Troubleshooting

Streaky or hazy finish

Streaks and haze in the finish occur when coats are applied are too thick.

When thick coats are applied, coalescents and water of your finish take too long to evaporate. Subsequent coats dry in streaks.

Blotchy and tacky finish

A blotchy and tacky finish can occur when the floor is not being allowed to dry thoroughly between coats, leaving coats soft.

Fish eyes

Finish separation and fish eye effect can occur when there is a contamination of the floor due to improper preparation or contamination in between coats. Possible contaminants: detergent, silicone, solvent, soil or stripping solution and contaminated mop.

Waves or ripples

Waves or ripples can appear if the drying process is forced, for example, with exhaust fans pointed directly on the floor after the coatings have been applied.

Clogged discs

Clogging of stripping pads can occur when there is too much stripper and not enough water (dilution rate incorrect). The stripper will not effectively strip the coating and will clog the stripping pads.

Shiny spots

If shiny spots are present after stripping, there is still finish on the floor. Re- strip the floor.

Streaky or hazy finish

Streaks and haze in the finish occur when coats applied are too thick.

When thick coats are applied, the coalescents and water of your finish take too long to evaporate. Subsequent coats dry in streaks.

Blotchy and tack finish

A blotchy and tacky finish can happen when the floor is not being allowed to dry thoroughly between coats leaving coats soft. For example, if the coating dries in some areas and is wet in others, where coats overlap, shadowing appears and the result is a floor with uneven gloss and different colour.

Fish eyes

Finish separation and fish eye effect may occur when there is contamination of the floor due to improper preparation or contamination in between coats. Possible contaminants: detergent, silicone, solvent, soil or stripping solution and contaminated mop.

Waves or Ripples

Waves or ripples can appear if the drying process is forced, for example, with with exhaust fans pointed directly on the floor after the coatings have been applied.

Lap marks

Lap marks can occur if the primer applied is being overlapped. Freshly sanded or new timber is very porous, and it will soak up the primer quickly. Overlapping of primer can cause over wetting of timber and uneven drying, causing the shadow marks.

Delamination

Delamination can occur due to: contamination, inadequate surface preparation or incompatible products being used together.

Tacky floors

Can happen if the temperature is very low and the coating has no chance to dry properly. It can also happen if humidity is high and drying time is extremely prolonged.

Bubbles in coating

Bubbles in the coating can occur if there was too much finish applied on the timber floor.

Overworking of the finish can foam up the product and produce air bubbles.

Bubbles also appear when coatings are exposed to drafts or high temperatures. These coatings will dry extremely fast and bubbles will not have time to disappear staying trapped on the surface.

Cracking or frying

Cracking or ‘frying’ of coating happens mostly due to previous coat contamination or insufficient drying time of a previous coat.

Orange peel

Orange Peel look in the coating appears if finish dries too quickly due to hot weather or an overdose of the catalyst. Orange peel may also occur if the primer is incompatible with the finish.

Crocodile appearance

Crocodile appearance of the floor happens if the temperature of the floor and the coating is very low. The coating is then unable to form a film, it can not polymerise and a result of that becomes a tough and leathery film.

Quick wearing

Quick wearing occurs if you have applied a small amount of coating. It may also occur if you did not let the film dry efficiently and the film is not formed accordingly. An incorrect maintenance program may also cause fast wearing of a finish.

Rough finish

Inadequately sanded floor or a floor that has not been fine sanded will exhibit rough finish. The sanding process starts with coarse paper and finishes with fine sanding. The floor always needs to be checked for misses.

Poor sanding of a timber floor can occur if your sanding equipment is not working properly. Check your sander and your sand screen discs for wear.

Rejection

Old concrete and hard floors have years of contamination. Grease, fat, motor oil and all sorts of different spills and leaks could have contaminated your hard floor. Therefore, thorough and accurate preparation of hard floors is the crucial step before the coating application. Incorrectly prepared old hard floors tend to reject coatings applied quite often.

Fish eyes and Flaking

Fish eyes and flaking of the coating on your hard floor occurs if the hard floor surface has not been cleaned properly prior to the coating application.

Hard floor surfaces that still contain residues of dirt, oil or cleaning solution will prevent adhesion of sealer and finish product resulting in coating rejection which manifests in the form of fish eyes or flaking.