Rut Row Floor refinishing

[Leo Voisine]

I have a friend that has a situation.

He had someone “help” him to do a floor refinish.

They sanded the old floor with a commercial sander to resurface and get down to bare wood.

Next, the “helper” put down a coat of Poly on the bare wood, straight from the can un-thinned.

After the poly had 1 day to set, they applied a coat Miniwax Stain - I am assuming oil based.

They were going to apply a second coat of stain after it dried for a day but it was still tacky.
They waited another day but it was still tacky.
After a few days it is still not drying.

Personally, I think the Miniwax stain reacted with the poly and will not allow the poly to cure.

They tried to use a dehumidifier, but that did not work.

Has anyone ever experienced this sort of thing?

What can be done to fix the problem?

There are 5 rooms and a hallway with this problem.

[Scott Holmes]

Stain then poly not the other way around.

You can't stain finished wood the poly is sealing the wood...

Also stain needs to set for a while then have the excess wiped off. It's not paint.

It may dry over the next week or more but it will not be usable. The stain if it dries will scrape and rub off.

I would suggest they get a box of scotchbite pads and a gallon or 2 of mineral spirits and start scubbing the mess off ASAP. Then they may need to let it dry for a few days (there will still be poly on the floor, it wont be smooth or pretty).

Next they wil most likely need to resand and startover. Stain first, wipe the excess after 15 minsutes or so, then, after a day of drying put on a few coats of poly.

[Leo Voisine]

Scott - thank you.

I fully agree with the correct process - personally I would NOT have put stain on top of poly.

The guy asked me advice after the fact. I have not seen the job.

I am also not doing the fixing - and I am quite thankful about that.

[Howard Acheson]

The stain will never dry properly and any clear coat will not dry properly either. Oil based stains can only be applied to virgin wood or wood that has had all the prior finish removed. The stain needs to be able to penetrate into the wood. A film finish like poly will seal the surface of the wood preventing any absorption of the stain. The only way to recover is to again rent the floor sander and remove all the existing finish. Then start over beginning with the stain step. Note the instructions on the can of stain that after letting the stain set on the surface for 10-15 minutes, the excess stain must be thoroughly wiped off. If this step is not performed, the stain will not dry nor will any finish applied over it. After wiping off the excess, the stain must be allowed to fully dry for 48 hours before starting to apply the clear coats.

[Ken Shoemaker]

Shoot helper.

[Mike Monroe]

The "helper" has it bass-ackwards. Stain first, poly second.