Q: Our house is only new-one and a half years. We just had the top coat of our wood floors sanded and refinished. After only one and a half months the floors are starting to peel.
What could be causing this and how do we fix it?
A: I always try to caution people with re coats. If an unfriendly cleaner has been used which can leave a film on the polyurethane finish, there would be a good chance of this happening. There are only 2 possibilities I know of that would create this problem. A film from a cleaner that resists adhesion, or insufficient abrading of the previous coat of finish.
I have also heard that with pre finished floors, which use aluminum oxide coatings, there could be serious issues with sufficient abrading and compatibility of other finishes to adhere.
The only hope, short of a full sanding, is to totally remove the last coat of finish with an aggressive buffing and screening. There is a product from Basic Coatings called the Ty Kote system which uses and intensive cleaner first, and then a solution which will prepare the existing finish to accept another coat without buffing. www.basiccoatings.com. It may be too late to follow this procedure, now that the “horse has already been let out of the barn”, but I would contact them with this issue and see what their opinion might be.
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