After many months of procrastinating and researching, I decided to take the plunge to buff and recoat the 750 sf wood floor area in my home. The first and last time I redid the floor, I used Varathane and it actually came out quite good. My 30 yr old oak floor is problematic because the design has borders around the edges with right angle cuts. So it's a bit tough to blend with the grain at the intersecting joins.

This time, I decided to make it last a bit longer so I sprung the bucks and went for what the pros use and . I settled on 3 coats of Bona Traffic using the T-bar Bona applicators and cleaned with Bona Prep. Then my problems began.

The temperature was about 65, minimal airflow.

Mistake # 1
On the first coat, I used a measuring bottle to mix Traffic and hardener together so that I can do sections at a time. That was a big mistake as the time spent on going back to get more Traffic and the mixing, it was getting tough to blend it with the previous as it was starting to turn gel like.

Mistake # 2
I couldn't see. There were puddles in some areas turning into blobs. There were some sections that were coated too lightly ending up with streaks. The defects I could see, I try to re-apply but made it worst as the material is now drying up.

Mistake # 3
I should have seen the problems with coating #1 and screen it down again. But didn't because I thought coating #2 and #3 would cover it up and flatten up the problems.

The end result is a floor with about 15% visibly obvious with bubbles, streaks, blobs. I won't venture to guess what other imperfections that are in the non line of sight.

I'm still reeling with questions on what I did wrong. Does Traffic much thicker and dry faster than Varathane ? I was expecting it to level out, hide the imperfections and give me that smooth finish. I've even read someone say that you can apply Traffic with a wire brush and it'll still come out good.

So my question is whether this can be fixed without a complete re-screen of the entire floor. Is it possible to just spot repair these areas and what is the best way to do it? I had tried using my hand orbital sander on a test area and it took awhile. But how do I blend in with the existing areas?

If I need to re-screen, how far do I need to take it down to? Bona tech says the surface has to be smooth to the touch so that may mean I have to take it down to the first coat. Does that mean I just wasted 3 coats of Traffic?

Any guidance you can direct to my plight is greatly appreciated.

blending all that together isnt going to be something an average dyi guy will pull off with any kind of success. R/h has more to do with dry-times than the temp. Waterborne finishes in dry climates will dry very fast. If you have been running the heat lately then you have dropped the r/h in the house which will cause it to set up quick. Cold and or hot floors will cause the finish to set up funny. Cold finish will level poorly as well. I would loose the tbar and pick up one of bonas rollers. It takes a while to learn how to use a t-bar effectively its not really diy friendly, ive had guys with experience screw up with them till they get the hang of things. You have to screen it back down to where the trash/bubbles/puddles are so id guess almost all the way back down. Be careful you probally will introduce some swirl if you buff it out so be sure to go back up to a fine screen then maroon pad to minimize the buffer swirls

After much hemming and hawing, I've decided to appease the wife and just redo the entire job again. So I'm about to order 4 gals of Traffic again and this time, I'll get the Bona roller. I seriously suspect my first coat is to blame since the mild abrasion I did after that coat did not sufficiently smoothen out the highs and streaks.

Before I embark on this again, here is my plan:

- Clean floor
- Screen down with 100 grit
- Buff with green pad
- Clean thoroughly
- Close all windows
- No heat on
- First coat Traffic
- Let dry
- Buff with green pad
- Second coat Traffic
- Wife happy

Since my problem is not being able to see where the puddles and streaks are, I'm going to get two floor standing floodlights. Or should I just wait until daylight to starting the coating ?

Also, do I use a pad or brush to do the edges first and then the roller to blend it in with the rest of the floor?

Oh yeah, I've read somewhere that some would do a very light buffering/polishing after the finish coat just to shine it up or smoothen things up a bit more?

Thanks a bunch.

dont screen it!

scrape out any puddles with a scraper (or hand sand with 180 grit paper, thats safer if youre not a pro)
Buff the floor with norton sand dollars (id start with a red one and see if that evens things out, if not switch to a red one) 1 sand dollar should do youre entire 750 sqft, after the blue/red sand dollar, go over it with a yellow one.

traffic flows really nice if you dont have extremley heavy puddles, and you apply it at about 400 feet per gallon, when you go thinner it doesnt flow to well and dries to fast.

Ditch the tbar too, 16 yrs in the biz and i still can use that thing, roller all the way, you can even roll cross grain if its heavy enough

we coated a 400 sqft sunroom with windows all the way around, herringbone pattern, summer, hot, no covers on the windows, used 1.5 gallons per coat, looked like a pool for an hour or so, turned out perfect

Thanks a bunch to the pros here who replied. I had a local pro come in to look over my 'problem'. As it turns out, scrapping and screening the puddles and streaks just don't cut it as they are imbedded in the first coat. On the first re-coat after he screened, the defects still show. This basically leaves us with only one option, the costly plan B of sanding it down, sealing and redoing it all over again.

Well, that taught me a costly lesson which is to leave these kind of jobs to the pros or go with a finish that don't dry as fast !!

Rent a square buffer and get some 220 screens. Orbital buffers will leave swirls in traffic because it is so hard. Just buff the crap out of it with one of these and you should eventually get all of the imperfections out. As the other guys said, you should not need 4 gallons to do one coat on a recoated floor. 1-2 gallons will do. Also, did you seal the floor first? If not this could be why it was not spreading well and you used so much.