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Hardwood refinishing-what went wrong???

16 years ago

Long story...I'll try to make it short.

New red oak flooring was installed upstairs and old hardwood floors were refinshed downstairs by flooring contractors with Bona Mega.

After the final coat dried today, I took a look and there are short hair-like strands all over the place embedded in the final finish. And there are swirl marks.

To add a little more info, before the final coat was applied, I had previously complained that the quarter round molding was installed right after the sealer was put down. This meant that the screening of the raised grain from the sealer was not done all the way close to the molding. There was a rough edge around the perimeter every wall. I had them remove the molding (it was also substandard to me) which was also very rough and not finished when it was installed. I had them sand and scrape the perimeter to make to all smooth. I told them to install prefinished molding later after the final coat was applied.

They rescreened the upstairs floor and maybe the downstairs, not sure. However, both upstairs and downstairs have these short hair-like strands all over the place. Quite ugly and unacceptable...to me.

What are the steps to be done at this point? Would just buffing with the "Bona Conditioning Pad" as stated in the Bona spec sheet and a final coat fix this problem? Can this be done within the first 24 hours or does it have to dry more before this process takes place?

I did see them 'tack' with a damp rag but apparently it did not do what it was supposed to do.

I'd appreciate any input you can give. Thanks... Gary

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Comments (6)

green-zeus
16 years ago
One technique I've seen used is to use a conditioning pad and mineral spirits. But I don't think I'd touch THIS. I'd make them come back and make it right!! I hope you held some money back just for this type of reason.
redbazel
16 years ago
Well, this is curious. What did the refinishers say they thought the problem was?

Red
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goddi
Original Author
16 years ago
The refinishers took a look and agreed that something went wrong. It appeared that the applicator, the lambs wool brush, from Bona caused the problem. Fibers from it came loose and they were everywhere. They could not see it when it was wet. When them went to get new brushes, they said the distributor mentioned that another 5 complaints similar to mine had recently occurred. I have not been able yet to discuss this with the Bona tech people. But, the refinishers screened the 1200 sq. ft. with a Bona Conditioning pad and got about 99% of it out and put down a final coat. Looks much better. Gary
goddi
Original Author
16 years ago
The refinishers took a look and agreed that something went wrong. It appeared that the applicator, the lambs wool brush, from Bona caused the problem. Fibers from it came loose and they were everywhere. They could not see it when it was wet. When them went to get new brushes, they said the distributor mentioned that another 5 complaints similar to mine had recently occurred. I have not been able yet to discuss this with the Bona tech people. But, the refinishers screened the 1200 sq. ft. with a Bona Conditioning pad and got about 99% of it out and put down a final coat. Looks much better. Gary
goddi
Original Author
16 years ago
The refinishers took a look and agreed that something went wrong. It appeared that the applicator, the lambs wool brush, from Bona caused the problem. Fibers from it came loose and they were everywhere. They could not see it when it was wet. When them went to get new brushes, they said the distributor mentioned that another 5 complaints similar to mine had recently occurred. I have not been able yet to discuss this with the Bona tech people. But, the refinishers screened the 1200 sq. ft. with a Bona Conditioning pad and got about 99% of it out and put down a final coat. Looks much better. Gary
goddi
Original Author
16 years ago
Sorry for the multiple postings. Kept getting error messages and didn't think they went through....

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