I applied blue painters tape to a hardwood floor. When I pulled the tape up (next day) some of the Poly came up with the tape, while other areas seperated from the floor. I applied a light coat of poly but it did not finish even. Also, the areas where the poly sperated but didn't pull have air in them. The floor was Poly'd over three weeks ago. I'm a painter and this happend at a customer site. What should I do?


Thank you for your feedback.

Sounds like an adhesion problem with the floor finish.

I know the tape manufacturer recommends not leaving the tape on for more then 24 hours. The floor finish should have been cured, by then.

Are you sure the tape was only on for a few hours of the day?
Can someone credible besides yourself verify that?

If so, you may have a claim with the finishers.


You may need to hire an independent wood flooring inspector in your area, to test the floor finish for adhesion problems.

You may have saved the home owner inadvertently, from having her floors need refinishing faster then they should.

I've seen it in several of the pictures, and now in this thread... just curious. What is the blue tape on the floor for? I can see a pattern in how it's laid, but can't for the life of me figure out why!

When it is used on a glued down floor, it acts like a clamp, sort of. It's purpose is to hold the boards in place till the glue dries enough to do that. Of course, painters use it to mask of areas they are painting, contractors use it to hold down their protective paper and cardboard, and my favorite; homeowners use it to show us installers all the areas in the floor they think are flawed.

Blue tape has as many uses as wd-40. It is a very good thing to have around.

It is great for holding a piece of parquet together when you have to make a funky ,small cut.

Thanks for your feedback. I was using the tape to protect the floor from overspray. This was our fourth job this year where the floor was finished before we started. I don't get it.

I stopped using the blue tape about a year ago. I use the purple tape now. Made for delicate finishes, and holds better than the blue tape.

The reason for taping the boards is because the glue has a "memory" to it. When the board is placed down and tapped in, the glue wants to pull it back to the place it was first set.

Could also have something to do with the curing time, type of finish, and weather conditions or the actual environment of the job. Rainy or adverse humid conditions always need longer times to cure if the area isn't climate controlled. It's always best to play it safe and tape to baseboards if possible.

3M's blue tape (or Scotch brand) should not pull the finish of the floors. If it is after three weeks, I agree with Perry that that finish is not adhering adequately due to numerous possibilities but most likely poor mechanical abrasion of the previous finish coat before topcoating. OR adhesion problems due to contamination of the floor/finish or incompatable finishes and/or stains. Common cause of poor adhesion:
1) Failure to abraid ALL floor areas especially areas inaccessable by buffer. Those need to be hand sanded!
2) Failure to allow stains to dry completely. Most floor finish manufacturers require a 48 hour dry time MINIMUM for oil based stains; and thats under ideal circumstances.
3) Incompatable finishes. Mixing laquer sanding sealers, waterborne urethanes, oil based stains, shellac toners. This is a recipe for disaster. If you don't KNOW what you're doing, stick with one brand and their system.
4) Contaminated floors by others using whatever to clean the floors with. Murphy's, Windex, Spic N' Span, Liquid Gold, lemon oil, Endust, etc.

Bottom line; I don't think it is the tape. My floors get taped all the time and my finishes never delaminate unless I've screwed up!

Is it important to use the blue tape during installation or can it work without it.

The only time tape is used during installation is to hold the floor together while the glue cures. If you're installing a nailed down floor, you don't need it. If I'm gluing to wood subfloors, I sometimes will use a brad nailer to hold wedges and some boards together instead of tape.