I am supposed to close on a house this week, and I have a question regarding the hardwood floors. In the dining rooms and entry way there are rugs on the hardwood floors with no pads, and apparently water must have been spilled in a couple of areas and has seeped through to the floor because the polyurethane is peeling off in long strips. It doesn’t appear that the wood has been damaged, just the poly.
My question is: Does the whole floor need to be refinished? or can the damaged areas be sanded and more poly applied? Should this be done by a professional? If so, any ideas as to the cost? The water-damaged areas are about 2-3 feet in diameter in a foyer and a 10×13 dining room.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Replies
Do you know if these floors had been refinished before? Water could be a problem, but I wonder if maybe some residual wax, or other cleanersolvent may not have been left on the floor from a prior refinishing. Just a though.
Don
I'm not looking at the damage but more then likely the entire room will require sanding and refinishing. Professional floor finishers will charge anywhere from $1.25/sq ft - $5.00/sq ft. depending on the situation. Most will not come out for under a $400.00 minimum.
Regards,
SA
What does your real estate contract say--as is or did they acknowledge the damage? A new house down the street was built ($1M+) and the owners moved in. One month later the poly started peeling--builder's fault. Moved them out to a hotel, put the furniture in the van in the yard and refinished. I think "peeling" is different from "water damage" and indicates a bad finish. I don't think "water damage" would be in a rectangular area--it would be irregular.
s
Peeling is generally an indication of contamination or some type of chemical reaction. I would think the whole thing needs to be redone.
don c. is on the right track, i believe. i specialize in hardwood restorations (sanding, patching, and refinishing) and i have had problems with my finish drying with "fish eyes", or not sticking at all. this can be caused by floor wax, and also by silicone, or products with silicone in them. (murphy's oil soap) where the finish is peeling, what is underneath? more finish, or bare wood? resanding seems to be the best solution to me. the cost will be between $1.25 and $2.50, but be careful, you get what you pay for. also, see if you can get them to thrown in new oak shoe mould when they give you a quote. you know, say something like " that is a little high, does that include new oak shoe mould?" ;)
peace
I have run into this before. "Woodfloorman" is on track. The ones that I have seen were caused by laying poly over wax or oil finish, the poly will simply not stick. The fllor will need to be completeley stripped and refinished. CAUTION: Depending on how many times the floor has been sanded, there may not be enough material remaining to completely sand out the old finish. Oil inparticular is tough,it just won't sand out, because it seeps imbetween the baords and on red oak its worse, due to the pores. I would get some prices on replacing the flooring and use that in your negotiations. If you can recoupe some or all of the cost, you can then attempt to refinish or replace. Either way, I would have the work done prior to moving day, due to dust and furniture. If it were me, and it was red oak, I would replace it. You can go with traditional raw wood or the prefinished material. The prefinished is nice, because there is no sanding and generally, the material and finish are excellent. What type of wood is the floor?
Good Luck!
John
Edited 8/29/2003 12:36:07 AM ET by JMartinsky
I'd start by using a moisture meter on teh floor. If it turns up damp, there's more to it than just refinishing.
I was wondering about moisture too.
Regards,
Kevin
I'll weigh in on the contamination theory. W/B poly is very popular for floors because it's safer, no volatile fumes. The problem is it doesn't stick to oil or wax, so maybe just the immediate area wasn't stripped well enough. If there's no water marking of the wood I don't think you're looking at water damage. Try this simple test to determine the extent of the problem. Take a sharp Xacto and cut a small X adjacent to the problem area and maybe in a couple of other places across the room. Dewax the spots with alcohole or acetone and cover the X's with masking tape. Burnish the tape and then pull it off. If the finish lifts-off with the tape you have adhesion trouble.John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
Thanks everyone for your comments, they helped a lot as we moved ahead in fixing the urethane problem.
To let you know how things turned out. We had the floors sanded, stained and urethaned -- and it looks awesome. The second coat of urethane went on today and then tonight or tomorrow they will buff it and put a third coat on. I asked them (the professionals that are doing the job) what the thought the problem was and they think that it was prefinished flooring that was installed and over time moisture got between the cracks of the wood and damaged the urethane.
They are using oil based stain and oil based urethane. As usual the pro's make it look really easy - almost get me thinking that I could have done it myself but no way. It is too big of a job, in too obvious of an area for a guy that is only going to do it once in his life to take on. If you are not experienced at this it appears too easy to screw it up. I am enjoying watching the pro's make it look easy and leaving a absolutely beautiful flow behind.
Thanks again for your information
Will
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