My wife and I are building a new house and during our first walk through we noticed that the hardwood floor seems to have trash in the polyurethane and that the floor has cupped a little. I think the floors cupped because the moisture in the subfloor was too high. I argued with the builder before install but he insisted that my moisture meter wasn't accurate and that his said the moisture was fine. Anyway now that they are done and we are scheduled to close next week they took the protective paper off the floor and we see trash and bubbles all over. Some of the trash is big enough to snag your sock when you slide your feet across the floor. The flooring company has tried to hand sand the major spots out but there is 1500 sf of floor and it is all over. There is also bubbles every where too. The only way I can think that they can fix it is to sand down the poly and refinish but I am concerned that if they sand they may sand out the cupping and then later after the moisture level in the floor drops some that the floor will crown. I am really wanting to get this fixed before we move in 10 days from now but I am starting to think that might not be possible. Thoughts or recommendations from you pros?

Where is the house located? Does house have a/c? What is the hardwood floor species? Solid or engineered? Width? Thickness? How attached to subfloor? What is the subfloor material? Moisture content of hardwood and subfloor at time of installation? Is house on one level or multiple levels? Is there a basement or crawl space? Is polyurethane oil or water based?

Another coat of finish a few days before you move in would be the best that you could hope for. Use a very low luster finish so the cupping doesn't show in reflections.

A screen and recoat MAY take care of the bubbles and the "trash" which I'm guessing are dust particles. Sounds like they didn't vacuum between each coat and/or had windows open.

Screen & recoat will not take care of the cupping. A full sanding will, but all of this comes down to the cause of issue and whether it's been fixed.

The question above the AC is a good one. Note that the temps/humidity should be regulated during acclimation, install, sanding and at least 30 days after last coat of poly.

Also, be sure to wait at least 4 full days from last coat of poly before moving in.

You may find these 2 articles helpful:
http://theflooringgirl.com/blog/hardwoo ... -mean.html

http://theflooringgirl.com/blog/refinis ... -take.html

Debbie
The Flooring Girl