Hardwood Floors June/July 2019

LENNY HALL In the early 1980s, using moisture-cured urethane was common. It came in two chemical formulas, aliphatic (nonyellowing) and aromatic (yellowing). It was water clear and flowed thick like Karo corn syrup. Unfortunately, the brand we used had generic labeling, and the only distinguishable markings were small numbers (8339 or 8331) above the LARGE PRINT company name. Bonus points and a laugh for anyone who messages me that they too used this brand! Our sad story takes us to a large bleached/white stained floor. We began brushing on the finish. Our trouble started 15 to 20 minutes into the coat, after we were well across the large living room and working our way to the garage by way of dining room and kitchen. We witnessed a subtle, then obvious, slow change in the floor fromwhite to school bus yellow! You guessed it; we had applied the wrong one. That situation turned into a sad and very costly resand, delaying our finish date. Not to mention the outright embarrassment of it all. After that, we marked the yellowing type with yellow spray paint. Thankfully we don’t use that stuff (much) any longer. BRETT MILLER My brother and I had a refinish job where the homeowners had a cat, which they kept in the basement during the refinish process. We had the basement door shut during the entire process but had to open it to sand and coat the nosing. On the third day, we came back to apply a final coat and were greeted by a very distraught homeowner. She was nearly in tears when she answered the door and went to get her (now shaved) cat. Evidently, this cat loved the smell of polyurethane and rolled around on the freshly coated nosing. After unsuccessfully attempting to wash the finish off, she had to take her cat to a groomer to get the cat shaved bald. Needless to say, we had some "cat hair in the coat" repairs to make before applying a final. g

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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