Did contractor lie about # of poly coats???

[allisterscope]

Hey all -

I recently had hardwood floors refinished. The flooring contractor agreed to three coats of poly. The floors looked beautiful at first; however, within a month of the work, I've noticed peeling in certain places, and even bare exposed wood. I'm seriously suspecting that the contractor took short cuts and put less than the agreed-upon three coats, but have no idea how to verify.

Any ideas/suggestions/advice?

Thank you in advance!

 

[JPfloor]

Well no matter how many coats they put down it shouldn’t be peeling. Perhaps not sanded thoroughly. Perhaps defective product. Sounds like it needs to be redone.

 

[C.J.]

Floor wasn’t properly cleaned before applying finish. Maybe they didn’t screen between coats. Was the floor stained? Could be they didn’t let it dry thoroughly. Or just plain ol non compatible products were used.

I was spraying some water based poly the other day on a shelf I used stain on and I’m sure I didn’t give it enough time in between products cus my poly completely peeled off. Had to sand it again and spray it the next day.

 

[C.J.]

Something else to think about is whether a sanding sealer was used. If not then the first coat of poly is the seal coat. The second and third coats are build coats.

What kind of poly makes a difference as well. Was it a high solids content poly? The stuff from HD or Lowes for maybe $30 a gallon (oil based poly) isn’t the greatest and you will notice a difference compared to a high build product like Poloplaz. I may use the inexpensive stuff as my sealer then build on top of that with a quality poly.

Too late for details now but just some tidbits to think about next time you are having hardwoods refinished. Most people just leave it up to the contractor thinking they will do them right but that’s not always the case.

Time is also an important factor many people don’t take into account. Oil based polys take time to do their thing between coats. 3 coats could mean 3 additional days. Stain ads time to the mix as well.

 

[allisterscope]

Thank you, JPfloor and CJ!

 

[C.J.]

For the sake of helping other people that may read this thread, what products were used? Do you have any pics that may help others with a similar problem?