Yet another floor finishing question

[Rob Blaustein]

A few weeks ago I posted a question about floor finishing and now have a follow-up question. The flooring guy put on the final coats (3 and 4) of a satin water-based poly finish today on our new oak floors. I'm not thrilled with how it came out. He matched the color of the existing flooring nicely--where they meet it's hard to tell the difference. But the feel is very different--much rougher. I can basically feel the grain. Our old floors are much smoother. I think the old floors have a semi-gloss finish--could that be the reason why it feels different? I didn't think satin vs gloss vs semi-gloss affected the feel, only the luster, but I don't know much about finishes. Does this smooth out after time? Should it be lightly sanded or buffed? Is it because it's water-based and not oil-based poly? Just wondering if this is what I should expect.

[Stefan Schoenberger]

Hi Rob

I would say thats not normal, but you shouldn't be worry about it.
When I finished a hardwood floor (ash) for a customer I had the same problem. I worked with some oil/wax finish and I couldn't sand the floor between the coats. After I was done, the floor was realy rough but now it's all smooth. Because of the traffic in the house the floor was getting polished (under the furniture it is still rough).

Stefan