How was the finish applied? What was the coating schedule? What gloss level?

With absolutely no information to goon, I would guess that the finish was rolled leaving the finish with a surface texture. Another guess would be that too many coats were applied in a short time. Some texture can't be avoided on waterborne finishes because it dries so fast. Application with a pad can leave streaks and rollers can leave texture. The smoother the wood is, the worse you see it. Extra coats exacerbate the issue by making the surface smoother. Low humidity and/or airflow can cause finish to set up before flowing out too.

Likely strategy to fix would be to buff with a 180 screen, buff with a maroon abrasive pad to remove screen swirls, clean, make sure the temperature is not too warm (block windows with direct sunlight), get the humidity as high as possible, make sure there is no airflow across the floor and recoat.

When refinishers have issues with Bona (which is a tricky product to work with) I immediately ask whether or not they have the TRAINING to work with Bona. Bona is a B!TCH to work if you do NOT have the training. In fact it can take the average refinisher MULTIPLE homes (6-10) before they get used to it...assuming they are doing this without the Bona training.

After that, I start asking what the old floors had going on with them. What was used for the LAST finish. What type of cleaning schedule, etc. Then I ask whether or not a stain was applied. If so, what make/application.

Orange peel appearance in a finish can be there because of contamination (chemicals prevent the sealer and the finish from grabbing hold). It can also appear because of issues with the indoor conditions - as Johnson Flooring mentions.

A bit more description and a bit more information about your home, your refinisher and your floor's history with previous finishes and whether or not there is a stain on it.

And photos would REALLY help.

And remember: Bona is SUPER TRICKY to work with...so you might as well start with the refinisher and his/her knowledge/training base with the Bona line of finishes. The wood is the next culprit and then the home's indoor condition before during and then after the application.

Good questions, sorry for not providing initially. Extra matte finish, yes I believe they rolled it but not 100% sure bc I was never there when they were doing it. They sanded and did the naturalseal one day then came back to do a poly coat in the morning and again in the afternoon. Then the following day did the third coat of the poly. Was two coats on one day too much? I’m attachung a pic of how it looked wet last night after the “fix” attempt. You can tell by how it looked wet that it wouldn’t dry well but I’m no expert.

Also, many thanks for your help and answer, Johnson Flooring Inc! Not sure why pic isn’t showing up. I’ll try a third time.

We had a similar issue with our floors. The contractor I used to stain and refinish normally used a different product but offered to use any product I wanted. He had worked with Bona in the past. And I wanted bona. We too were not there when work was done and when I came back after it was dry I was concerned. I did a ton of research. Turns out the AC was on when he refinished floors and that could have made it dry too quickly, not allowing time for it to settle and spread a bit more evenly. We also had pet hair in the finish probably from the forced air AC. Because the contractor was adamant that they cleaned very well between coats I made sure to turn off the AC and fan while work was done the last time. They came back and screened and recoated the floors and it looked much better once dry.

Two coats in a day is acceptable so that's probably not the cause. Some people try to do three in a day which can cause issues from drying that could result in texture in the finish.

It must be pretty bad if you can see it in the dried matte finish.

I have had "problem jobs" where it was difficult to get things right, but they're usually smoother wood like Maple, dark colors or patterns. That's when you go look at all the aspects like light, air flow and humidity to make sure you can get the conditions as close to ideal as possible. Since the floor has texture, it will have to be flattened with a screen. Screens can leave swirls so we then buff with and abrasive pad.

Of course it's also important to make sure the finish is mixed and prepared correctly, use the right applicator and apply the coat quickly but carefully.

SJ McCarthy, thank you for your reply. I have tried about ten times to add photos and it will not do it, no idea why. I’ll try again. So as far as the old wood, it had original to the house stain that I barely ever cleaned. The house was built in ‘72. However I don’t know that it has anything to do with it in this case because the laundry room and front hall had brand new wood in them! And the orange peel affects the new wood as much or more than the old floors sanded down to raw. You could be right about the experience of the crew. Unfortunately my contractor for the kitchen provided the hardwood floor refinisher and I know nothing about then. I can tell you that the crew had turned off the a/c when they started the project but when they came back to “fix” by buffing and re-coating last night they did not turn the a/c off.

Johnson Flooring Inc, surprisingly there doesn’t feel to be any texture! It’s so weird! and yes it’s pretty bad and shows up very obviously in the extra matte finish. I’m at a loss. I didn’t even mention the tiny black speck almost mold looking sits that showed up throughout the laundry room. No IDEA what that is all about but is under the finish and is thankfully contained to the laundry room. Sad but that’s the least of my concerns....

When it was wet last night

This was brand new red oak installed in April. Sanded down and bona applied starting May 28th. Showing the moldy spots that show up only in the laundry room.

More of the strange finish

Here is a pic of my floor where you can see an area that was missed when they screened and recoated with Bona traffic. The floors looked so much better when they recoated and no AC or Fan was running, literally got rid of the orange peel effect, (which in my case was because they dried to fast). Of course they came back to fix this small area that was missed.

That finish was definitely rolled. You can't evaluate or reasonably criticize what wet finish looks like. The last, fourth and fifth from last pictures look like the roller may have been passed over an area that was already skinned over. They almost look like they're soiled. There are many things that could have caused the black spots in the laundry. The light drippy spot? You got me. A comprehensive buff and recoat should fix all but the dark spots and light spot.

