was it delicate surface tape you used or standard blue tape. It really shouldn't matter as i have never lifted a floor finish with either but just curious as 3m recommend nothing but delicate on finished floors. your tape is also only taking it up in places which suggest's the finish had not stuck well at all in places.

 

Standard Blue tape, but certainly not some cheap off-brand. I've never had tape pull up the finish on a hardwood floor yet unless it was an already destroyed hardwood that had suffered abuse and been damaged. Also, I planned to have the tape on for no longer than 2 days while we painted everything. I applied it at noon today to start our priming, and was going to have it off by Wednesday at noon at the latest as we finished up all of our painting. I even stuck a test strip down in a discrete location and it didn't pull up anything after sitting for 20 minutes. Now though as I pull up tape, it's pulling up the finish everywhere.

 

Years ago, I had standard 3M blue tape pull a finish off of a floor.

Finish was 2 weeks old.

Stain was a minwax that hadn't cured fully before the painter went over it with a SW poly.

Granted this was over 12 years ago that this happened, but it gave me concern as it gives you concern now.

I had the floor refinisher sand back the two square feet that was in question.

The painter was called, but never returned the call.

I lost his number that day.

The finish may still be a bit fragile or the stain wasnt cured, in your case, IMHO, but I'll let the floor experts here give you a definitive answer.

FWIW, This is just my experience.

P.S.: haven't had it happen since, but a few words of advise:

Don't leave blue tape on a "finished" surface for more than 7-10 days, and don't let it bake in the sun for that long either, I.e;

In the shadow of full length windows, on the interior, on a finished surface.

 

Years ago, I had standard 3M blue tape pull a finish off of a floor.

Finish was 2 weeks old.

Stain was a minwax that hadn't cured fully before the painter went over it with a SW poly.

Seems to be SOP for the locals around here too (minwax/water poly - shoot em both down same day).

Didn't I get learned that water & oil don't mix as a kid? hmm...

 

Looks like it was the Minwax stain not being dry enough before coating.

 

Yep, looks like the finish was rushed and the stain wasn't allowed to dry.

 

I hate using tape for anything because of the potential for such collateral damage. I heard Frog Tape is supposed to be really good. It's expensive.

I know we must mask off from time to time, but I hate it for that reason

 

I hate using tape for anything because of the potential for such collateral damage. I heard Frog Tape is supposed to be really good. It's expensive.

I know we must mask off from time to time, but I hate it for that reason

I have started using the yellow variety exclusively.

 

I had some blue tape pull the finish off of hardwood that was 15 years old, I learned the hard way. No blue tape on hardwood!

I think it says right on the roll, not for use on hardwood flooring or something like that.


Dave

 

Next time use this stuff:

http://www.shurtape.com/node/353

 

I hate using tape for anything because of the potential for such collateral damage. I heard Frog Tape is supposed to be really good. It's expensive.

I know we must mask off from time to time, but I hate it for that reason

I understand frog tape for lining and pinstriping so as not to have the current finish paint, splotch or bleed under blue tape.

 

So long story short, we were supposed to come in and paint on the main level of this house, and the floor was completed last Wednesday. I specifically mentioned (in front of the HO) that we'd be using blue tape and paper to protect the floor and mask it, and the owner of the flooring company said that would be fine. Of course, after only 4 hours of being down today, the tape pulled up much of the polyurethane.

Report from my guy on the site doing other work while they finished the floor: the guy stained and put the first coat of polyurethane in the same day, which I thought was a big no-no. He didn't think to mention it until I asked specifically what the guy did while he was there. The poly is water-based, 3 coats. I have attached a photo.

So my question is this: will the adhesion ever be good on a floor like this, or will it always be an issue and start to flake off as the floor moved and gets walked on? Also, is it reasonable to expect after 5 days of curing for a new floor to be able to handle 3M blue tape?

Oil base stain & water bourne finish, yes, that's a big no no & would be my bet on why the finish failed.

We finish almost exclusively with oil & stain with quick dry oil based finish. Light colors, I can finish in 4 hours, dark colors, 6 hours. If I stain first thing in the morning, I can put finish on late in the day. But usually, I wait till the next day.

 

It's not the tape's fault (or yours). The blame goes to the floor guys. 5 days is more than enough time to cure so the tape doesn't pull the finish. The stain wasn't allowed to dry before the water finish was put on. You can stain and oil poly the same day (not recommended, but can be done if conditions are right), but never with waterborne. Plus, Minwax is horrible stuff to use under waterborne. Should have used Duraseal instead.

Edit - pinwheel beat me to it. ^^^ What he said ^^^

 

If you still have paint left to remove try warming it up(not cooking it) with a hair dryer as you pull it.

 

Kinda of a milky look to the finish, like the stain bled. Five days should be sufficient unless it was extra cool.

Both minwax and duraseal oil base stains recommend 24 to 48 hours before coating. I have always stained and waited overnight before coating.

 

I've had blue tape pull the finish with some of the wood attached to it too.

Always tape with caution. And there is a technique involved in removing it. :thumbsup:

As far as this thread...........I agree with the above posters.

 

Factory finish hardwoods we gluedown using regular masking tape, we've been thru at least 60 rolls , if it can't handle the tensile strength of low adhesion and it should have cured already, who shall we tell, the homeowner or the finisher? Cause somebody done somebody wrong

 

realistically on a properly applied and dried poly floor you should be able to use tuck tape on it and not damage the floor. 5 days is probably cutting it a little close for tuck tape but painters tape should definately be no problem.
Either the poly was applied way too thick and isn't dry and may with luck correct itself or it wasn't prepped right and the floor will need to be resanded.

