Repairing And Preventing Floor Problems
Flaws In The Wood Floor Finishes
A list of
repairing common wood finish, sanding, installation problems.
Bubbles - Air bubbles in wood floor finishes. Correct bubbles by buffing with a 150 grit screen or 220 grit screen paper, then recoat.
Prevent bubbles, avoid shaking polyurethane instead stir, and avoid brushing back and forth to many time, use ligth pressure when brush.
Flashing - A shinier spot that occurs during coating. Correct Flashing by Buffing and recoat.
Prevent by coating in smaller areas with greater speed and keeping a wet edge, apply proper amount of coverage.
Lap Marks - Correct lap marks by Buffing and recoat.
Prevent by coating in smaller areas with greater speed and keeping a wet edge.
Brush Marks - Correct Brush marks by Buffing and recoat.
Prevent by coating with grain of wood, using a higher quality finish.
Puddles - Correct Puddles by lightly scraping excess polyurethane, Buffing with 220 grit sandpaper and recoat.
Prevent by applying a thinner coat.
Drips - Correct drips by lightly scraping excess polyurethane, Buffing with 220 grit sandpaper and recoat.
Prevent by applying a thinner coat and using less pressure with brush strokes.
Wrinkles or Orange Peel - Repair wrinkles by scraping excess polyurethane, Buffing with 220 grit sandpaper and recoat. If, finish is flaky resand and recoat.
Prevent by allowing previous coat to dry and harden properly before screening and adding additional coating.
Beading - Correct beading by resanding and recoat. Commonly occurs during a screen and recoat process.
Prevent by testing surface for wax or residue. Clean surface with TSP before screening and coating.
Improper Drying - Correct improper drying by increasing room temperature and allow air circulation. If, necessary wipe surface with mineral spirit, allow to dry then screen and recoat.
Prevent by keeping room temperature between 65-75 deg. humidity around 35%
Peeling/Delaminating - Repair Peeling by resanding and recoat.
Prevent by using products that are more compatible with each other, properly abrading surfaces to ensure proper bonding - use 220 grit sanding strips.
Scratches - Correct scratched by sanding and recoat.
Prevent by avoid dragging items, use protective felt padding where necessary.
Scuffs - Correct scuffs by buffing and recoat.
Prevent by avoid dragging items, use protective felt padding where necessary.
Gapping - Wood will naturally expand and contract. Repair gapping by filling with wood putty, be aware when wood expand it can cause wood putty to squeaze out.
Prevent by allow wood flooring to acclimate a minimum of 72 hours, some species require longer time. Install a humidifier.
Ooze out - Wood will naturally expand and contract, finish sometimes get trapped in the joints and oozes out as wood expands. Correct ooze out by scraping with plastic putty knife careful not to damage finish, clean with mineral spirit.
Prevent by installing a humidifier and applying a several thin coats of wood floor finishes.
Dark Brush Marks - Caused from excessive finish in one spot resulting in tanning pull, commonly with a latex wood floor finish. Correct by resanding and recoating.
Prevent by using a high quality sealer, apply a thin, even coat.
Uneven Sheen - Caused from insufficient stirring. Correct by buffing and recoating.
Prevent by stirring finish for at least 5 minutes, apply thin even coat.
Tan Lines - Caused from covering newly finished floors with rugs and mats, before finish fully cures and acclimates to light. Correct by resanding and recoating.
Prevent by Allowing finish to fully cure for 30 days on newly finished floors and allow prefinish floors to acclimate to light for 30 days.
Stains
Lap Marks - caused from stain drying out to rapidly. Repair by removing lap marks with mineral spirit using a rag, then re-apply stain. Acetone can also be used, if stronger cleaner is required.
Prevent by using wood conditioner, this will allow extra work time, maintain a wet edge.
Blotches or Dark Spots - caused from wood absorbing stain unevenly. Repair by removing blotches with mineral spirit using a rag, then re-apply stain. Acetone can also be used, if stronger cleaner is required.
Prevent by using wood conditioner, this will allow wood to take in stain evenly.
Footprints - caused by wet feet walking on bare wood. Water will open wood pores, causing your material to stain darker. Repair by sanding footprints out and then re-stain.
