We are having hardwood floors installed., the installer did satin on all three floors as we requested but yesterday the carpenter came to do the hardwood stair treads and did it in semi-gloss.

Is this standard practice to always do the stair treads in semi-gloss or something like that because I would have thought you would do everything in the same style??

I really don't like the fact that the stairs are glossy while the rest of the house is satin but am not sure if this is fair to ask that a coat of satin be put on the stairs.

Before I ask the installer to correct this I wanted to make sure semi-gloss on stairs wasnt something that had to be done or something I should have known was always done.

Thanks for your expertise!!!

The finish sheen on the stairs should be the same sheen used on your flooring areas. Semi-gloss is also not as forgiving ,(traffic wise), and a little tougher to maintain than Satin, especially on stairs. Your carpenter should have talked to the flooring guys, and used the same finish & sheen, or had the flooring guys s&f the stairs..

That's exactly what I needed to know, thanks!

I also noticed 20-30 large hairs (4-8 inches long) that have been covered in the poly and quite a few light quarter sized circles. Can the circles be corrected?

I am starting to think the installers are pretty sloppy. Found water stains on all 3 floors of our ledges from where they left drinks. Is this something I should ask them to correct? I may post some pics later to see what you guys think.

I'd call them back in a heartbeat.
I'm not a hands on s&f guy, so I'm limited. I believe the circles may be sweat drops on the wood before the finish is applied. I think those have to be sanded to bare wood,( cause it's under the finish),and the hairs screened off and finish re-applied, ( just a semi-educated guess), Im sure one of the s&f guys will chime in.

The stains on your ledges ... Give me their number!

Yes, the stairs should be the same gloss level as the floor.
The finish used by both trades should also be from the same manufacturer (the same can would be the ideal)
Satin sheen is not a point on a line, but rather, a range of sheen along that line, and can be different from one manufacturer to the next.
As far as the workmanship you are describing, I certainly would want those deficiencies corrected if it were my home.

So I thought I would post some pics to get feedback on additional items I found this morning. My goal in posting here is to determine what is acceptable and what isnt. This way I can ask that the right items be corrected. I know real wood installs aren't perfect but the items I am seeing for the most part seem to be sloppy work. But I want to make sure before approaching installer.

This forum is a real help to us civilians

#1. No poly at bottom of stairs which is entrance to house




#2.Gaps in boards at the entrance to master bedroom.





#3. Spilled poly stepped in and then dust gather on wet poly. Second pic shows poly spilled all over this area. Also different type of poly used in a semi-gloss instead of a Bona product in satin.




#4.spilled poly




#5.There are spots like this throughout the house, not sure what this is. But installer didnt buff between coats so I am wondering if this is why we see these.




#6.This is the one item that I think might be completely normal but not sure, the color is very different and looks like poly maybe pooled or inconsistent coverage.



#7.This is hard to capture on film but there are 10-15 of these in each room. They are lines where the sheen si very very different than the rest of the floor, kind of shiny where the rest of the floor is satin. Looks like where the poly applicator was pushed back and forth and maybe poly puddle. This is our biggest issue because it is everywhere.



#8.poly drips running down trip and boards busted up. I think the boards is probably normal but sloppy poly.

Everyone of the issues your questioning is legit. I think your too nice a guy, most people would be freaking out.

I think it may be time to talk about completely refinishing floor it would be less work than trying to repair all the individual areas, a screen and recoat will take care of some issues but the heavy puddling at edges and the lap lines( applicator marks) will likely not go away unless the floor is sanded down. Normally the applicator marks will fade in time but these appear to be puddles. You can probably just have stairs screened and recoated.

Any thoughts on the gaps? Is it fair for me to ask that they correct this in some way or another?

The area of gapped material is a combination of poorly milled boards and sloppy workmanship.
That section near the wall must be removed and re-installed prior to refinishing the floor.

Thanks for the input Dennis! It is really appreciated. It is hard for us civilians to know what is expected and what isnt.

I would have had a lot more comments about the work you had done, but the other guys covered it perfectly.
It's time for a resand since there are too many deficiencies in the finishing to be corrected by a simple re-coat.
BTW, thats an interesting floor and will look great once properly finished.

It's reclaimed heartwood pine from an old cotton mill in North Carolina. Built in 1842 and one of the first cotton mills in the area. We feel very lucky to have a floor like this and are extremely excited about it. We had Select grade on the first floor, natural grade on the 2nd and Character grade on the third floor.

The issue is that the person that provided the wood and contracted the installers is a family friend and a really really nice guy and so I wanted to have my info straight before talking with them. Which is why I really appreciated all the feedback you guys have given!

I think it was a combination of lack of communication and lack of knowledge about the Bona Traffic product. They tried to get the recommended coverage listed on the can which from what I have been told is impossible.