The staining may only be happening in a few boards but the CUPPING of the planks is more wide spread. That's the biggest issue. As for moisture mitigation during install, it would be up to you to contact the original installer to find out what was done. Only they can answer those questions for you. But I will give you a heads up on that one. These OLD slabs (1948 = post war era building boom) are often thought of as DRY when carpet is removed (again, this is why I asked what USED to be on the floor). The slab will 'test' as dry because it has been happily evaporating off moisture THROUGH the carpet for decades. And decades. And decades. Many moisture tests (ie. anhydrous calcium chloride test) will see how much PRESSURE is in the slab on that day. If carpet is removed and there is NO BUILD-UP of moisture/pressure BEFORE that day, it will 'read' as a nice dry-ish slab. Once the slab is CAPPED (solid flooring put over top = nowhere for the water to escape = HIGH moisture content/pressure) it gets MUCH more difficult to deal with. If you test the slab TODAY it will be MUCH HIGHER than the slab was before you put the wood on it. The moisture barrier treatment at the TIME was 'good enough' for the reading (3 years ago before the slab filled with water). But NOW the moisture has overwhelmed the system used. This is why it takes wet-basement specialists to figure out some of these old slabs. The moisture tests done before they were capped probably looked very good (or very promising to be good in the future) but the wood flooring people could not predict the pressure build up over 3 years. That's not their level of expertise. A wet-slab/basement specialist *MIGHT have been able to guestimate the issues...but they too might have guessed wrong. These old slabs are SUPER TRICKY to predict. Please tell us if your floors are glued down to the concrete or if they are floating. Please add more photos of the cupping please. Tell us how much of the 1800sf is having moisture issues (cupping/staining, popping, etc).

Average cost of a full sand/refinish = $5/sf. The fact your floors have been FRESHLY sanded, your refinisher will have an easy job of the 'sanding' part. They just need to knock off the finish, finish up with finishing grit and come back with an EXPENSIVE TWO PART water based polyurethane. I POINT OUT the 2part (aka 2K products) water based products. The reason: EXCELLENT DURABILITY. These new/expensive options are TOUGHER than the traditional oil based finishes. Personally I would find another refinisher if you do this again. The reason: the original guy didn't listen to you. I'm ASSUMING you pointed out you did NOT want ORANGE! Oil based finishes are SUPPOSED to turn orange. They all do. So if your first guy suggested 'oil based' when you did not want to have orange, then I would say there is a communication issue here. The other part: the guy is not aware of the SUPER TOUGH products currently on offer. I'm guessing he suggested the 'durability' of the oil based. When you compare the durability of the BIG BOYS (Bona Traffic HD or Loba 2K Supra AT) of water based vs. oil based finishes, then you will find you guy is wrong. And to be perfectly clear, the current 'yellow' you see on your floor today WILL TURN ORANGE in the next year or so. If you are going to pay the piper you might as well do it now. I'm a 'cheap-@ss' which means I normally suggest 'living with' the work until it needs redoing. But in this case, since you DO NOT WANT ORANGE, I suggest you do it now. And ask for a quote for Bona Traffic HD or Loba 2K Supra AT.... Do not settle for any other Bona (many use Mega = lowest level of finish = turns yellow and not tough) nor any other Loba option (EasyFinish is not even CLOSE to the 2K Surpa AT...I guarantee you will be SUPER upset with this one).

I am so happy I posted on here. I appreciate all of your input very much. Missenigma, you are probably right. The previous owner had the wood stained walnut, so it could easily be pine. Partim, THANK YOU! Wonderful explanation and info. Majority say I need to hire a decorator - so I’ll take your advice. Oh, and my marriage is fine (😊)! Very grateful- thanks all!

You have standing grain. That tells me he didn't 'knock down' the grain between coats. Pine has LOTS of tannins in it. It is normal to use a PRIMER/SEALANT over white oak, pine, fir, etc. to stop the wood going a snick darker. My other concern is the *possibility you have adhesion failure. That is what happens when the finish does NOT grab onto the wood properly. We often see light 'white looking' patches on wood floors where the finish is LIFTING off of the wood. I can't tell if that is happening but it is something you will want to understand before you chat with refinisher. Here are SOME of the things you want to know about your job: 1. How MANY GALLONS of product were applied over the 3 coats? 2. How many SQUARE FEET of flooring was finished? 3. How much time between coats? 4. How long before YOU moved back into the space? 5. How long before you did your FIRST WET cleaning (ie. slightly water-damp mop run over the wood)? What I'm looking for is: 1. Bona Traffic has coverage of (roughly) 300-350sf PER GALLON on the FIRST COAT! That's it. 2. A light sanding was done to KNOCK DOWN the grain 3. Bona Traffic 400sf per GALLON for 2nd coat and for the third coat 4. Only TWO COATS can be done PER DAY regardless of the 'dry time' 5. Light sanding done before the last coat (you need at least ONE light sanding down...either after the first coat or before the third coat...some guys do it twice and they are worth their weight in gold....just sayin'). 6. 7-10 days FOR FULL CURE before the floors are used (especially wet or splash areas). Ideally the house would remain empty for these 10 days from the time the last coat was applied). 7. First 'damp' cleaning is done 14 - 28 days AFTER the last coat was applied. NOTHING SOONER. Even though the full cure has happened, the finish is still soft and susceptible to water intrusion. To do the math for your finish amount, let's PRETEND you have 1000sf of flooring: First coat = 3 GALLONS of Bona Traffic (is it Traffic HD or is it the traditional TRAFFIC????) Light sanding Second Coat = 2.5 - 3 gallons of Traffic (nothing sooner than 6-8 hours after first coat) (light sanding done if the SANDING is NOT done after first coat) Third Coat = 2.5 gallons of traffic (nothing sooner than 6-8 hours after second coat or NEXT DAY) Total gallons: 8 gallons to be used over 1000sf of flooring. Assume $150/gallon = $1200 for polyurethane alone. Labour is on top of that. Total cost to sand and finish (install is different): $5 - $7/sf for Bona Traffic HD. There you go...that should give you a great place to start. Feel free to fill us in if you KNOW something did or did not happen.