10/29/07

Flooring update

Our floors are finally finished, well maybe. Unfortunately Athey ran into problems with the oil urethane for three weeks in a row. The first week, tiny little starburst bubbles reared up on the third coat, but only in the main room. We couldn't believe it and apparently they've "never seen that happen." We were so disappointed to learn they would have to come back to start all over the following week. Then the second week a new problem occurred. An "orange peel" texture appeared after the fourth coat was applied. Once again we couldn't believe it and felt like beating our heads against the wall. All of these problems seem to stem from using low VOC oil urethane, per Loudoun County code. Who knows? So Athey came back last Monday for the third week to finely sand off the texture and to reapply a top coat. It was either that option or go all the way back down and start over. Our fingers and toes were all crossed that this would be the last day, but unfortunately you can still see a hazy suggestion of the texture and we aren't completely happy. So now we aren't sure what to do. We can leave the finish the way it is or start all over; it's our call. We've invested so much time getting to this point and just don't know if we can settle. So, for the time being we moved back in and are going to think about it.

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