Today I share a personal experience with you. We were trying to refinish my kitchen floor. It was done about ten years ago, but needed a new coat of finish.

My son came up one Wednesday and gave it a light sanding. He planned to apply a coat of finish on Saturday. We knew what we were doing so we had an expected outcome in mind. It looked beautiful when it was done. My son left for home, but left his equipment since he planned a second coat.

A couple hours into the drying process I looked at my floor. It said it needed four hours of drying time. What I saw was not what I expected. The floor was a mess. Part of it was shiny, but part of it was dull. It was supposed to be a glossy finish! I called my son and gave him the unfortunate news.

He came up. He did not know what to say when he saw it. He said he would try to fix it by applying some alcohol and a second coat of finish. He sanded it again and applied the finish. This time as it dried it was even worse!

Now there were patches of stuff that looked like frost. It flicked off. Parts of the floor were gummy like it did not dry. What were we going to do?

The next morning, he called to get the numbers off the can he used. There was also a customer service number on the can. He called and talked to a company representative. He explained that we knew what we were doing. The rep told him it sounded like there was a water problem. He asked if there could be a problem with the can of finish we got. The rep did not think so. He suggested getting a can of mineral spirits – the kind that was not odorless. The odorless kind would not work.

I went online to look to see where I could get it. I called one of the local hardware stores because I felt I could get better information there than at the big box store. The lady who answered the phone went to look for what I asked for. She also talked to one of the men. He assured her that they no longer made that type any more. They changed the formula to remove hazardous ingredients. I asked her if the formula for the finish might have been changed too. She inquired once again and came back with the information that the polyurethane finish I was using had probably changed its formula too.

Now we had a mess! We think the new formula caused a chemical reaction with the old finish. I went for a chemical stripper to remove the old finish. That brought back memories. I used that to clean the wainscoting when we refinished the kitchen.

What should have been a simple job has turned into a nightmare! My son worked for two days removing the old finish. Now it is ready to be sanded once again, then we will apply another coat of finish.

Our first thought was we got a bad can of the finish. I read where it could be corrupted if it was subjected to cold temperatures. Now I do not know what to think. My son intended to finish my floor, then go on to finish the floors at his house. Now I think he has changed his plans. His floor will stay as is.

We have now spent six days on this project and are still not finished!

Oh, we did manage to get a good coat of finish on my pantry floor. We did the smallest room first. Here’s hoping the rest of the floor goes as planned.

Ann Swanson writes from her home in Russell. Contact her at hickoryheights1@verizon.net.