Hi all - My 5" hardwood maple floors were recently finished. They are supposed to get 1 coat of sealer and 2 coats of Bona Traffic (a super tough water-based poly), which we requested and paid extra for.

We know when the floors got one coat, since that's an obvious change. Our builder said his floor people would be putting down the second (last) coat on a particular day. We stopped by the house on that day and the floors hadn't been done, but the day wasn't over. We stopped by again 1-2 days later and the floors looked the same kind of dirty with what appeared to be the same protective paper laid down and everything in the same place, and nothing smelled different. We kept waiting for the floors to get their last coat. We are over every few days and we can always tell when something has been done. It was the consistent dirtiness of the floors that made me assume they hadn't gotten their last coat.

Now 2 weeks after the first coat, our builder just told us (because we asked) that the floor did get its last coat on that original day. That surprised us. So today we took a very close look at the floors. Running our hands over it, they feel almost like bare wood. You can feel the very minor seams between some planks. I would have thought 1 coat of sealer and 2 coats of poly would make it feel... different somehow. Smoother, less like bare wood. We selected a satin finish and it's a very low sheen, but we are not confusing the lack of sheen with not enough coats.

Another thing I noticed is that when there is a really tiny groove in between planks, it's still visible (as a miniscule gap) and the tip of my fingernail can catch it. These are small enough grooves that I would have thought 2 coats would seal that up.

Also, if I run my fingernail across the floor hard, I can make marks that you can see when the light shines on it, although they are not scratches through the finish. Not sure if that is normal or indicates anything. I'm confused why if Bona Traffic is supposed to be so tough my fingernails can make marks. We did see some Bona Traffic bottles in the house so I think they did use it. But, perhaps another clue - we only saw empty bottles in the house after the first coat, and never again.

I'm not an expert, but if you asked me to guess what was on the floor based on inspection/feel I'd say one REALLY thin coat. Based on my description, what do you guys make of this? I realize I can't know everything that happens in the house so it's hard to know anything for sure.

I'm afraid this will be one of those situations where the floor guys tell my builder "Yes of course we did all the coats" and we have no way to know. If we brought an expert (e.g. professional floor finisher) to the house would they be able to tell? We're closing in 3 days! Argh.

Thanks so much for your help.