Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - yucky hardwoods

We have a new build and when we picked everything out, we knew nothing about hardwoods. We just said "we want hardwoods" and no offers or upgrades were made, no questions asked. So, these hardwoods are horrible. There is so much dirt and junk sealed into the finish - hair, bristles, dust & dirt - that walking on them barefoot feels like walking on dirty floors, I am always brushing my feet off! And the finish is hi-gloss, which we hate and which shows the defects even worse. We had the installer come back, and I wasn't here, and he fixed spots w/o cleaning the floors first, so even more dirt is stuck to those "fixed" spots. My questions are: I like how they look and feel in the few small spots where I've done a light sand with 440 sandpaper. If I do this on the whole floor, can I leave them like that? Or am I doing damage to the "integrity" of the protectant? If I need to put something over, can I put satin over hi-gloss if it's sanded? What he used didn't smell and dried in a few hours, do I assume it was water based? Does that matter? Lots of questions, I know - sorry. We're so frustrated with this shoddy work!

Amy:

If I'm not missing something here I would have to suggest in having the entire floor "screened and recoated" providing the dirt etc doesn't go that far into the finish. How many coats were applied? If it's screened and cleaned proper a satin finish would work.

The whole job sounds like it was rushed or it was a windy day(doors open etc) and everything blew all over the place. In order to prevent the problem from happening again, precautions should be taken when applying the final coat. Lock the house up after that final coat is applied. Check HVAC vents as they may blow fine dust, hairs and the like onto the finish before it has cured.

There are probably other reasons for this nightmare..these are a few to think about. I'm no finishing expert but have learned a bit here and there. It may be a good idea to shut the HVAC down overnight providing it doesn't get too cold.

Good Luck:)

Thanks for your input. We do plan on having them completely redone, but after some of our other major expenses are out of the way. I feel so frustrated with this hack, I don't feel like calling him in again to compound my aggravation. So we're looking for something we can do to make them liveable until then. The 2 options I posted before were ideas I was hoping might work.

Amy,
If the floor dried in a couple hours and didn't smell a bit like paint thinner, then it probably is a waterbase poly. You can sand as you mentioned and apply a satin waterbase over your gloss. Ken's suggestion of 'screening sounds like the way to go. This will remove some of the trapped dirt.

Ken and Fewalt, thank you for your help! I keep learning so much I wish I'd known before building. I tell my husband "next time we build.." and his eyes starts glazing over! Thanks again, great forum.

Amy:

I don't see why you want to wait and spend your own money to have the floors finished proper. Even though you don't want to deal with the current finisher, I would insist the builder find someone else to take care of the problem. Did you deal with the finisher direct or was it through the builder?

I can't see throwing more money into the job when it's not done proper.