Category: Flaking, Peeling Finish

Q: My red oak floors were sanded, stained and finished six months ago, in July. Immediately after, we noticed the cut-in around the baseboards in the kitchen and living room were shiny. Our contractor determined that one can of poly wasn’t appropriately stirred, so he reapplied the poly after buffing it down. (I believe it was buffed – perhaps sanded is the better term?)

Now, six months later, I found a board with poly peeling around the edges. As I inspected the rest of the areas, I noticed that the only areas where I see other potential problems of the poly peeling are in the rooms that were redone. Not all rooms in the house had this shiny cut-in problem.

Q: This is our original floor (picture included). What do you think caused it to peel like this?

A: Well, it is happening on the edges of the boards. Was this a factory finished floor that has been sanded, stained and finished again? I can think of two things that can cause this. One is contaminants between the boards which react with the finish. I would more expect that to happen with very old floors, which this isn’t.

Q imported from our old site, Face Lift Floors: We have applied polyurethane to my hardwood floors. After the fourth coat was applied the sheen on the floor dulled. There are random spots here and there that are still glossy, but the rest of the flooring is duller than it was after the 3rd coat. We hadn’t been sanding the floors after every coat, only after the first coat. Continue reading Did not buffing between coats cause this?

Q imported from our old site, Face Lift Floors: I sanded a 980 sq.ft. job and when I coated the floor (oil base/satin) the finish started flaking off the floor from the grain. I have had this problem one other time in the 4 years that I have been sanding floors. I know that the problem is wax in the grain of the wood, and I also know that even if I sand the whole floor again the same thing will happen in the same spots (been there done that). Continue reading Finish peeling off because there is wax in the grain

Q: We had our hardwood floors refinished over the summer and they are starting to flake. The floors are scratching easily and you can peel away the poly with your fingernail. Continue reading Polyurethane flaking due to contaminant used between coats (soap, wax)

Q: I am having issues with polyurethane peeling off my hardwood floors. I have refinished multiple dressers, tables, chairs, beds, etc. so the idea of refinishing a hardwood floor did not scare me. I used an oil based stain and followed that with an oil based poly. Continue reading Finish didn’t chemically bond and is lifting off

Q: Is there a known issue between M***** stain and water-based Bona Traffic finish? We had our floors stained and finished 18 months ago and it is peeling. We have never used any form of abrasive cleaner, nor was there any type of water incident.

A: One of the things Continue reading Floors stained and finished 18 months ago are now peeling

Q: I was hoping you could give me some advice. I rent an apartment which has nice hard wood floors. I have been here for 2 years now and have noticed the shellac (I think it is) is peeling off in spots. It is becoming worse and more noticeable. How can I fix this and prevent more shellac coming off? I want to take care of it before it gets worse.

A: If your finish is shellac it Continue reading Is this shellac on my hard wood floor?

Q: We’ve had a decorative wood floor in our dining room for about 18 years. installed by a local guy, with pickled ash finish and a dark cherry perimeter. The wood was prefinished when we installed it. Today we picked up a cardboard box off the floor, and the finish seems to be peeling off the dark cherry. It doesn’t seem to be caused by the box (it was there for a day and was heavy, but no residue on it). Continue reading Mystery peeling around perimeter after 18 years

Q: We really need some advice. We just moved into our new construction home about a month ago. The moving company used packing tape to tape down blankets to protect our newly finished hardwood floors. When they pulled off the tape, big sheets of the polyurethane came off. Thinking it was just an issue with the adhesive on the tape being too strong, the floor guy came back and “redid” those areas. Continue reading Finish peeling due to too many coats of stain