We have recently had engineered hardwoods (Shaw Piedmont Park) installed. The floors are handscraped and come with an aluminum oxide finish. The problem is a white "blush" residue on the hardwoods in the wood grain areas that will not come up. The installer had to use a grinder on the cement slab for leveling purposes at one point. I feel the cement dust from that is likely the culprit as far as the substance. The problem is how to get it up--any ideas or comments? Also, though the floors are handscraped, shouldn't the finish allow for vacuuming and cleaning with a wood cleaner, instead of lots of scrubbing with no results?

Thanks for your help

What species it this? Sounds like a finish problem. Any dust should simply wipe off.

Was the floor glued down?

What can happen is when the installer goes over the floor with paint thinner or mineral spirits , to clean any excess adhesive , there may have been a fine layer of the concrete dust on the floor. This makes the dust into like a paste, and imbeads it into the grain. The dust must be cleaned first, prior to adhesive removal, with a hardwood floor cleaner like Bona. Then go over the floor to clean adhesive. Then again with Bona Cleaner

This should clean up like new. Just a matter of loosening the concrete dust out of the grain with a soft bristle brush and Bona Cleaner.

If it is a very aggressive scrape, there's a good possibility that it is indeed dust of some sort (concrete or otherwise). I've seen some that are a b*tch to clean. Usually, they aren't problematic if you are sure to always sweep and vacuum before mopping, but normally what I've seen is someone has tried to mop only, and basically drives the dust deep into the scrape and it hardens there. I personally try to steer people to scrapes with a softer contour for just that reason, and if not, make them aware to always sweep/vacuum thoroughly before attempting to mop.

Thanks so much for your comments.
I will try to answer the questions asked of me. The species of wood is red oak (Shaw Piedmont Park). It is not really heavily scraped, but you can feel that it is scraped. Yes, it was glued down.
Before the installers left, they used a swiffer dust mop on the floor. The white stuff was there particularly in the woodgrain areas and then a haze on the rest especially in sunlight (and we have lots of windows.) We just assumed that it would clean up nicely--Wrong! We vacuumed many times over and over to no avail, and then tried Shaw's recommended wood cleaning product--again to no avail.
To Floorologist, you are right in that it is like paste or rather glue because it won't budge! When we look at it under a magnifying glass it has sort of a beady look and is terribly imbedded into the grain. Using the magnifying glass, you can see raw/unstained wood in the woodgrain areas. We did try a soft bristle manicure brush and the Shaw recommended cleaner on random planks and very, very little budges--not to mention that we have approximately 1500 sq. ft. of this floor with the white blush, particularly in the grain. It looks terrible! I would be happy to go to Lowes and buy some Bona cleaner if that would work. Could this be a manufacturing defect, and even if it could be cleaned, won't I likely face this problem again? Thanks again.

These types of products, especially when constructed of open grained wood such as yours can often get this kind of blemish.
We did a house for one of our builders with a similar floor which subsequently had some drywall work re-done in the house. The sanding dust from that got into the pores of the wood, and when the cleaners later tried to wash it off, they made a paste that was immovable.
Our only solution to make the home-owner happy was to replace the floor, at the builders, and then ultimately the drywall people's expense.
I now have the floor in a rental property of my own, and it looks mighty fine for the cost (lol).
If I had to get rid of this stuff, and cleaning wasn't working, I would be left with no choice but rubbing in a stain to tint the dust, but carefully and energetically removing all the excess stain from the board surface.
Or, in my own recent experience, it does seem to be slowly dissipating during repeated maintenance cleanings, so you may just want to take a wait and see position with this problem.

To Dennis: Thanks for your input. The installation of our approx. 1500 sq. ft. of floors was completed last Thursday. We have been dealing with the problem since. The floor is a medium to medium dark tone. This white blush is ALL OVER, particularly in the wood grain areas of ALL 1500 sq. ft. It makes the floors look like they have been whitewashed! They look terrible, and we don't feel that waiting and seeing is an option as we tried REPEATED vacuuming and cleaning with the wood cleaner. We were hoping for an easy solution, but I am beginning to believe their isn't one. Somebody needs to make this right. We were out a lot of money. We were thinking perhaps a manufacturing defect as it is hard to believe a manufacturing company (especially like our manufacturer) would knowingly make a product that is so susceptible to this kind of problem.
Thanks for all you guys' input. Any other pearls of wisdom from anyone?

I would try taking some leftover wood and getting aggressive with it, ( no dont throw it at someone , just kidding ), seriously, maybe a buffer with brushes, over Bona Cleaner. Work up to stiffer brushes, hopefully it will break loose without harming the finish. The finish should be pretty tough on that product.

Thanks, Howard. We are going to make a last ditch effort and use some Bona on random boards. One more expense for us and more scrubbing for us while everyone else involved in this matter has a Merry Christmas. Can you tell I am extremely frustrated!! How much does a customer have to pay, buy additional cleaning products, etc. etc. We did not create this problem, and the onus has been on us. We are told we can't get a manufacturer's rep out until we take pictures and file a claim. Shouldn't they take the word of the installing company that there is a big problem?

Again, thanks Howard. Hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.
This is a great website for those of us with problems and questions, and you guys are so great to make your expertise available.

The white is all over?

Sheet rock dust could end up in the low areas of the surface, but this does sound like a finish issue or the finish is too hard and de-bonding from the surface. Too much AO results in a hard finish that does not shrink/swell with the changes in dimension of the wood.

Too bad we cannot see photos.

Regards,
Ray Darrah

Minwax, stain pen!!!

Color the while in the grain!!

I had to do it and got paid to do it after a GC, thought he did not need to protect the very character grade handscraped, stained dark mocha. A couple of black sharpies, and it looked great again. A lighter color may be trickier than a real dark color.

While we really appreciate your thought and the input, the white blush is ALL OVER approx. 1500 sq. ft. of flooring, NOT just a few random areas. We are now waiting to hear from a manufacturer's rep.
Thanks again for taking the time to post to our problem.

If it wasn't like that when you finished the project, then I don't understand how the blame has been placed on you?
No good deed, goes unpunished!

The project I did where the GC got careless, was only 900sq.ft. and it was every board, every rough textured grain on them, and in the edges. It took 2 days and 2 black sharpie pens. He paid me a grand to do it and was happy too.

Last wednesday I completed 1300 sq.ft of a medium brown handscrape. The home is empty, and the designer likes to paint after the wood is in. I went over there today to cover the whole floor, ( I waited until the homeowneer could see the finished product ). Well, the painters slipped in over the weekend and drywall dusted my whole work of art . I kicked the painters out of the house today, and spent the rest of the day vacuuming. I still dont have all the white off that floor . Going back in the morning.

Unfortunately this can happen , the concrete dust sounds "set in", and I am working on my problem. It should be the painter's problem. Like your floor should be the installers problem. There's a whole lot of dark distressed hardwood floors going in these days, and this is the nature of the beast. Granted, if the distressing is lighter, and the grain is not as opened, the problem is not as extensive, but still there. I dont believe this is the manuf. responsibility. Under normal living conditions I have not heard of this type of problem.

1. It has not been established there was sheet rock dust or texture dust on the floor.
2. It has not been established there was work performed after the installation.
3. IT WAS stated there was concrete work, such as grinding, performed. Concrete dust is not white unless they were removing some old gypsum patch.
4. This white blush is either dust or loose finish.
without an inspection or a few un-installed planks to compare to, it is not possible to be conclusive.