Which Waterbase Polyurethane do you use
I’ve used Parks brand of waterbased poly for a few years now and really haven’t had any specific reason to look elsewhere although I love their oil based poly when doing flooring.
However, I recently had a situation where I ended up using ACE Harware’s own brand. Wow! I love the way it applies, cures and looks.
I don’t yet have any age on the finish so I can’t comment on long term but I sure do like the short term. Virutally the same cost as the Parks although it’s a bit thicker so I’m not seeing it go quite as far but 3 coats of the ACE looks everybit as good as 5 of the Parks and that cuts finish time significantly.
My projects usually end up being applied with foam brushes so I’ve never sprayed any water poly to compare.
So, what you folks doing in this realm?
Pedro – Just keep that stuff out of my fur
Replies
I spray (HVLP) the General Finishes brand available from Rockler and others. Really great stuff, but not cheap at over $50.00 per gallon.
Just reread your post and noticed you mentioned floors. I use the GF poly on cabinets and furniture.
Same here.....I generally use oil based poly for foot traffic and water based everywhere else....cabinetry, baseboards and trim etc.
I've not yet found that water based poly is durable enough for foot traffic. I've heard of factory based with infrared curing but that's not an option for me onsite.
Pedro - still stuck to oil on the floor
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I've used the ACE poly (sprayed with my HVLP or foam brushed) for several projects this year and have been very happy with it. Goes on well, lays out evenly, and looks great. No complaints so far. - lol
I don't do it for a living, but we had Bona Traffic put on our floors 2.5 years ago. It's held up reasonably well- my recollection of the oil based poly we had before is that it looked as scuffed over a similar period of time.
I was very impressed with the cure time when it was installed. For someone who's gotten comfortable with putting it down, that's got to be a labor saver.
I was told we could screen and re-coat down the road without needing to completely re-sand.
I've had really good luck with low VOC paints (BM specifically), so I'm always curious whether anyone's used Bona's low VOC floor finish.
Look at Shellac.. It's safe,, you've been eating shellac on candy and pills all of your life,, it's easy and there is a reason it's used on the finest restorations of antiques..
It's durable, fast, extremely easy, and cheap.. You can do 500 sq.ft. in about 2 hours in the morning and that evening your guests won't detect a single oder as they walk on it..
It's insanely easy to repair if damaged (no sanding just a few seconds of rubbing)
Nothing will give as deep and rich a finish without looking plasticy.
Planning to use Shellac on my mountain cabin project. Used some as a teenager that Dad had around. I don't have a clue why I haven't used it since....guess it didn't fall off the shelf on me like poly normally does.
Only thing I've ever heard is that poly stands up to dog #### better which is something we go through every ten years or so.....usually a time or two with them as puppies and then in their much later years as age takes over. Some paper towels and gentle cleaner works better than puttin' 'em out in a pen to die.
I used Parks oil poly on the floors of the house we're in now while under construction...odor was horrible....wore breathing apparatis......it was another year before we actaully moved in.....hard finish....been in over two years and not a dog toenail or high heal mark yet!
I've used Low VOC Latex wall paint and had good results there....but not tried the Low VOC water poly. Of course the stuff I've been using dissapates quickly.....couple of hours running the range hood and it's no more odor......sorry spell checks not working tonight...Taunton!!!
Pedro - Low VOC sniffing mule