Hello,
Just a quick question. I am in the process of putting down white oak hardwood floors and am to the point of thinking about the finish. I really like waterlox and use it frequently on my furniture projects. As I was on their website yesterday, I noticed they touted it highly for floors. What is the word on the streets regarding waterlox versus say an oil-based polyeurathane for floors. Also with waterlox, any suggestions for a finishing shedule. I am shooting for a medium gloss to satin look. Thanks.
Dave
Replies
dbrudd14
Have you considered shellac? Excellant finish, durable, and tough. Plus it's extremely easy to apply and repair. The beauty of a shellac finish is why fine antiques are done in shellac.. the fact that shellac is safe (you've been eating shellac all of your life on pills and candy) biodegradable, renewable and green.. is besides the point.. It's insanely easy to apply, a typical sized room takes about two hours from start to walking on it..
Unlike other finishes if scratched or damaged you can make an invisable repair to shellac in less than a minute..
Oh and it's cheap too! A gallon covers about 500 sq.ft and costs $30.00 add a couple of gallons of denatured alcohol and for about $50.00 you have a great floor inside of two hours..
It's a totally goof proof finish as well. You can't screw it up!
Ask and I'll give you step by step instructions..
(oh and clean up will cause you to smile, it's that easy!)
I would use Waterlox for flooring in a heartbeat. You basically can't mess it up, and if you don't plan to wax over the finish, you can renew it as many times as you like without sanding, etc.
As for finishing schedule - you might have the best luck just going with 2-3 coats and seeing where you're at. If you ended up too glossy, you could knock it back with some synthetic pads (like plastic brillo pads, but really fine).
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I used Waterlox on my red oak and love it. I had to drive to OH to get it, since my state went Low VOC's. The first coat I added quart red oak stain per their rep to pop the color, then added 2 more coats. The wood is definitely more beautiful, doesn't have a layer of "plastic" on top. After 2 years it is like new. Some wear characteristics are compromised, but I can easily re-coat worn areas without sanding -- how good is that! The real down-side, imo, is the slow cure time and odor. My house was empty when I did the floors, so it didn't matter.
good stuff, easy to use. Not quiet as hard as poly. Easier to touch up repairs.
Beautifull.
Main drawback is that it is slow curing
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I put down qswo flooring this summer, and used Waterlox on it. It looks great, and was pretty easy to put down, but if you're living there while it's curing, the odor is rather strong. Plus, it doesn't have that plastic look that polyurethane can have. I'm putting hardwood in another part of the house, and plan to use it again.
I used the "original sealer and finish" for the base coat, with two coats of "original satin" on top of that. I cut in the perimeter with a brush, and used lambs wool for the field. The only thing (for me) is that the satin is a bit too flat, so next time I'll use the "original sealer and finish" for all three coats, and knock it down if necessary.
I chime in for W'lox. I've used it on a bunch of pine, where it really excels, and one ash and one cherry floor. It really warms up a floor, color-wise. It has a nice amber color that doesn't look forced. On the ash floor, the HO hated the ash with poly on it, but didn't want to spend on new flooring. We re-did in w'lox medium sheen. They loved it. Wear is good, recoat easy. Long cure, many coats needed. I usually wind up with 4 or more on hardwood, up to 7 or more on old softwood, less on new pine. Smell is rather strong. Needs rubbing out at the end if you want a perfect finish. They sell a satin, but I find it not as appealing as the medium sheen, which dulls down a bit on it's own naturally anyway.Low VOC formulation is now available, but it costs more.Don't use wax on it, as it interferes with curing if you need to re-coat, and can leave you with a permanently tacky floor. Don't ask me why I know this...Steve
Edited 1/17/2008 10:57 pm by mmoogie