What kind of finish texture to expect a oak floor to be when done?

We had our hardwood floors redone while on vacation last week.  I'm questioning the quality of the finish I got out of the guy.

To start with, the floors were a disaster and he did a great job of sanding them back to flat, but, the polyurethane seems really course.

I would say that the floor feels like it's around 180-220 grit in some spots.  It catches your socks when you walk across it, and it feels gritty to the touch.

When I've used poly when making shelving or whatever, I've gotten finishes like this, but I always sand it and do multiple coats and it comes out smooth.

Is that an unreasonable expectation when having a floor redone?  I've never had one done before.

No, it should be smooth.

It sounds like maybe it has bubbles in it?  I wonder if conditions were out of range for the poly.

In reply to Duke :

Thanks for validating my assumption there.. I wasn't sure if it was like a "yeah, it's got to wear in.." kinda thing with a floor.

I don't think it's bubbles, I'm guessing it's a water based poly and it's the end of the grain lifting? It's a very inconsistent finish, texture-wise.  I've made a fair bit of furniture, and it just reminds me of the very first coat of poly on really dry wood.

I wonder if he only did one coat of poly and didn't sand it?  Is there any good way to tell?

Last time I did floors with water based poly, I used a sanding sealer before the poly. The poly came out just as smooth as oil based poly with no rough spots. 

Sounds like he may not have sealed it to prevent that water based poly from raising the grain, or just missed a spot with the fine pass on the sander. 

The poly makes wood fibers stand up requiring sanding between coats.

I had HW installed in my house and I know he sanded before poly but I don't remember him sanding after poly.  Maybe he sealed as mentioned above.  

Best thing ever is HW floors for allergy issues.  We like pictures so here's one.

I've done wide pine and hardwood refinishes. Always smooth and never needed sanding.

My best guess, and I am not a pro, it bad conditions or bubbles. Maybe just a bad batch, but I doubt that.

I did poly myself on my floors. I sanded between each of the three coats. The finish look improved and got smoother after each coat.

My guess is they put one heavy coat on or didn't sand between coats. They also may not have  properly wiped down the floor after sanding.

As others said, it's not you. Should be like glass. 

Sounds to me like he only did a single coat.  Sand between coats and apply 2nd coat. 

Thanks for the validation, all.  I would never have accepted this finish on a piece of furniture/shelving I made, but again, I just wanted to confirm that I wasn't expecting too much..

I can't tell you about floors, but I know on my boats, I sand between coats of varnish for an absolutely glass like finish.

So, this is in my wheelhouse.  I used to give classes on floor finishing and have done a fair share myself.

Sanding in between is not necessary, but sometimes it helps if you have grain that lifts on the first coat.  If needed, use a drywall screen, 3M green pad, or 220 grit paper on affected areas. Just smooth it a bit.  Don't sand through to wood or you'll have a lighter spot there. Water-based poly is worse at this since the less-viscous water really penetrates fast into the upper layers.

After you get the first coat on and smooth, the rest won't lift the grain, so the last 2-3 coats should be gravy.

You can start with the first coat being a sanding sealer which prevents the extra sanding but it also prevents how deep the poly soaks in and therefore affects it's peak bonding strength.  Ever see a poly floor that starts getting flaky like a 90s clearcoat on a Civic?  Yeah.  Like that.

I would call him back for a scuff and re-coat.  Not taking the steps to do it right are not really excusable on something that should be flawless for 20 years.

Our floor was as smooth as glass when Norbert finished it.  My grandchildren thought it was a skating rink and would run and slide 10 feet in their socks. 

After coming back and begrudgingly admitting that it shouldn't feel like sandpaper, he did me a huge favor (as evident by his demeanor) with a buff and recoat.  It's pretty smooth now.

Thanks again all floor confirming that I didn't have unreasonable expectations.

And this is why I don't pay people to solve my problems... If I just sent the family away for a weekend I could have had it done properly by the time they got back.