Someone please help!

Put in new white oak floor and steps in upstairs hall/stairs. I have had 2 different floor people come, sand, and apply oil hi-gls poly. First team sanded the new floor, put down 2 coats then screen and tried final. They added like 4 coats - stopped them and got another. The second team, sanded down to the wood, sealed, then 3 coats poly.

The first team had lot's of dust and pieces of lambswook in finish, with bubbles. The second was very careful, but applied by brush. All coats put on this floor had small bubbles, so the coat was never smooth. I think it's bubbles vs. raised grain. Although i see infitismally small spots that could be grain, but the floor was sealed? Could the fact that the stairs are directly over cellar stairs be an issue? used new poly. No one able to get a good coat down. Any ideas? I've been delayed 6 weeks, this is killing me!

It wasn't Minwax/Varathane finiish was it? Just in working with general woodworking, I would never put it on anything, especially a floor. It's crap.

Sounds as if you still haven't found a truly spectacular finisher. A good finisher uses finishes he is familiar with and knows what to expect from them. Sounds as if a recoat is in the future for you. Not a difficult thing to do but do keep in mind, floors are not furniture and you should not expect a FLAWLESS finish. It should be smooth, even in sheen and generally look good from a normal, standing position. Small specs will walk off in a few months.

Thanks.

The last guy to do it said there is excess humidity coming up from the cellar stairs which are directly below the stairs we are doing. I've run a good dehumidifier for 2 days with no noticable change in the meters below.

Is that possible? I bought 4 different $20ish thermometer/humidity guages and they say humidity is 58-71%. They are all different of course in that range so I'm not sure they work at all. I understnad it's hard to find a good hygrometer that actually works.

The big question is would excess humidity cause a grainy, bubbly, finish with small bubbles? One person said it would only slow the drying time and lead to LESS bubbles, I've heard both on this topic.

Another guy I have now says it's just poor workmanship.... and the last coat is contaminated. But I know the poly was new.

The second key question is the floor looks ok underneath, I've sanded twice already so I don't want to take the new floor down anymore. If I screen and see no bubbles, etc... can I coat over once more to obtain a nice final coat with a different poly that the new guys works with etc?

The stairs being solid 3/4 can take it, but the floor I want to save for a few years, etc... so I will redo the stairs (if humidity not too big deal) and hopefully be able to screen/final coat the floor.