Folks: The hardwood floor sub did a dark custom stain (80% Ebony and 20% Mahogany) and 4 coats of poly. The end result is beautiful..however, there seem to be scuff marks and dust in the cracks which are not going away. Sub is saying they will go away over time. Would appreciate your thoughts? I find it hard to believe that they cannot be fixed...and also wonder if the scuff marks are poly on the installer's shoes what is the best solution to solve this. Thanks for your help. I would love to post pictures but cannot figure out how. tks

It's pretty widely accepted that most dishout is caused by the big machine. After you Trio the floor, there isn't enough screening done to cause dishout and as I pointed out, the weight of the buffer divided by the area sanded doesn't provide enough pressure to cause dishout with a 100 or 120 grit screen. I seriously doubt I could cause dishout even if I tried. I also haven't experienced the release of grit on the floor as you claim but I'm mainly buffing with using dust pickup. Perhaps if one was not using the Trio and was buffing with a heavier grit sandpaper for a longer period of time to eliminate ripples or chatter, I could see it, but in that case one should be using a hardplate. Even then the screening process after the hardplate isn't aggressive or extensive enough to cause dishout. Perhaps you're using the term "screening" to refer to the entire process done after the edging and big machine work. If so, I can see your point. http://www.hardwoodfloorsmag.com/component/com_kunena/Itemid,292/catid,6/id,404/view,topic/

UPDATE: I've just met with my GC and the lead floor guy (owner). The lead floor guy admits the patches were not what he directed, but his guys thought they were being helpful by patching. Both GC and floor guy agree the patches are visible. They said there are 3 possible courses: 1.) Try to touch up the patches to get a better match of the sheen. Risk is that it compounds the existing problem that they don't fully blend in with the rest. The floor guy also noted that each time they sand a piece, the grain on the wood is affected/sanded down, so that is not ideal. 2.) Let the patches go for now. The floor guy said in his experience, the finish actually gets a bit shinier over time -- and it's possible the patches would shine up a bit to better blend with the rest of the floors. My GC offered that if I go with this option, we could hold out $$$ and if in 6 months or so, I still see the patches, they would come back and fix (either patch and/or re-coat the whole area). Does anyone have thoughts on this idea that the floors will gain in shine over time? Obvious downside to this is that it's a bigger hassle to move everything out in 6 months, if that becomes necessary. Also a bummer (for me) to not start out with a fresh floor as I would have expected from this major addition. 3.) Go ahead and re-coat the affected rooms now. Plus is this gets done and over with, fresh start and no need to move things later. Downside to this, in addition to more time for the floor guys, is always the chance that new issues are introduced in the re-coat. I know it shouldn't be the case but I guess it's always possible. Thoughts welcome!

Oh dear. Insurance contractor working on a TIGHT budget because that's the type of BID s/he puts through! His low-ball bid won the contract. If my assumption above is correct, you need to call the insurance company and tell them the issues (code violations, not following industry standards, etc). Get them to STOP the work. If the insurance company will NOT stop the work, you go ahead and PAY for a certified tile inspector for the bathroom and a certified wood flooring professional for the wood flooring install. Those TWO documents will cause BIG issues with the insurance company. They become legal documents STATING what went wrong. It would then be up to the GC/insurance company to PAY FOR the PROPER installation of ALL materials (imagine an insurance company deciding NOT to pay out a claim later on because one of their OWN GCs did NOT follow industry/code requirements....yah that's just a legal quagmire you do NOT want to find yourself in). Do your BEST to STOP WORK and have someone else have a look at it. If you have to, get the insurance company's own 'inspector' to come out and investigate their own workers. The wood planks SHOULD HAVE BEEN culled by the INSTALLER. That is INDUSTRY STANDARD. Yes sanding and putty is going to make this look a lot nicer....but the INSTALLER should have known better. And that tells me the GC used a 'guy' and not a PROFESSIONAL flooring installer. The same goes with PROFESSIONAL tile setters. The GC chose the CHEAPEST ROUTE and went with 'hammer swinging guy' who was, just yesterday, the company gopher (the guy who needs to go'fer coffee or go'fer nails or needs to go'fer lunch).