Filler on new hardwood - part 2

15 years ago

So, in brief, in case anyone didn't see my first question: the floor contractor installed new oak floors and covered them with paste wood filler. He has now sanded them. He showed me a section with stain to see if that was what I wanted and I okayed it but I didn't have a good look at the overall floor until he'd left. I had noticed that the floor looked patchy but I thought it was just the dust from sanding that had not been cleaned up yet. but then when I took a closer look I noticed that the patchiness is areas of wood filler that have not been sanded out. Some if them are strips across the end of a board where it butts up against another, some of them are long strips running the length of a board at the edge. Obviously this is due to uneven thickness of the boards or the subfloor.

So my question is: should all this unevenness have been sanded out?

Would I be out of line or too nit-picky if I ask my contractor to sand them out?

I am concerned that when the floor is stained there will be noticeable strips of solid colour with no woodgrain where the filler is remaining.

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Comments (5)

donaldsg
Original Author
15 years ago
So I bit the bullet and called the guy first thing this morning to express my concerns. He said the filler becomes more transparent and less noticeable when it is stained. I asked if that was the case could we evaluate how it looks once the stain is down. He agreed.
Then a little while later he called back and said by the way he wasn't done with the sanding. He had finished with the large sander, but he still had to touch up some spots with a hand sander so probably that would take care of the areas we were concerned about. I'm not sure why he couldn't say that to start with, but I'm happy that there'll be more sanding and less obvious filler.

Now we just have to get the stain right because looking at it in the daylight this morning it looks too red to me now. So I'll have more test patches to look at when I get home from work this evening.
glennsfc
15 years ago
Any good professional wood floor sanding should be smooth and flat. Only then is it ready for staining.
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someone2010
15 years ago
Glennsfc is correct. The floor should be flat and even and the filler is used to fill pores in the wood and any fine lines between the joints so the finish will go on smoothly. Also, there should not be dips in the floor where mistakes were sanded out to make the floor even. And there should be no pools of filler. It will not disappear when the finish is put on. Take a look at some of the wood floors in your neighborhood and maybe show them to your floor guy.
donaldsg
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for your advice, guys. Everything has worked out fine. He did several hours more sanding yesterday and I can't see any more pools of filler and there are no obvious dips, either. We tried out some new stains and I picked a better dark brown (less red) which was applied yesterday. Then today the first coat of poly went on. I'm very happy with the way it looks - apart from the stink!

BTW, the rest of my house has wood floors so I already had a good idea of how the new floor should look; that is why I was so concerned about the filler in the first place. I just haven't been through any major renovation project before and so the procedures (and dealing with a contractor) are unfamiliar to me. It is reassuring to know that my concerns were valid and I'm not just being picky. So thanks again!
glennsfc
15 years ago
Glad it worked out. Also, thanks for not driving your floor person crazy. The work is hard and tedious and the last thing we need as floor finishers is an overly-nervous and anxious customer. You were wise to seek counsel here. lol