I'm new to this site, but not to diy projects. This is the second time I have refinished these floors since owning this home, and I have sanded floors in other homes I have owned as well.I have done many furniture projects and felt I knew all the tricks to avoid these problems, but apparently not!
I did the bedroom floor on the main floor after my last child left home, and it looked good. It also made the the the other floors on the main look shabby in comparison as a result. I decided to go to bare wood and make the lr, dr, and hall to make them a bit darker. I bought Minwax for floors. I have used thier products numerous times over the years with great results, After sanding, conditioning, and thoroughly cleaning, I applied the stain overnight. THe next day, I cleaned and tacked and the temp in the house was about 68-70 degrees, the poly had acclimated,the vents were covered in the rooms, the weather outside was great for our area...in other words, prep was as close to perfect as it gets. I have done this soooo many times, and I know that none of those things are my issues.
I have done this floor a total of 10...yes 10 times!! I keep getting streaks!! I found out about voc regulations going from 550 to 350, so I did the math and added about 30% on the spirits to thin the product accordingly. Didn't help much. Started over, and even changed to high build ( which is what I used in bedroom) and I still have some streaks.
I've resolved myself to the fact that I have to left go of some of my anal-retentiveness and deal with the fact that they won't be as I want to be, but it's still to much for even a slacker to consider keeping as is.
Don't have pics as I buried all the electronics in the closet of the bedroom, taped off the door to keep out dust, and packed all the furniture from those room in front. I'm sure all of you on this sight knows from streaks look like. I even tried doing in sections to avoid the streaking and it helped but still too much for the average Joe or Josephine, in my case. I even tried adding more spirits, and used lambs wool every time. I even did it once by brush. That time, it was lap marks more than streaks.
My question really is.... should I rent a buffer and if so, what grits do I use? Will I be able to get the streaks out and still have poly left on the floor? THat is the only tool I have never used.
THe floor is about 65 years old, and it's maple. It has a lot of character, and I like the flaws in the floor itself, gaps and all. I just want it smooth and to have a nice shine. I'm not looking or even wanting a mirror finish. I started with satin, actually, and after taking it down again and evening out the stain to my satisfaction, I decided if I was going with the high build to go semi-gloss instead.
After 4 weeks of this, I would have paid someone to do this if I had the funds. I've spent $250 more than originally anticipated for all the additional pads, sanding paper, spirits and poly.
I need to finish this. I need my life back!
I'm open to any and all suggestions at this point. If I have to start over again I will. I just want a light at the end of this very long tunnel.
If it helpd, the L.R. is about 12 x 18, and runs horizonitally to the dining room and is attached by a 6 ft doorway. THe D.R. is about 13x13, and opens into a hall with a 32 inch opening . THe hall is about 5x6.
Anything?? I've tried other sites and no help. I tried every suggestion out there except the buffing.

Explain your process so far . You said you stained the floor then on the next day applied poly. What happened after that ?

