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lee_annt

Hardwood Floor Refinishing

10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago

We recently decided to have our maple floors refinished. Unfortunately the colour came out 'orange' instead of a rich brown like we had expected. The hardwood floor guy chose a small section to apply a 2nd stain over top of the already dried stain. While the colour is more in line with what we're looking for, he has now left for vacation, and can't finish the floor for another week. In the meantime I've discovered a few sections where there appears to be scratch marks from sanding the floor. I asked the general contractor and he suggested they might be from the original finished floor. I would have thought they would have been sanded out this time around? I'm also worried that they may be even more noticeable once the floor is darker. Should it look like this?

Comments (13)

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Another photo

  • 10 years ago

    I would definitely bring your concerns to your hardwood floor guy when he returns from vacation.

  • PRO
    10 years ago
    @lee_aunt those are edger marks!! Your guy is not very good. Maple is a tough go at best. The reason his stain came out orange is the maple did not absorb enough stain. I'm not going to go any further on social media but you can call or email me directly as I do maple almost every week. If you hired 'joe the floor guy' and paid a low price well then you got what you paid for. If that's not the case then I would do yourself a favour and hire a well qualified guy with technical training under his belt. Of course the latter charges more and now you know why!!
    woodwize@gmail.com
    7807077542
    lee_annt thanked ULTIMATE HARDWOOD LTD
  • PRO
    10 years ago
    Oh and by the way adding a second application of stain severely weakens the bond from wood to top coats. That technique is a no no.
  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Thanks for your responses! We hired a company to do the whole reno and this is the floor guy they use. He came highly recommended with 10+ years experience, but now we realize he is not as knowledgable as first thought. After discussing staining over top of the original stain, we discovered what looked like 'streaks' in the floor. He said these were from the final 'buffing' before stain was applied and that they would disappear after the final finish was put on. They didn't. In the end the floor was resanded and restained with a different colour. Now they are asking for an additional $2700 for the resanding and restaining, despite our argument that the resanding was required due to their poor workmanship.

    These are the 'streaks' in the floor (vertical in picture). They're trying to tell us that if we had been happy with the original colour, these streaks would have been hidden by the finish. They also said they could have spot fixed the sanding marks without resanding the whole floor. According to them, there will always be some marks or blemishes because no refinish job is perfect. I don't expect it to be perfect, but I also won't settle for 'good enough'.

  • PRO
    10 years ago

    Wrong, wrong, wrong wrong. Oh dear. More money to fix their bad workmanship. Nope. Those "streaks" are what happens when you don't sand with the grain. And no they don't "even out".

    Have you paid them in full? Please don't. Go find another professional to have a look at this. The staining issues aside (again, maple is HARD TO STAIN...it is streaky and clumpy and takes LOTS OF PATIENCE and LOTS OF hard lessons learned like what you are seeing right here).

    Get someone else to look at it. Start with a HIGH END hardwood flooring/finishing company (they would sell and install their own product...not some 'guy' who helps with renovations).

    Maple is not a floor that can have a stain "thrown down" and it works out. It is FINICKY! Did the GC explain that? Does the GC KNOW THAT? Have a look at the dark stain maple Ultimate is showing...those stains are TOUGH to get right on maple. On Oak it is child's play compared to maple.

    lee_annt thanked Cancork Floor Inc.
  • PRO
    10 years ago
    OMG that's a jack job! Yes a perfect refinish is totally possible...call the NWFA first off. Secondly hire an NWFA inspector. You've hired the typical average GC who uses glorified labourers and not certified hardwood techs. The inspection process with discover 'faults' according to industry guidelines. He also describe who is at fault. Do not pay the GC or hardwood guy another penny!!!!
    1 636 519 9663
    Call now!
    lee_annt thanked ULTIMATE HARDWOOD LTD
  • 10 years ago

    Thanks for your response! Its nice to be validated, especially when we keep being told we don't know what we're talking about. At this point, the floor has been resanded, restained and finish applied. Its not perfect, but its not orange :) Anything that could go wrong in this reno has and we just want to be done.

  • PRO
    10 years ago

    @Ultimate...do you think Rubio in a mid-gray tone would work a little better on maple...or does it have the same issues with splotchiness as a traditional stain/finish (outside of the obvious sanding patterns in this particular floor)?

    I'm wondering if Rubio would work better with maple...just curious.

  • PRO
    10 years ago
    Rubio colors show very well on maple. As a matter of fact the darker the color the better it looks. Hard as hell to get it right tho...maple takes a lot of practice to get rid of the scratch patterns from the sanding sequence. At least 4 cuts on the edger/BM and 2 polishes with ascending grits. Not for rookies that's forsure.
  • 10 years ago
    They are asking for final payment tomorrow. While the floor is better the 2nd time around, it is not perfect. We are just trying to figure out what is acceptable and what is not. Here's a few spots where we noticed issues.
  • PRO
    10 years ago
    Get it inspected if you feel it's shoddy. If it's not and the inspector agrees you pay him and the floor company. If inspector finds problems you pay him out of their end and have them fix it or risk legal action. Watch how fast they run for the door or man up. Put your foot down,stick up for yourself. I hate seeing hacks bully the customer into paying for crap work. Damn!!