Wavy refinished floors - help!

6 years ago

I have a floor dilemma. We are in the middle of a remodel. We just had our previously flat floors sanded, stained, and finished. We immediately noted a wavy pattern to the finished floors and alerted our contractor. He acknowledged the waves but he was unsure whether it was an issue or not so he brought in the vendor that did the floors to take a look and explain. According to the vendor that did the floors, they say nothing could have been done to prevent it since it is unevenness in our subfloor that caused the machine to make the waves in the wood. Our contractor called another local company (we live in a relatively small town, by the way) who looked at it and says it looks okay and would pass inspection by NWFA. I took photos to another flooring place in town and asked them what they thought. They said it is an issue with the sander used and not a subfloor issue and it should be redone. What to do and does anyone have experience with this? Our contractor is eager to keep our project moving. Photos attached.

Featured Answer

PRO

G & S Floor Service

6 years ago

The finisher's drum sander requires a tune-up. The waves are too severe. It needs to be redone. The finisher needs to use a hard plate system to alleviate the wave caused by the drum sander. If, they do not have or know what one is. You will need to find a finisher that does. Otherwise, you're stuck with this type of quality.

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Comments (7)

PRO
Johnson Flooring Co Inc
6 years ago
The third floor person is correct, as is G&S. To remove the wave the floor needs to be sanded over. It should be sanded on a slight diagonal angle first, to remove the waves. After going through all the grits, the floor can be sanded with a buffer or something like a Trio machine, then screened and finished. The person who did the job should make it right, but they need to inspect the big machine used on your job.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/avoiding-chatter-marks-wood-floors-32653.html
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Erin Roe
6 years ago
This happened to me when i hired a company to redo my hardwood floors. It took them DAYS of sanding and it’s still noticeable waves. And the guy denied any wrong doing. He told me this Is the last time I can ever have my floors refinished. It’s also the FIRST time these hardwood floors have ever been refinished. He destroyed my floors by doing this and then way over sanding to try to fix it. And there's nothing I can do.
stephaniscott thanked Erin Roe
PRO
G & S Floor Service
6 years ago
"A picture is worth a thousand words."

Every flooring contractor these days have an online portfolio that includes photos. Everyone should carefully examine it, before hiring. Reviews are great, but should be backed up with quality photos. The photos will tell you how good the contractor really is.

Do not just look at the photos - look in the photos. You can examine online photos by zooming in and out into different parts of the photos. Defects such as sanding lines, swirls, waves, chatters, dish outs and blotches will show through in the images.

It will help you make a better "financial" decision in hiring. Avoid bad "financial" experiences. Decide which contractor is the best value to make sure that your "financial" expectations are met.
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thinkdesignlive
6 years ago
Any chance you can get a different local extremely reputable wood floor pro to look at it in person? Maybe even pay them a consultation fee....Obviously, you are hoping to avoid what Erin went through (so sorry Erin :(. It would be wise to get good on site advise before they attempt a fix as yes (good advise above) you may need to rethink who exactly does the fix.
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stephaniscott
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you all for your insight and guidance. In the end, we paid out of pocket for an inspector certified by the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) to evaluate the floors. He concluded that the floors do not meet acceptable standards.
kellymdaniels
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
i know this is an old post, but can i ask what you ended up doing with the floors? did you keep them as is? re-sand them? Thanks!