Mission Impossible – Fixing the Upstairs Floor Finish (part 2)

Hi Everyone,

I’m sorry the post is late. I went out to dinner with a friend, returned home, and took a “nap” at 10:00 PM.

It’s no wonder as I am phenomenally stressed out about the floors.

Instead of writing this as one post, you can read part 1, here for more background information.

 

Since I have written a fair amount about the different floor finishes, I’m not going to address that in this post.

 

If interested, this link will take you to those posts about various hardwood floor finishes for further reading.

However, what I was writing here is so boring. No wonder I was falling asleep.

While some of you don’t understand and like the floors as they are, I hated them.

Some of you are going to offer suggestions.

 

Thank you for that, but the process to fix the hardwood floor finish has already begun. Therefore, changing the course we’ve already begun is impossible.

 

Therefore, this post is here to tell you what we’re doing. Again, if you’d like to read about alternatives and also many wonderful comments from dozens of you, please go to the link above for further reading.

I realize that matte floors are quite fashionable these days. I don’t dislike them, if they are done properly with a hardwax oil, but with a water-based polyurethane the slight sheen looked like a sheet of plastic. Plus, they are dull and lifeless.

However, the floors I adore have a rich sheen and depth. I had that in our townhouse in New York and enjoyed walking on them and viewing their lustrous beauty for 16 years. They held up fantastically, and the finish was satin-y smooth.

We used a product called Fabulon. However, the formulation has changed, and it’s not as good.

 

So, here’s the deal with my floor finish now that it is two months old.

 

The satin floor finish is almost matte, and the color has become more drab than ever. I used to love the view from the kitchen, but after the paper came up, all I could see at night was a field of lifeless, matte golden brown floors.

In addition, the new floor looks almost like it has no stain on it. The variation is quite noticeable, and it is in places where there won’t be a rug or furniture.

The next issue is that the floor in the den, like downstairs, is white oak, while the floor in the living room is red oak.

The white oak is darker, more gray, and less red than the red oak. However, it still has red in it, but it is a muddier red. Overall, the effect is a less red floor.

 

Laurel, didn’t you talk to the floor guy before he redid the floors?

 

Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times YES!

I emailed him with images and a description and told him in person. We discussed the difference between the new and old wood, and he assured me it would be okay.

“It’ll all blend beautifully once the poly is on.”

I have a zero-tolerance policy for utter BS, and that is only one of several reasons why he is not allowed in my home ever again.

He said he would fix it, and I gave him a leftover piece of the original floor I salvaged from my garden. On closer inspection, I could see the floor finish was in oil-based polyurethane, either satin or semi-sheen. The boards were smooth and satiny and had a lovely sheen, like a piece of furniture with an old French polish.

 

One or two of you mentioned something about getting some reclaimed flooring.

 

Oh, guys. Here’s the most disgusting part of this saga. That wasn’t necessary.

Here’s what happened.

I gave my GC explicit instructions to save the floor that would be taken up to create the new staircase. What I didn’t know is that they also took up the floor in the 30-square-foot entry.

 

All but a few pieces were carted away and disposed of.

 

Except for the fireplace area and a handful of old boards that had to be replaced, there was more than enough to make the repairs with the existing floor!

This happened when I was living in the rental apartment. I didn’t even know the floor was going in the day it did.  Yes, I was heartsick that this happened.

Then, my GCs flooring people put in white oak in the red oak living room. And, they did the suckiest job ever. So, I had to pay to have that redone.

 

Okay, the living room floor finish was done with the premium Bona Traffic HD in satin eight weeks ago.

 

It was fully cured at least a month ago. Therefore, one can put either oil or water-based poly over it. However, the floor finish requires a good screening, so the new poly will stick to it.

The screening happened last week. So, now, it HAS to be refinished.

So, here’s what we’re going to do.

 

Chris, my painter, has kindly taken it on to help me fix the floor.

 

Step one is to tone the new boards to blend better with the old ones.

Last week, we experimented in two areas.

The first was in the vestibule.

Above is the vestibule by the bathroom, and on top is the den floor.

 

I know. It’s a horrible situation.

 

The good news is that it looks worse here than in person. You can’t tell here, but first, Chris put straight Bona Woodline oil-based polyurethane on the horizontal board in the vestibule. A few hours later, it still looked wet—like high gloss. So, that was no good, but the color is excellent.

Above is one board toned on the new floor saddle. This board is a hair too red, but the Woodline polyurethane in satin is gorgeous. This is very close to the old Fabulon I loved. However, when it was dry, I saw that it would need two coats.

 

The second area was an exceedingly light board in the living room. This one is a hair too green, but this is the finish I love and want.  This image took only minutes before sunset, so the colors are off.

Below is a far more accurate coloration of the floor I took the following day.

 

So, I am helping out by taping off the boards that aren’t being toned. We are only toning in the living room because an area rug will mostly cover the den.

Tomorrow, Chris will tone the living room and hopefully put one coat of poly in the den. I hope that will be sufficient.

The living room, however, will require two coats of poly.

 

Okay, this is what is giving me a tremendous amount of anxiety.

 

It’s the smell.

We MUST keep it out of the rest of the building!

This is the mission impossible aspect of this. I am not at all worried about the color. I know that Chris will do a superb job of making the floor finish much more cohesive.

 

So, what are we going to do about the smell?

 

Chris has brought over two air scrubbers, which clean the air by processing it through a charcoal and HEPA filter and then sending it out the window. That right there should get rid of at least 80%, maybe 90%, of the smell and VOCs, making it okay. But we’re not stopping there.

Chris will put up plastic barriers over the stairwell and over the big opening between the living room and entrance/kitchen.

The lower entry door will be sealed tightly with plastic.

I am going to try and stay downstairs; however, if it’s not good, a friend has kindly offered to let me stay at her place. If it’s not good for me, then that’s a problem for the rest of the building.

 

Aside from the smell is the noise from the air scrubbers.

 

Oy!

However, I put it on and asked my neighbor directly above me if she was okay with the noise.

She said it was no louder than her bathroom exhaust, and it was totally fine.

The only other issue is that all of this is going to take several days due to Chris’ schedule and other factors.

In the meantime, I also bought some small air filters that I can use as the floor finish is curing and continuing to off-gas. These have activated charcoal filters.

Okay, please wish us luck!

xo,

 

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