 

yup if any stain or urathane is pulled off by a masking tape something is wrong in the finish.......I know i would be a mad mo fo if blue tape (that i cant get to stick to anything) messed up a wood floor

 

if you want to test the floor for peeling go to an inconspicuous area like a closet.

cut a cross hatch tic tac toe board into the finish with a razor knife..put tape on it and pull it like your last bikini wax..

if the finish comes up it is not bonded.

however I will add you should NEVER tape a floor..if you do..remove it daily and never leave it set.

its possible there can be a bond issue..however there are fast dry stains and water based stains to..the floor looks like a pastel coloring from the small area I see..

Bona dri fast and Dura seal quick coat tout their products as coatable and even completable in a day for small projects..

I always leave stain over night for water base and only use Dura Seal quick coat.
Minwax will need 3 days to thoroughly dry for water base.
if the job was coated to soon discoloring or dilution of color will be noted.

I REITERATE..NEVER TAPE A FLOOR..ESPECIALLY FRESH FINISH..OVER LAP THE PAPER AND TAPE IT TO ITSELF AND WALL BASE.

 

I REITERATE..NEVER TAPE A FLOOR..ESPECIALLY FRESH FINISH..OVER LAP THE PAPER AND TAPE IT TO ITSELF AND WALL BASE.

One of my floor guys (40 years experience) insists on the same thing. I now tape to the baseboards.

 

I did test an area, however I did not cross-hatch the floor with my knife.

All of the above comments are talking about how a floor should never have a problem adhering compared to blue tape, a tape that I stuck on standard interior paint I put on just yesterday for 4 hours and pulled off without harming any of it.

If the adhesion of the poly to the floor is so pathetic that blue tape can pull it right off the floor, how is this finish going to stand up to regular expansion and contraction of the floor due to moisture and temperature? It will start separating from the floor at the seams, I guarantee it, as I've see it happen before on another job I worked on where a poorly refinished floor had been done the year before. The same goes for simple foot traffic and someone pivoting in their sneakers on the floor, which will cause strong lateral force and rip up the poly finish because it has less adhesion to the floor than 4 hour old painters tape.

Hopefully steaming it off tomorrow after we finish the paint won't destroy the poly, but it's my best hope at this point.

 

run the gamut all you want..or listen next time and not be dealing with paying for a sand job.

peeling at the seams is called white line syndrome and IS an issue with waterbased finishes..caused by the tensile strength of water coatings...they dry too hard and don't "stretch" with he wood movement..
your higher end products usually the biggest culprits..the season/environment applied in can highly increase the risk.
it happens to all finishes over a stain where stain is left in the cracks and doesn't dry..then it gasses off into the topcoats and causes a blister at the seams..

this is not a failing finish as the coating is fine on the face of the board..it is an unpredictable occurrence with no real fault other than conditions and product.

I included a couple links for you review form NWFAs Hardwood floor Mag site. the highest source for trust in our industry.

http://hardwoodfloorsmag.com/articles/article.aspx?articleid=45&zoneid=1

http://hardwoodfloorsmag.com/forum/topic386-blue-tape-on-finished-floors.aspx

 

I thought you were a painter, I was gonna call you and your sob compadres to keep the paint off the slab /subfloor. Maybe I should trek over to the painter forum, think it'll help?

 

How crappy is a finish tho if the weakest of masking tape messes it up.......It comes down to inferior products were forced to use.

I have 0 respect for water based stain or enamel,

 

I've put blue painter's tape on floors for a long time, but those were always the old finish formulations, and always cured for a long time (like a month or more). Maybe an odd sequence, but I usually finish the floors last, or after paint and before stained trim.

 

Ive always felt that hardwood floors should be done before paint. No dust on the finished surfaces and no scuffing on baseboards from the edger. If the painter cant keep paint off the floor they shouldnt be painting.

 

We'll leave this tape on till tomorrow , homeowner may shift if not taped, till adhesive sets. I don't condone or recommend, this is our risk, if it pulls finish it's defective, either Germany or China, Germans for machinery, Chinese for the labor.

 

Here's some tape that will be about sixteen hours, left other areas over the weekend.

 

Here's some tape that will be about sixteen hours, left other areas over the weekend.

One thing Ive seen is sun fading marks left behind by the tape on a hot bright day. Itll even out over time, but the ho may or may not believe you. Just one more thing to consider when laying a floor in front of a southern exposed slider door.

 

To the OP - Yeah, you're going to have problems with that floor over time. You have 2 options - a) Stay off it for a month and pray to the poly gods it will dry out (not likely) or b) Resand.

I've taped many, many floors with blue tape and have had zero issues. Some have been taped less than 24 hours after coating. It all comes down to proper finishing techniques. I've never had tape pull finish off of prefinished gluedown, probably because I refuse to install the cheap stuff. I've turned down a few big jobs over the years because the HO wanted some crap from Lumber Liquidators and I don't want to come back to tear that chit out. Tearing out gluedown SUCKS!

 

Yeah, I picked something off the floor yesterday and my fingernail incidentally scratched right through the poly and took up a little scratch of poly with it. This floor is doomed.