your getting professional results.