My floor finishing contractor had problems putting the final satin (Oil) coat on my white oak herringboane floor. I layed the 500 sq. foot herringbone with frame edging with this forum's help, but went with a contractor to sand and finish the floor and stair treads. I looked at three jobs this flooring contractor did in high-end homes and they looked perfect, but they had traditional straight grain floors.

The sanding, staining and filling coats went well and the two glossy oil poly looked OK, but the final satin coat has problems. The contractor has buff sanded and applied satin oil-based polyurethane final coats twice with the same poor results. I see pull marks in the finish accross the whole floor, and more troubling are areas that look like soapy film in oval patterms that follow his applicator strokes. The defects are exaggerated because of the South facing windows and the herringbones bias grain. The floor has had plenty of time to set as I've been away for three months and now have to deal with this problem. My wife wants her new master bedroom.

Can you help me?

I'm planning to hand sand with sanding sponges and apply a fifth coat of satin, maybe with a roller to eliminate the pull marks.

Should I switch to a water-based finish or use somthing like Zar poly (Oil)? Can you recommend a finish coat? Should I let the contractor try again? I'm not sure another contractor would like to fix this floor. There are not many in my location.

Try rolling on the finish, keeping a wet edge.

Do you know what poly he used?...You can apply oil poly like a water base, satin is a little more difficult than a gloss or semi as it tends to show lap lines if your not careful. Anyway you can sand the floor enough to take out the lines and swirls from the last coat and then get down with a 10 inch cut in pad and apply the poly this way. When your down on your hands and knees this way you get a better job. You see every little thing that might fall into the finish and have the chance to get it out and you can also take your time and blend it in well. Nice even coats. Sounds like you just need one smooth coat and all will be well. This method might take you a little more time but its the end result that matters. Obviously you will have yo throw the pad away but I do this all the time with T bar covers and cut in pads. I can get Poly on nice and fast with my t bar and then just throw away the $8 cover. The cut in pad will work great.

A roller will work great too as floorguy mentioned. I use a roller from Bona that has two little disc like wheels on each side so you cant mess it up, it forces you to apply the exact same amount of finish every time you put the roller to the floor.