Q: I just had my wood floors finished and polyurethane was applied. 3/4 Of the floor is shiny, but the middle portion is dull like it was never done. What would cause this to happen?
A: I’m not sure but clearly you need the floors polished and another coat applied.
Related Q: I have newly refinished old hardwood floors. Why is it that, after applying poly, some areas are shiny and some aren’t?
A: It sounds like the finish you wanted was a satin finish which is basically a gloss or shiny finish with a flattener in it such as silica. If, for whatever reason, whether it be insufficient mixing before application or some environmental issue during application the silica did not distribute properly in the applied film then you will have shiny and dull areas. I’ve had this happen from time to time over the years with various products, but it has never happened with Poloplaz Primero which really is a brilliant finish and a dream to apply.
Related Q: We are finishing 1350 SF red oak, applied stain with a rag and wiped off excess. We waited about 5 days then applied a first coat of Duraseal oil based poly (not quick coat).
I’ve read the first coat will not look great due to the wood absorbing the poly differently. There are a lot of dull and shiny spots, lap marks and some dust particles in the finish.
I hand sanded and pole sanded with a 120 grit screen which took care of the grit, but there are still shiny spots on the floor. Should I be sure to buff all these out before applying the second coat or will the second coat cover them? TIA!
A: It’s only the first coat. If you applied a thin coat (500 sq. feet per gallon) and you have given a light but thorough sanding it should be enough to have a good bond. However, don’t sand it down and then leave it for a few days. It is still curing for several weeks so you don’t want to sand it and leave it without coating so that it gets harder on you. You can hit the shiny spots again, carefully. You don’t want to cut into the stain.
Quick Coat is a stain. I use that because I know it will be dry the next day for coating. And you are correct about the first coat looking spotty. No big deal. That is normal. There will be a big difference with the next coat.
Follow up: Finally, I’m finished with my floors! I put the 3rd coat on the largest room last Saturday afternoon. It took me 5.5 hours non-stop but it’s done.
The floors are new wood so the oily spots weren’t from wax. I applied the stain 8 days prior to the first coat of poly so it should’ve been dry. I believe it was the mineral spirits that hadn’t dried. Whatever it was, the second screening took care of the problem. I took your advise and didn’t use mineral spirits to tack between the 2nd and 3rd coat. I vacuumed about 4 times
and then tacked with a dry cloth until there was no dust left on the cloths.
These are new, character grade floors. I had to start with 36 grit because the 60 just wasn’t flattening the edges of the boards. The 36 grit took forever! I literally got down on my hands and knees, brushed over every inch of the floor with my hand to find the uneven edges marking each one with a pencil then going over each spot with the sander. I had to ride the sander pretty hard to get a nice flat floor. Then it was several passes with 60, 80 and 100. Hubby used a random orbital sander for the perimeter of the rooms.
As far as the water popping and staining, that was actually the easiest step. And believe me, I had read the horror stories of bad stain jobs along with improper sanding, peeling poly, debris in the finish and the list goes on and on. I was holding my breath praying that it would turn out OK. For me, the most stressful part of the whole finishing process was the 3 coats of poly.
The stress of knowing that any step in this whole process, if done incorrectly, could send me back to bare wood was almost more than I could handle! How in heaven’s name do you do it? And since 1972? Goodness gracious, I would have been committed years ago! My respect for you pros is at a new level.
In my area, authentic professional floor refinishers are few and far between and sadly, many of the horror stories online are from homeowners who hired someone they thought was a professional to finish their floors and ended up getting screwed. (Pardon my French.) I guess that’s why I chose to it myself.. if I screwed it up then I’d only have myself to blame and at least I wouldn’t have spent thousands in the process.
Before I go I do have a couple more questions if you don’t mind. I’d like to paint before moving back into the house. When would it be safe to put down drop cloths to protect the floors? Or would something else like brown craft paper be a better choice?
Secondly, do you have any vacuum cleaner recommendations? It would be nice to find one reasonably priced if such a thing exists.
God bless and thanks for your help!
A: Ideally, placing a covering over a floor finish is best left for 2-3 weeks after the final coat. This allows for full exposure to air to complete the curing. This is really in reference to area rugs. Just for drop cloths, a day or two after the finish has dried you should be safe to start painting. Just fold up the cloth and remove it from the floor at days end. Make sure there are no little pebbles etc on the floor or on the drop cloth before laying it out.
Suggesting a vacuum is tough. If there are no rugs in the house you don’t need a beater bar. For hardwood floors you do want a soft brush and preferably soft rubber type wheels, not hard plastic. I use a Fein vacuum with attachments from an old kirby with a floor brush. Don’t use oil soaps, pine oils, furniture polish or anything else from the super market to clean polyurethane coatings.