The installers are not applying the proper coverage. Resulting in the orange peel/missed spots. Such a common problem with water base finishes. Tell them stop being so stingy. Left over products are useless after it is mixed with the hardener. One gallon covers 400 sq. ft., might as well use it all, better than tossing the remainder.

G & S Flooring, thank you for replying! So you’re saying if they used more or a thicker layer of the product it wouldn’t have the orange peel effect When it dries? I’m trying to collect some suggestions to help him though he told the GC project manager yesterday he’s been through the Bona training and would come back again Saturday and doesn’t need to call in to the Bona techs i arranged to help with the ticket I opened. I don’t want to insult him but would like to suggest turning off the a/c, using the right amount (more) of product and using a t-bar if those are the right things to insist on. All these answers have been so helpful!!! Thank you!!! SJ McCarthy, your post this morning is so interesting - I’ll google it and see if I can find out the dry time for HD. I believe someone said they could tell from my pics he was for sure using a roller, right? Is a t-bar expensive? Maybe I should try to reach him today to insist we’d like him to use a t-bar.

Maavernon, sorry I missed your first post yesterday - the second time you posted it seemed like it was a follow up so I then found your first post. Thank you for sharing. I can’t believe they could come back and fix just a portion of the floor without redoing the whole thing. Everything looks fine now/smooth all around?

Johnson Flooring Inc, I forgot to ask - can you give me some examples of what you think could have caused all the tiny black specks in the laundry room? I would really like to have that resolved depending on what his strategy for Saturday is, though I’m guessing he isn’t planning to backdown to raw wood again. :-(

Gretchblair the area I showed that was missed was in my upper hallway therefore not a very large area. He had to do from the wall to the railing on the vertical line of the flooring in that area, so he redid all boards in a line that were affected in the center, but he did not have to redo the whole hallway. It just so happened that the floor in that area ran vertically across the shorter area. Lucky for him! It wasn’t the other part of the hall that was long and vertically laid. In the photo it’s in the bottom left corner where he had to redo the last time small section. The first redo was my entire wood floors

Wow, what a beautiful home! My husband wanted dark floors just like this but I was afraid with four kids and pets it would show everything. I really love it!

Bona Traffic HD has a very good quality leveling agent. If, you apply the proper coverage 350-400 sq. ft. per gallon, it will level out. If, you apply too thin of a coat 500-600 sq. ft. You get the orange peel effect.

I am not a big fan of using a T-bar. It's difficult to get the 350-400 sq. ft. coverage with a T-bar. The finish tends to be very soupy on the floor. And when you spread the finish to 500-600 sq. ft. coverage. You run into the risk of getting lines in the finish with the short open time.

Thank you G & S Flooring. So what do you recommend if not a t bar? A roller?

I prefer a roller, but you should allow your installer to use whichever applicator they are most comfortable with.

So they came this morning to fix the floors. The owner of the company told our contractor he had the Bona training but the crew he sent today were the same three people we’ve had the whole time and the head guy said he has not had the bona training. He also told my husband they used 1.5 gallons of the traffic hd. For 1462 sq ft. Good grief. I think they should have used 3.5 gallons. From what we can see so far, it’s not improved. They buffed it three times and the floor looked awful after that - I’ll attach a pic. But he assured my husband it would look ok after the poly applied. So frustrated! Guess we’ll see tomorrow how it looks. They did buy a new roller. They did not ask us to turn the a/c off but my husband did. Pic attached is after buffing.

This is normal appearance for inbetween coat abrasion.

The 1.5 gallon for 1400 sq. ft. coverage is an issue though. The HD will underperform if, it does not have the proper build. Not sure what you paid, but the finishes alone will cost the contractor $2.00 psf. for proper coverage. They might have under bid and is trying to save on the finish by applying thin. The cost plus labor is at $5.00 psf. for a natural appearance.

G&S Floor Service, thanks for your comment. Not a good situation. Assuming they did the same 1.5 gallons for all the coats - so three coats initially, one partial coat, and now this “final fix” coat. What we asked for from the contractor was three coats of Bona Traffic HD to ensure we had a very durable finish with animals and 4 kids. Would it be fair of me to assume we would be getting three coats of the proper manufacturers recommended coverage? (That should have been 3+ gallons each coat, right?) Any recommendations on how to handle/what to say? I feel badly for them but its not our fault in any way and we are the ones who’ll have a floor that doesn’t hold up! :-(

Wow! 1.5 gallons for 1400+sf is way too low. Even the finishes with 600sf/gallon would need 2.5 gallons to get the right coverage! Traffic HD would need another gallon for that square footage.

Sadly, it sounds like you've found the source of the issue. As for the floor post-abrasion, this look is not a problem. As hard as it is, you may have to put a stop to this until you can have a sit down with the General Contractor and the person who has the Bona training.

For me, only the person with the training should be working your floor. End of story. And SOMEONE has to put their foot down with workers who are using less than HALF of what is required per coat.

gretchblair63 yes the dark floors show everything! I need to vacuum much more than I used to but I do love the look of them darker! We also have 3 kids, 2 dogs and a cat. Hope you get your floors sorted out to your liking ASAP.