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You Can Rely On
Floor Finish Adhesion
Failure is a Profit Taker
You, the retailer/contractor, have just installed
and finished (or recoated) a beautiful hardwood floor. The owner
is pleased, which means that the final installation transaction
- your final payment is about to take place. It's "Money
Time."
But if the finishing process doesn't go well,
Money Time won't arrive as expected. Worse yet, if you find
out after Money Time has come and gone that the finishing process
didn't go as planned, then a callback ensues and the cash flows
the wrong way - back out of your pocket.
As a retailer/contractor, you can provide the
future floor owner with a perfect subfloor, and a flawless installation
and sanding job. But if anything goes wrong with application
of the floor finish, you will not be paid. Ironically, your
profitability in most instances relies on the portion of the
job - finish application - that requires the least amount of
material and labor from you.
But let's get back to the hypothetical job
I cited at the outset of this article. Everything went well
- or so everyone believes. You receive final payment, tell the
homeowners how to maintain their new hardwood floor, and then
you move on to your next job.
Several weeks later, however, you receive a
phone call from what is now a rather unhappy customer. Although
he tries to explain the problem to you over the phone, you decide
it's best to go to his home and take a look for yourself. Upon
inspection of the floor, you determine that you're looking at
adhesion failure.
Now it's time to play detective. What went
wrong, and when, to cause the adhesion failure? Generally speaking,
a wood floor coating will exhibit poor adhesion for one or more
of the following reasons: product failure, insufficient surface
preparation and/or contamination. By carefully considering all
three variables, you can usually diagnose the reason for the
adhesion loss. Or even better - by understanding the causes,
you can avoid their effects.
Finish is supposed to stick. The one applied
to our hypothetical floor didn't and, therefore, the product
failed. Product Failure is the most obvious but least likely
reason for adhesion failure. If a product had a fundamental
formula problem that caused adhesion failure, then it would
also exhibit other problems and you would be experiencing the
same type of failure on all of your other jobs. Similarly, finish
manufacturers would be fielding claims throughout the marketplace
as the job failures mounted due to the faulty batch of product.
Product failure, while rare, is almost preferred by finish manufacturers
because they can easily assist you in making your customer happy
and move forward.
Surface Preparation has changed drastically
over the last few years. The simple screen and recoat has become
more complex. Today, there are many ways to abrade a floor.
In some cases, certain finishes do not require abrasion for
adhesion provided specific conditions are met.
When abrading a floor, you can use screens,
pads, strips, or combinations of all three. The important thing
to remember is: if the finish you are using recommends abrasion,
you should do so AND do it thoroughly.
Over the years, I've been asked many times
what I recommend for proper abrasion. I don't like to answer
a question with a question, but in this case I have two. First,
do the abrasives you use give a good, even powdering and/or
properly smooth the surface consistent with the coating technology
you are using? And second, are your finishing jobs consistently
showing good adhesion? (It's important to keep in mind that
contractors and finish manufacturers can learn from each other.)
If your answer to these questions is "yes,"
and I don't hear you mention any alarming details, then I wouldn't
recommend any change in what you are doing. Any and all questions
about proper surface preparation should be directed to them
Manufacturer. Finish failures hurt everyone. On the other hand,
we all profit when we can avoid them.
Contamination is the third and possibly, most
common reason for adhesion failure. The sources of contamination
are limitless. Many sources originate in the environment and
are nearly impossible to identify. Others result from improper
finishing procedures. Below are some of the most common sources
of contamination:
All of these may seem to be obvious sources
of contamination except, perhaps, the last one. In fact, if
the previously applied coatings were not properly applied or
cured, they can behave like a contaminant. This is true whether
they are the same product, similar products or products designed
to work together. A common illustration of what I'm describing
is when a stained floor reacts at the side joints with its urethane
topcoat.
To help you with your next floor inspection,
keep in mind the following points:
1. Adhesion failure occurs from the bottom
up, not from the top down. The coat that is peeling is usually
the symptom. The cause lies below the peel level.
2. Don't skip or skimp on abrasion steps, and
don't push recoat times. These are
recommended for a reason.
3. If adhesion failure is localized, the floor
is pointing you toward the problem. If you have side joint adhesion
problems and not on the face of the board, what makes the affected
area different?
4. If adhesion failure is not localized - but
widespread instead - it will probably peel over the entire area.
5. Poor adhesion- is exacerbated by foot traffic.
Traffic areas will show the failure first, but the remainder
of the floor will fail also -just at a slower rate.
I hope this information will help you understand
and, hopefully, avoid adhesion failures. Unfortunately, if you're
in this business long enough, it's really a matter of when the
adhesion failure nightmare occurs, not if it occurs.
Source: National Floor Trend Magazine
- July 2000
