Urethane not smooth and level after refinishing

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

I sanded and refinished our engineered hardwood floor with a water based urethane. After several coats, the urethane seems to have soaked in to the wood leaving the grainy parts rough and open, so now dirt collects in those areas. I sanded in-between coats. I did this project a year or so ago, but now I can't stand looking at it and want to fix it. What could have caused this? I wonder if now I clean, scuff and apply another coat of it will fill in those areas?

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Comments (4)

User
4 years ago
Ask a local business or two to look at your floors; voice your concerns, and ask for solutions.
PRO
Johnson Flooring Co Inc
4 years ago
Softer grain in certain types of woods leaves valleys that don't get filled with finish, are more prone to wear and can collect grime. How many coats? How did you apply the finish? The floor can probably be scrubbed and recoated. We often use a diluted bleach solution to lighten up grime in deep grain before resealing or recoating.
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SJ McCarthy
4 years ago
It's all about the sanding. The grit you started at, the grit you ended at. The sealant (if any). And then the poly BRAND you used and how you applied it and how much per coat you applied and how many coats you applied at that coverage amount.

For example: you used a 60-80-100 grit (yes...three passes; each with their own grit level). Then you did NOT seal it. Perhaps your wood should have been FINISHED with 150gr for that ultra smooth finish. A high finishing grit CLOSES the wood grain to stop it from drinking in the poly.

Now imagine your first coat of poly brand "X" with a coverage of 450sf per gallon. Sounds good right? Usually not. The first coat may go down with 350sf of coverage/gallon. So your FIRST coat might have been too thin. Then your second coat had a coverage of 550-600sf. Again this sounds great on PAPER (and on your wallet)....but the THINNEST "X" should go down is (hypothetically) 500-550sf/gallon.

Again we are thin on our second coat. And then you did a light abrasion to knock down some of the wood grain/get rid of some of the dust and then you coated again with 650sf per gallon. Again, sounds good except that all 3 coats are too thin.

It is entirely possible your wood was 'too open' (thirsty wood with an open grain = poly gets slurped up quickly) AND your coverage was TOO THIN.

Of course we need photos. And how thick is the TOP LAYER of the engineered hardwood? If it was 2-3mm to START with, you have just used up the SINGLE sand/refinish feature. But we won't know that until you send photos and a measurement of what you have LEFT on your wear layer.
PRO
G & S Floor Service
4 years ago
You probably did not sand it as smooth as you have thought. What was your sanding grit sequence? What type of wood specie?