We have 4″ hickory flooring in our new home, and are now at the stage of selecting a finish. What are the pros and cons of using water based finish (sealer & 2 finish coats)? We plan on leaving the hickory its natural color with no staining.
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I'm biased and admit it , but sweedish SWEEDISH SWEEDISH
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Do you look to the government for an entitlement, or to GOD for empowerment. BDW
I've never worked with Hickory, but oil based finishes typically leave with an amber tint and water based finishes are clear.
Try each finish on extra pieces of your flooring and see how they come out.
A lot of people will swear by the oilbased clearcoats, but many professional wood floor contractors will stake their reputations on the performance of waterborne clearcoats like Bona Kemi's "Traffic" and Basic Coatings' "Street Shoes."
These kinds of waterbornes are catalyzed two-component coatings, typically moisture-curing, and are extremely durable.
Quick curing, they can be used to give two coats on a surface in the same day.
Curing crystal clear, they can be amber-tinted to produce the kind of color and transluscence that an oil based coating will yield.
These are very durable, hard finishes, but best applied by pros. Application is usually two finish coats over a compatible sealer coat.
Learn about them by checking out the facts at their respective websites.
We are in the same boat. Going to refinish our living room. 1956 Split Level with white oak flooring. It's about 20' x 25'. I did my son's room and we used Varithane from Lowes. It looks fine to us but hasn't gotten much traffic. He's 14 month old.Now the living room is a different story. 2 dogs come flying down the stairs, dig their nails in for traction and make a right. They pick up speed for the short shot to the back door.I think we'd like to strategically place carpet runners to minimize the claw marks. But are torn as to what will give us the best protection. We are planning on moving everyone out of the house for the duration. So fumes and dry times are not so much of an issue.I'd REALLY LOVE to hear some expert opinions...aww what the heck...just any opinion will do.Oh and we just want to go with a clear coat. No stain. We like the natural look.
Edited 4/25/2007 11:26 am ET by thepezident