We appreciate all the responses – we will continue this discussion in breaktime, which is apparently where I should have posted this to begin with . . . sorry, my inexperience is showing.
It turns out that the so-called professionals who were laying the maple hardwood floor are too busy bidding other jobs to finish ours, so we fired them this am. We have a deadline – we are in a neighbor’s home and have to move out a week from Sunday. We have to do the sanding, filling, and finishing ourselves now. We urgently need information regarding the following:
Our floor is clear maple. We expect to start with 80 grit sandpaper & then move to 120. We have a water based filler from Timbermate USA that is 10-15% water for maple-beech-pine 16#. We need info on a water based finish that will not color – we want this floors to be as clear as possible, no yellowing. Can anyone advise us as to products and procedures?
Many thanks, moving to breaktime –
Welle
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Where did you start this discussion? It sounds interesting, but there is no clue where to find the first part.
Here is a good hardwood floor forum where you might want to post your question.
hardwoodinstaller.com
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
The first thing that comes to mind as a finish for maple is water based gym floor finish. Check with your commercial cleaning product distributers and they can get it.
I may not be understanding the situation fully, but it's not clear to me what you need a filler for. There are woods that one might want to fill the pores (oak, mahogany) but maple isn't one of them. If you mean a filler for cracks between the boards, well, in a good installation there aren't any, and in a bad installation filler won't last too may swell/shrink cycles.
In terms of finish, most waterbase poly finishes are pretty clear; usually for a floor the sought-after quality is durability. I've used the Minwax product in a low traffic room and was reasonably pleased. Since then, I've heard recommendations for either Varathane (which is available at the big box places) or Bona (http://www.bona.com/?sr=us). I have used varathane the last few floors I refinished in my home, and although they've held up ok in general, I'm not too thrilled with the appearance of the high traffic areas (of course, I have three dogs and three kids, so when I say high traffic, I mean it). The next couple rooms are going to get Bona I think.
Taunton has a book on finishing hardwood floors, author's name is Bollinger. It's a paperback, worth the $20 before you tackle your first floor under time pressure to get it done. Good luck.
Ken