Demand they remedy your concerns, or they will not receive final payment, along with they will bare the cost of a new contractors cost to fix the defects, you have pointed out to them.

Take it everyone is human and sand and finish is not done by a robot to perfection everytime. but this sounds like an ape in a china shop. Don't get huffy. Win them with stearn kindness and they may fix everything you demand. Answer their excusses with common sense.

thanks for your reply.

we had about 1500 sq feet done, at approx 3$ a sq foot. i think the job took 4 days. no stain was used, and the urethane was oil based.

something odd seems to have happened with the urethane. have you ever heard of this: about a month after the floors were done, we moved in to the house. i turned on a steam vaporizer in my son's bedroom at night (for several days). the hot steam of the vaporizer made quarter-sized spots of urethane appear on the ceiling (i'm guessing that was from vapor that rose up and stuck to the ceiling), and large streaks/stains appeared high up on the wall of their bedroom. i couldn't figure out what the spots/streaks were for a few days, then i felt them, and they were sticky, and smelled of urethane. the spots on the ceiling actually then dripped on to the floor and made sticky spots on the floor.

so now i don't use a vaporizer anymore. how bizarre! i really needed that vaporizer too. does that sound unusual, or can i never again use a vaporizer once i have the floors refinished?? (maybe the urethane on the floor needed more than a month to cure, but the issue here seems to be condensed urethane vapor that stuck to the walls and ceiling.)

i appreciate any input. i'm gearing up to call the company, but i don't want to be unreasonable. of course, perfection would have been nice, but i understand it's unrealistic. however, i was not expecting pools of brown finish on the white newels, long hairs, etc. and gouging and swirls. the stair treads are also very rough and gouged up against the wall. i expected the refinishing to be nice and smooth on the whole tread, all the way to the wall.

boo hoo.

thanks!
francy

well I don't know where that message went I just sent. So if it shows up later, sorry for the double entry. I just went down to my new home to look at the white oak hardwood that was sanded, stained, and had one finish coat applied Monday. Had 2nd coat put on Tuesday and of course, you are not to go into the house for 24 hours so I didn't get to look at it til today. OMG, I think it sucks. There are chunks of something in the finish, there is finish overspray on my white painted 5 1/2" baseboard trim. I am so upset over them! I called my husband who told me not to worry, but he hasn't seen them yet! I so want to call the floor company but he wants me to wait until the last coat is on, which won't be for another week until after the carpet and appliances go in. I sure don't want that stuff sprayed on my carpet!!

I am a hardwood flooring contractor.How I have always been if you are not completely satisfied then i'm not done.To a small degree there will be very little trash in the floor if any maybe a couple spots where a brush touched the base and left a spot of finish,but you sound like a reasonable person checking to see if your complaints are valid before calling the floor guy. So I say yeah call your floorguy and start chewin' their ear.

In a former house of mine the GC rushed the flooring contractor, so there was dust in the floor finish and some minor waves. The floor contractor (owner)came to me and apoligised for the workmanship. This floor was not perfect but was passable. I would not accept your floor, as it sounds like the only excuse they have is being irresponseable and lazy. Go get 'em.

Gary

Francy, I just read your post about the ureathane finish and that problem concerns me more than anything. Concrete takes 29 days to cure completely but nobody waits that long. Your floor finish should be user ready after 4 days max. What did these idiots use? If I had this residue all over there would be hell to pay.

Gary

becfuddle,

Call them now! Sounds like your dh doesn't want to make waves. Think of it this way: It will be easier to fix now, so you are actually doing them a favor to tell them the problem sooner rather than later.

francy: Did you hire a large company -- with more than one crew? I ask that because I asked my window GC if he knew of a good flooring contractor, and I mentioned the name of a floor refinisher truck I have seen around town. He reminded me that large companies have a number of crews, some of which may be more experienced and/or skilled than the others. Unless the owner/management keeps on top of the various crews, the quality may not be up to the reputation. With tiny companies, the references are likely to be for the same crew that does the job.

I guess one could say that about any business, right?

Hired a contractor used twice before. Good guys, but new crew. Three coats of oil-based polyurethane have been applied. Inspected the work last night and there are very visible swirl marks under the finish. How are swirls avoided? Higher grits? Sanding with grain? What is standard and customary for refinishing. There are lots of poly nibs all over too. Saw the nibs on 2nd coat, and contractor said would buff them out. Don't think he did or just as many showed up on 3rd coat. Can the nibs be removed after the third coat?

What is it with the hardwood flooring problems? I have them, too. No offense flooringguy, but don't these workpeople have any pride in their work?

Our oak floors were a problem from the beginning and rather than starting from scratch, they applied more coats of finish. They had to do a lot of hand-sanding later on to get rid of mistakes and so now there are spots where the grain and stain is different. If we hadn't already moved our stuff in, I would have had them re-do it. (For some reason these spots are visible only in certain lighting.) We also have swirl marks and leopard-like areas.

Also, our floors are really soft so the slightest thing causes an indentation. We will have to have a no shoe policy but we're not even moved in yet and I'm sick of babying this floor.

The builder says he's never had these problems. (I haven't even discussed the grain/stain issue--just the softness.) He says I have "keener eyes" than most people.

I would say something now, and the sooner the better. Sounds like sloppy work that needs to be re-done--probably by a different company. Good luck!

If you continue to hire people in the hardwood flooring business who have not kept pace with emerging technology in finishes...well, you will have many of the drying and 'softness' issues of the finish films that you are experiencing with your floors.

As for poor sanding jobs and the overall lack of good workmanship...well, you can find that in any business that is subject to 'cutthroat' competition.

For the best hardwood flooring job (either installation or restoration) you need to hire an independent contractor who actually performs the work or closely supervises it. He or she lives or dies in the business by the quality of the work, so the work quality usually is of high caliber.

Going with a company that sends a salesperson to you to 'sell' the job and then sends a 'sub' or a 'jobber' to do the work,...well that, in my opinion is not the best way to go. Perhaps there are companies that work that way and get excellent results, but I haven't seen it.

Flooring work is a skilled 'trade' or 'craft' and there are good tradespeople and good craftspeople in the business. Your job as consumers is to find them, insist on quality materials and then pay them what the work is worth!

Consumer Reports has reviewed the hardness of various oil and water-based finishes. There is also a difference between glossy and satin - I think satin is softer.

When we had ourt floor done, it took a few weeks (i think) for the floor to reach max hardness.