Prevent by thoroughly wiping feet dry or go bare feet.
Bleed Back - caused by applying accessive stain to wood surface. Repair by wiping with clean dry rag and allow to dry before top coating.
Prevent by applying the proper coverage and cleaning thoroughly.
Sanding Issues
Chattering - Caused from drum machine. Correct chattering by resanding and recoating.
Prevent chattering by taking lighter sanding pass at slower feed rate, use a belt sander, make finish pass with a hardplate or sanding disc on buffer. Maintain equipment.
Sandpaper Burn Marks - Correct burn marks by resanding and recoating.
Prevent by avoid dwelling in one area, use lower rpm, increase feed rate.
Gouges - Caused from sanders, Correct by resanding using edger.
Prevent by avoid dwelling in one area, bumping into objects, feeding paper into floor to agressively.
Swirls-Edger - Caused from aggresive sanding or unbalanced sander, Correct by resanding using a finer grit sandpaper.
Prevent by adding maroon or white felt padding between machine and sanding disc, to act as suspension or cushion, Take a lighter sanding pass, use lower rpm's. Fine tune with a orbital palm sander.
Swirls-Buffer - Caused from aggresive sanding, unbalanced sander or debris getting trapped under screen. Correct by cleaning floor, replace white cleaning pad, rebuff using finer grit screeen.
Prevent by adding maroon or white felt padding between machine and sanding disc, to act as suspension or cushion, Take a lighter sanding pass.
Rough Spots - Caused from uneven sanding, Correct by resanding using a finer grit sandpaper.
Prevent by over lapping sanding passes
Lines In The Surface - Caused from uneven drum sanding or missed sanding, repair by leveling drum, resanding overlapping sanding passs.
Prevent by over lapping sanding passes, keep equipment maintained.
Equipment Lacks Power Or Will Not Start - Caused from loose connection, excessive equipment usage or worn down parts. Edger - Correct by checking for proper connection, replace carbon brushes. Drum Sander check for proper wire connection at panel, check belts for tension. Buffer check connections, replace carbon brushes.
Prevent by maintaining equipment.
Fuse Blow Out - caused by loose connection in equipment wire causing arching, lack of grounding. Correct by checking for loose connections, make sure power cable has ground, use higher amp outlet.
Prevent by maintaining equipment, use proper gauge power cables with ground, use outlet with a working ground and higher amps.
Installation Issues
Cupping - Repair cupping by allowing moisture content to dry to 6% , sand and recoat.
Prevent by testing subfloor for moisture before installation, avoid using excessive water when cleaning and installing a dehumidifier.
Buckling - Wood will naturally expand and contract. Repair buckling by replacing boards, sand and coat.
Prevent by installing a dehumidifier and allow expansion gap around perimeter of room, use enough fasteners.
Open Joints - Flooring boards do not fit tight to each other, can be caused by poor tongue and groove construction, trapped debris, uneven subfloor surface, flooring rows are not straight or not enough force when tapping in place. Correct by cleaning subfloor, make sure underlayment is flat, use a better fitting floor board, use more force during installation.
Prevent by keeping subfloor surface clean, use hardwood flooring with quality millwork, chalk reference line, use straight boards for starting row, use more force when tapping in place.
Squeaks - Caused by loose or damaged subfloor. Repair by replacing damaged subfloor, adding coarse wood screws into floor joist.
Prevent by using quality subfloor products and using proper installation method.
Noisy Floor - Caused by lack of insulation or sound proofing. Correct by adding sound proofing material(recommended) or insulation.
Prevent by properly preparing the subfloor, add sound proofing as needed.
Floor Feels Spongy - Caused by loose floor boards due to lack of fasteners, adhesive, or uneven surface. Repair by removing floor boards, prepare subfloor with leveling compound, use proper amount of adhesive or fastener.
Prevent by preparing subfloor properly, using the correct amount of fastener or adhesive.
Learn how to repair a
glue down flooring
Learn how to repair a
laminate floating floor
Learn how to repair a solid wood flooring
G and S woodfloors Lynn,Ma.
