I have seen peaking seams after using water-based finish on my new sand and finish oak and hickory floors and this disturbs me. Is this a sign of defective materials or defective finisher? Should I try a different stain and finishing techniqe? Comments please.

Monty

Adding moisture to the surface of the boards, doesn't cause cupping, especially with a finish. Now, enough moisture to soak down and get under the floor... that I can see a cupped floor.

If this is a new installation, I would suspect it was installed over a wetter substrate, then the boards were at the time of install. Now the bottom of the flooring, has gain moisture, while the top of the flooring has not.


Improper acclimation, can cause swelling, that compression sets the edges, leaving a cupped appearence.

Bona recommends the pour and snowplow method of applying their Bona Seal. When I did that on a new 2&1/4" red oak strip floor, some of the boards did appear to look cupped. I had to resand. My recommendation is to not pour on your waterbased sealers but applying them from a tray using a roller or pad. And make the first sealer coat THIN. Once you get a coat or two down, you can apply the finish in heavier coats but the first one needs to be on the thin side. It's the water in the finish that is causing the peaking joints/seams. You may want to try different brands of floor finishes. Not all brands equal the same results.

Thanks for your insight Gary. I am sure my problem is not acclimation it is only random boards that peak ever so slightly on the side seams. I will try the thin coat for the first coat of finish. I also thought about using the non-wax shellac for first coat whether natural or over stain to seal the water out and hopefully minimize the chance of the peaking. I have called Bona about this once before and not gotten a good answer. I will try your suggestion it makes sense to me.

Chris

Bona also has a Dri Fast sealer, which is a fast drying oil-based polyurethane that you can apply any of Bona's floor finishes over, including waterbased. I've used it and it works good. Doesn't dry as fast as they say however. But once dry, you lightly screen it and apply the Bona finish of your choice. It will give you the ambering effect similar to that de-waxed shellac. Bona also has Dri Fast stains. Use the natural/neutral for a sealer instead of Bona Seal. Personally, I like the idea of de-waxed shellac or Bona's Dri-Fast oil sealer. They act like a bond breaker and help prevent side bonding, a problem with waterbornes.

And trowel filling can help reduce the amount of finish(water-based) that gets into the seams causing some edges to raise but not every wood floor can or should be trowel filled.

I had some seams peak after I used one of the Bona Dry Fast stains and one coat of EON 70. I think next time I will use the shellac over the stain, then finish it. I have used the shellac before in order to use a minwax stain then water-base over the shellac and have never had a problem with seams raising. I am trying to find a reliable system for waterbase. My experience is mostly with Bona. So far I like it the best.

Chris

i've had this problem.

i now put a coat of shellac on as a primer. it seems to seal the grain in aswell and allows a much smoother finish to the wood..putting water based on engineered boards can have it's problems.