Q: I have Bruce Hardwood Oak, prefinished flooring installed in kitchen. It is 7 years old. I’ve had 2 estimates on applying oil-based polyurethane (semi-gloss). First guy said to save my money that floor wasn’t in that bad of condition, which it is not. I take good care of my floors. I have used the Bruce Hardwood Floor Cleaner and Bona cleaner on my floors and occasionally a damp cloth.
The first guy said that the Bruce floor cleaner could have oils in it which would cause problems with the finish adhering, so he recommends to wait till I need to completely sand down to bare wood. 2nd Company recommended buffing and apply the polyurethane, at a very reasonable rate. I can find no complaints about either company, and I am confused as to whom to trust. I don’t want to have to have my kitchen floor, entry and hallway have to be sanded down to bare wood and restained. However, I have read things on your site about the finish peeling and I don’t want to buff prefinished hardwood floors just to have them peel.
A: I don’t honestly believe Bruce is going to sell you a floor cleaner for their polyurethane floors which is going to cause adhesion problems. Regardless, their are products which are designed to remove contamination first and in any buff and re-coat situation I would be very inclined to use such products such as Poloplaz Tie Tac only because the floor company can never know what has been applied to a floor or what may have gotten tracked in. My bigger concern with attempting to re-coat pre-finished floors is that these coatings are abrasion resistant and if an adequate ‘scratch’ is not achieved the finish will peel. And how is he going to deal with the beveled edges?
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