Any comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated! We just had our hardwood floor finished (1850 sq. ft.) and are less than happy with the final outcome. We came in to check the final job and there was a "grit" that you could see and feel in so many places we stopped counting, along with streaks and uneven areas of poly that orverlapped, puddled areas of poly and what appeared to be groupings of hazy circles in quite a few large areas. This was after sanding, staining, one coat of sand and seal and 2 coats of poly.

We called the contractor back in to address this problem and they came back in and resanded and resealed. When checking the floor before they put the finish on we noticed swirls of scratches from the sand job everywhere - he used a round (orbital?) sander and these marks were still left in the top layer. (When they resanded they didn't take it down to bare wood again they just sanded off what I would think was the last layer of poly - just like a screen and recoat I believe.) We were told that all those "swirls" and scratches would go away after they finished it with the poly.

We came in to check yesterday and all those swirls of scratches are still visible!! Especially when the sunlight hits it or at night when the lights are on. There are stll some areas of small hazy circles on the floor too. Not as much grit this time and I'm sure you'll always get some dust etc., as it isn't a vacuum. Is this normal? We're currently trying to get other refinishers for another oppinion and a quote to fix it. Help!

Jamie
Lake Villa, IL

Jamie, One of the basic "truths" about refinishing is that you can't fix a problem in one step of the operation with the next. If the marks you see are the result of improper sanding, the floor will need to be resanded to get rid of them. It is usually possible to fix problems in the finish ( puddles, applicator marks, etc), and not have them show after the next coat is applied. It seems like you may have both. The scratches, sound like improper sanding.
As for the hazy areas? Maybe the stain didn't dry completely before the poly was applied. This can happen when a water base poly is put over stain (oil base) before it drys. The water base poly dries quickly, locking the solvants from the slower drying stain in. Good luck. Pete

USE A 120 GRIT SCREEN, BUFF IT GOOD AND USE AN OIL BASED SATIN ON IT. NO GLOSS JUST SATIN.

Make sure they vaccuum between grit changes and before buffing ... looks like laziness to me or hurriedness. Don't mean that to sound insulting, but I too have been burned by the shortcut bug. It may sound like overkill to some but I vaccuum between EACH phase of machine work. Just ask my employees ... " yeah, I know boss ... vaccuum the floor ... AGAIN ..."
Little bits of sand from paper and from foot traffic through the course of a job get trapped under the buffer screen and cause havvoc....Since involving myself in "overkill" I have yet to hear that phone call from any clients.

Maybe that was the case?????

Hope this helps,

William