Dulling sheen of satin polyurethane - can't sand/buff
mikefilippo
12 years ago
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12 years agomikefilippo
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Help needed-contractor can't get the floor right! What to do?
Comments (1)it sounds like he screwed up. I bet if you got a refinisher in they would reccomend sanding everything down again, cleaning properly so you do not have dust in your finish and then applying a sheen of your choice....See MoreNew engineered foor is very dull
Comments (23)I'm sorry to say but you purchased a low(er) gloss floor. Either a matte or a low-gloss satin. At this point, you will have to live with a dull floor because the finish chosen is a low(er) gloss finish. The polish you have is EXACTLY that...a polish. It is a polymer "temporary" finish. Yep. It will "add" a chemical to your floor that will slowly wear away (that's what a polish does). As it wears away, it dulls again. So you must apply it...again...and again...and again (should be every 4-6 months for the rest of the floor's life). And then, because life isn't exciting enough, you will need to REMOVE the polish/polymer that you spent so much time applying to your floor. Yet again you will be working hard to remove the HAZY, WAXY residue you have on your floor. You will chemically and mechanically STRIP the floor. Yes...wax on, wax off! After you spend a few hours STRIPPING your floor, you will the have a dull floor once again. And the polishing cycle continues. You will then have to apply another coat of polish...and a few months later you will have to do it again...and again, etc. If you start down the dark path to "polishing hell", you will forever have to do it. And it is possible you will have removed your warranty on the floor and have prevented the possibility of a refinish in the future. I don't suggest you go that direction, but if 'clean shiny' is a requirement in your home, you are welcome to apply the polish. Just be FULLY AWARE of what you are getting yourself into. It will be a continuous battle with the polish. I would rather be unhappy about the sheen - with very little work to do; rather than be unhappy with the polishing with HUGE amounts of work to do. Good luck. Polishes *sound great...but they create a maintenance nightmare that you will never get out of until you rip out your floor....See MoreAdvice to fix final poly coat on hardwood floors--buff/recoat
Comments (2)Boy, I can't help you with most of those questions, but as for #5: I would suggest you call the manufacturer. They're the only ones who really would know the answer to that question, especially since it could easily be "yes" for one brand and "no" for another....See MoreSanding the sheen off polyurethane?
Comments (10)Thanks everyone for the feedback, this is great. Some further follow up questions if you all have the patience. (sorry for such beginner questions, haven't tried this stuff before). Richard - I appreciate what you are saying with regard to the grit, but I was thinking that if I went straight from dried poly to sanding with 1200, there would be no grit to obliterate, no? Its only when I start with the courser grits on dried poly that I have to obliterate them with finer grits. "You absolutely have to wait for a full cure, or odd things will happen in the prematurely rubbed out finish when it does cure, which it will." What odds things will happen? I ask because my sample piece is far from perfect but I still preferred the rub out looked after just 8 hours to the non-rubbed out look. Just curious what the effect will be. Does a high build poly make it easier to rub out without going through the top layer? I imagine it takes longer to cure. Deft Clear Wood Finish looks interesting. I hadn't heard of it. I was attracted to polyurethane because I had used it before, it looked like the product to use, and it was clear. It looks like Deft Clear Wood would be clear as well. Does it protect and last as long as polyurethane? If polyurethane is harder to rub out because it is scratch resistance, doesn't that mean that Deft would be less scratch resistant at the end of the day? Also, can someone clarify "some practice and a very good brush to get a good finish." I have gotten the feel for polyurethane and keeping the brush full, slow steady passes etc. Why is the Deft harder to put on?...See Morerstanny
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