I noticed that more than a few have read this, but nobody has been able to offer any advice. THat lets me know either one of 2 things. I'm pretty much alone or no one has found a way of fixing and or buffing out the streaks. It has to be re-done.
For those of you experiencing this type of problem, I will keep you posted.
Minwax is willing to reimburse me for the overage spent, but they also suggest that quite possibly, I did something wrong during this process. I can assure you, I followed every step to the letter. It was an idea of a setting as a person could possibly create. Temp and acclimation of the product to the enviorment, cleanliness and ventilation of the area, cover windows to avoid sunlight, doing at night when there was none. THey were very polite, and I still love thier products despite this fiasco. Their help line is great, and I am NOT trying to steer anyone from thier products. I will continue to use them, especially since I have received so much cooperation from them during this process.
I tried several different applicators, and even did by hand once. I am going to have the original product ( 2 1/2 gal of Floor oil poly) tested, as I think it may have been old or contaminated in some way. This is EXACTLY why I will never buy a can of ANYTHING that has a dent in it, no matter how small.
I looked back on this site for about a year trying to find a situation close to mine, and came across a pro who only buys poly in quarts now due to this problem. I re-sanded the floors and am prepping them for application of poly from the many quarts I purchased. I will keep you posted as to how this turns out.
If I could help someone else avoid such a costly and time consuming problem, at least ONE good thing can come out of this fiasco!
I have done way too many projects in my life with poly and stains to go into. This is not my first time with floors. I have done at least 14 rooms of floor, and with great success, I may add. This is the first time, however, that I have done a floor since the VOC changes. It's ALL polys....not just theirs. THe VOC change is only for product sold in gal or more, so the quarts are the same wonderful product I have used in the past.
From everything I already knew and have learned these past few weeks, oil-based polys remain the number one candidiate for floors, as they produce a more durable, longer lasting finish than water base. They also keep a wet edge longer, which is beneficial in avoiding things like lap marks and streaks.( although that does not seen applicable in MY case, now does it?!)
For those of you wondering....I DID not overapplicate. I applied the poly as even as humanly possible, and went over my area once, with the few exceptions where I had to run it the length of the boards twice. Never more than that. I'm anal, and you don't me, but trust me on this.
I will let you know tomorrow how this worked out. I would like to think that some desperate person is looking for information that this fiasco will be able to answer.
Maybe we should ALL try to make it a point on these sites to let others know how projects actually worked out, especially ones that are problematic.

Without seeing it or knowing your exact process step by step we can't help.

Let me start with maple is not the easiest floor to finish. Its smooth texture and fine grain make everything show up readily. If you have ten coats of streaks no top coat is going to hide that you will need to take it back down and start over, sorry but its the only way I see fixing the problem. One thing ive noticed with maple is if you buff the shit out of it to make sure their are no machine marks the floor gets so freaking slick that the poly wants to roll around on top like your finishing a piece of glass. Be carefull not to over sand. We roll satin poly to avoid those streaks just be sure that you have a poly that can be rolled. A finish with a thin body (think watery) will not roll well because they tend to set up fast and not level as well as their thicker counterparts. You can roll Bona's woodline, masterline by duraseal and Lenmar's oil. All these I have done with success time and time again. I cant speak for minwax never have used their poly but never see pros using it, ever.

well, here's a few general tips :
1. Don't use minwax poly. It's quite expensive and not at all special. You'd be better off using duraseal,Fabulon or Lenmar. Lenmar is the one I use the most .

2. Do not have air blowing across the floors.IF there is air flow, you will get blotchiness or streaking or a showing of lap marks.

3. Apply oil based poly at between 450 to 500 square feet per gallon.Too thin is bad and too thick is bad.

Buffing through an entire coat is not easy. It could take hours to buff through a bad coat. If your streaks are on the top coat only, it might be worth buffing out. If you want to buff your coat out, a square buffer with 220 grit screens works great

You say you followed the directions exact, so I do not want to suggets you did anything wrong. But rather, help you try to single out th issuse. Are you 100%sure the stain was completely dry before coating? Were the streaks on the first coat, 2nd or 3rd? Did you stir up the finish really well? Did you try to buff out the streak and recoat again?

Janet,

I suspect the error is in your application procedure...

you need to help the finish level when applying..meaning if you are spreading thin in one area then heavier in anohter, it will streak..

even gloss may be effected but satins and semi will defnitely be.

you also over cut one or more of your batches thinning 30%..

yours is not to "do the math"...you are not a chemist.....there are well educated and trained people doing that stuff.

most finishes are not to be thinned by more than 15%...so i can tell you..the coats you did thin that much, were effected.

lastly, I can appreciate your home projects and skills you have acquired, however it needs to be said..you are not a pro.
and pros make mistakes and have issues too..

Your leisure approaches to furniture and a few floors does not make you seasoned..if it did, you would realize your errors and not have coated your floors 10 times by now..which by the way..is way too much poly..the floor will never hold up and will probably peel..forget about how easily it wills scratch and dent.

I appreciate you couldn't afford a pro for the project, however don't be so quick to blame product and not yourself.

its a reality you must face.