Software
Houzz Logo Print
kari_osurshron

wood floor staining problem

3 years ago

I just got my hardwood floors sanded and restained. They used oil based stain, bona high traffic HD. I noticed that there are these scratch marks all over the floor. It looks like they’re from the sanding machine. Anyone have any clue about what this is? The floor guy is coming back tomorrow. Will he have to redo the whole job???

Comments (9)

  • 3 years ago

    If it's that bad all over, yes. FYI, a floor is inspected from a standing height, generally quoted as being 50" away, under normal lighting conditions. Floor sanding is a process of making the wood flat and smooth by using progressively finer grits. Beyond a certain point, the wood can be sanded so smooth that it doesn't accept stain. Because of this, you'll likely always be able to find minor scratches on any stained floors, but there's a limit to how many are acceptable, so occasionally there can be a gray area on what's acceptable. If it's truly "all over", it's likely that the finisher will tell you they need to start over. If it's not too bad, but really bad in a critical area, do over. If it's generally good and there's a few spots like this is less consequential areas it might be best to leave it alone.

  • 3 years ago

    Thank you for your input. There is a significant amount of this scratching. I will see what he says tomorrow.

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    Great news!

  • 3 years ago

    It's more likely to be grit walked in that got under the buffer on the final fine sanding. The worst parts of being in this business are that you can't see things like this until you stain and that what's a relatively minor cosmetic flaw can trigger having to do a significant portion of the work over.

    Good luck!

  • 3 years ago

    He did mention something like that. He said it’s hard to know exactly what caused the issue but hopefully won’t happen the second time around!

  • 3 years ago

    Is there any harm is doing this entire job again? Is it bad for the wood to sand all over again?

  • 3 years ago

    It's slight. It's already flat and going back the same color, so the amount that's necessary to sand off is rather minimal. Floor refinishers don't want to sand any more than necessary, so they start with the finest grit that will remove the existing finish.

  • 3 years ago

    Floors have been sanded and stained for the second time and there are no more marks! Thanks everyone for your advice