Q: I sanded, cleaned, and applied one coat of a high build poly to my floors 7 days ago. It is still tacky and not drying at all. What do I do now? Why is the polyurethane still tacky a whole week later?
A: It sounds like something is reacting with the finish or perhaps you applied it too heavily. Try wiping it down with mineral spirits and have a fan blow on it. Crack the windows open a little.
Tacky in spots
Q: We have a 3 season room with mahogany flooring that we stained for the second time in over 10 years. Parts of the floor dried and other parts remain shiny and tacky. Is there was way to remove the stain completely and start from scratch or do we need to have the floor sanded? The room is about 12 x 18 and half of it is still tacky.
A: I assume you used solvent or oil based finish. If so, you could wipe it down with mineral spirits which will then evaporate off the floor, hopefully taking the remainder of the solvent in the coating with it. You will need to have good ventilation preferably with cross draft to cause the vapor to go outside. Otherwise, sanding is the other option. Not a fun job when the coating is not dry.
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