Dish out / raised grains

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Q: I’ve been managing my floor company for some time. I have guys who do the work. I get the jobs, manage them. A problem keeps coming up after they poly the floor. I see raised grains all over the place especially with high gloss. How do I solve the issue?

Thanks for your help.

A: What kind of finish are your guys using? Raised grain generally means moisture right? Such as water popping a floor prior to staining. It raises the grain and the floor feels a bit rough. I’ve seen water borne finishes and some water borne sealers cause serious grain raise. Nothing that a quick buffing won’t knock down. It should not occur after the initial coat in any case.

Follow-up Q: Oil base poly with Dura seal stain. Does it make sense that it could be the machine is not balanced? Images attached.

A: I’m seeing ‘dish out’ of the soft grain. Hard to avoid that with a heavy grained wood like oak. I’ve read using a 3 disk polisher-sander like a ‘trio’ can help eliminate it. After more than 40 years and at age 62 I don’t think I’m in the mood to buy another toy like that, never mind carrying 175 piece of equipment in and out by myself. I think I’d try and move people away from the very shiny finish. Dark stain and gloss? It is like shining a spot light with a magnifying glass on the floor.

It doesn’t hurt if you suspect a drum issue to find some place you know is flat and level. Remove the belt from your machine and lay a used 100 grit down, grit up of course and gently bring the spinning drum down on it to see how much of the drum is initially making contact. The stain job itself looks good.

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1 thought on “Dish out / raised grains”

  1. We just had our hardwood floors refinished. Several days after we were allowed to start moving back in our house, the movers covered the floors with paper and used the blue painters tape to gale the paper down. When they started removing the tape and paper it pulled the polyurethane off the floor. Any idea what happened? Thanks

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