Are these "lap marks" in the poly? or stain? Or a sanding issue?
Please see two attached pictures in slightly different lighting. Wood floor is solid 3/4" oak, site-finished with water based poly (3 coats). We are very happy with our floors except in one area where some "lap marks" can be seen under straight light from standing height.
We did not want to have the job re-done (maybe should have have) but now, 3 years later, we wonder what could be done to remedy. If these marks are in the poly, buff and screen could fix? if they are in the stain, light sanding could fix? But if it's in the sanding itself (chatter or ripples) then I am more concerned.
I don't see height differences even if lying on the floor and looking at them. It's only in the way light is reflected (satin finish).
Thanks in advance!
Comments (10)
Related Discussions
Help! Lap marks in poly on new floors!
Comments (14)Hi! I just wanted to let everyone know how our floors turned out . . . The owner of the flooring company finally came out to look at the floors and pronounced them unacceptable. He proposed sanding back down to the bare wood and starting over - which is what we'd hoped he would suggest. The plan was to sand the floors at an angle and then follow with a multi-head machine in order to remove the chatter marks. They also wanted to water-pop the floors prior to staining in order to achieve a richer, deeper color and then re-apply 3 coats of satin Bona Woodline poly. And the results were . . . GREAT! The chatter marks are still slightly noticeable (at least to us) but are not objectionable. The stain color is beautiful - we used 2 parts Dark Walnut to 1 part Red Oak - since the previous mix of 50-50 Provincial/Dark Walnut had produced a pale, cool color on our white oak. It's a much warmer, richer color now and we love it! For the poly application, we used our programmable thermostat to do the following: Warm the house to 74 degrees 1 hour prior to application Turn the air OFF as application began Turn the air back on at 68 degrees 4 hours after application They also took the poly home with them at night and took it inside to keep it warm. I have no idea which, if any, of these modifications worked to resolve the problem but we ended up with a streak-free floor and we're happy! We did have one problem though, that I want to mention as a warning . . . Around 1:30am after the 1st day of sanding, we received a call from our next door neighbor saying that a large black bag in front of our house was on fire. The bag (containing sawdust) was sitting at the base of our front steps (and in front of her car) and apparently had started to burn spontaneously. She was about to call 911 because her house was full of smoke but her son (whom she'd also called) arrived just in time to keep her from doing so. It took us about an hour outside in freezing temperatures and snow to get a hose hooked up, break open the bag, spread out the sawdust and wet it down until it stopped burning/smoking. Both homes and everyone's clothes smelled strongly of smoke and everyone had to shower before going back to bed. The next day (also in the snow), it took another hour or so to shovel up all the debris from the night before and bag it up so it could be thrown away. Not fun! Apparently, because the poly on the floors had been recently applied, it reacted with the sawdust and spontaneously combusted. We'd heard of this happening with stain-soaked rags but were unaware that it could happen in this manner. Very thankful the bag wasn't left in our house or garage! Anyway, there's a happy ending to our story and we're so very glad we decided to allow them the extra time to make the floors right!...See Morerecently applied oil poly turning stain orange?
Comments (15)@hollycbs....the oil based finishes are the originals from 100 years ago. They developed to take over from the labor intensive lacquers (a real lacquer finish is HORRENDOUSLY difficult/expensive to put down). The oil based are the original 'solvent based' finishes. But Mr. and Mrs. Joe Public got scared of the word "solvent" (it sounded dangerous and unhealthy...which they can be) so the finishing industry simply changed the word to "oil based". No change in formula. Just a name change. Reprinting labels for thousands of gallons of material is SUPER cheap....like $0.15 per label. Changing a FORMULA is expensive (imagine 100's of chemists working hundreds of hours and hundreds of tests run to discover they don't work). So...why do they use them? Because they are industry norm. You have to specify SOMETHING ELSE. The 'basic' package comes with the cost of the cheap oil based finishes with their cheap oil based stains (Minwax stains are oil based). Materials are cheap. They are easy to work with and have been around (which means everyone trained on them) for 100 years. Cheap materials = more money in the pockets of the refinishers. Unless you specifically ask for "water based" finishes or a "clear coat" (which means you have to know that the oil based finishes turn orange in the first place), the installer will simply use what s/he always uses....oil based finishes. And many people LOVE the depth of colour the oil based finishes create. You are someone who does not. It is a sad lesson to learn this late in the game. I'm sorry this has happened. If you can learn to like the colour, you would do well to leave it be....See MoreDuraseal stain with Bona sealer and Bona Traffic poly?
Comments (19)In my experience, standard oil-modified polyurethane wears better, and it certainly costs a lot less. The downsides are slow drying, smell and ambering. As much as I like oil poly, I feel Weathered Oak would turn yellow over time if you use it. We used to recoat a salon floor regularly. At a seminar I asked an expert if he had any recommendations for a finish that would wear better than Traffic. He recommended oil poly and said it wears better than any of the top shelf waterborne urethanes, even the one his company sold. Unfortunately the salon was in a residence hotel and we could use it due to the odor. Depending on your wear and tear, Mega HD Clear might be a viable option for you. It costs about $50/gallon less than Traffic....See MoreMistake with one-step Poly Stain on table top
Comments (1)Notes on the photos: 1st pic is original table after cleaned thoroughly with scotchbrite. Round shadows are from chandelier. 2nd & 3rd pics are current state of table 😔...See More
PROG & S Floor Service
last yearIf, I am going to fix it, I would redo the entire floor. There are dishouts in it, also. Rift and quartersawn is very hard to put dishouts in it. But, this floor refinishing contractor managed to do so.
Floor Issues thanked G & S Floor ServiceFloor Issues
last yearFloor Issues
last year- PRO
G & S Floor Service
last yearlast modified: last yearDishouts is when more soft wood is removed than hardwood creating low spots in the surface of the wood. The last image I posted, you can see ripples of low spots. These areas are softwoods within the hardwood.
The main cause of dishouts is when the finisher uses too soft of a padding for the final sanding operation to remove sanding marks like swirls. While doing so, they end up oversanding the softwood and removing too much soft wood, creating low spots.
Hard plating prevents dishouts. Hard plating is done with metal plates that will not flex and scoop out the softwood compared to padding system, resulting in a flatter surface. Down side is it is a slower and longer process. It takes more time to remove sanding swirls with a hard plating process. But the result is worth the time and wait.
Example:
Natural Polyurethane Finish · More InfoFloor Issues thanked G & S Floor Service Floor Issues
last year- PRO
G & S Floor Service
last yearlast modified: last year
G & S Floor Service