Water-based polyurethanes provide a clear finish and have low odor. You can re-coat them in two hours and clean
your tools with water. If you start early enough in the day, you can apply the recommended four coats and sleep in the room
that night. Oil-based polyurethanes leave an amber glow and require fewer coats. But the five-hour wait between coats and
12-hour wait after the last coat will put a bedroom out of commission for a few days—and you’ll have to put up
with a strong odor. We’re installing tongue-and-groove maple flooring in our newly remodeled master bedroom. We love the natural
look of the maple but want a finish that will protect it. Is water- or oil-based polyurethane better? Both offer good protection;
the biggest difference is in appearance. If you love the natural look of maple, apply a water-based (water-borne) polyurethane.
They appear milky in the can, but go on clear and remain clear. They’ll slightly accent the character of your wood without
giving it the amber tint of an oil-based poly. (However, some woods, like the oak shown, cry out for that amber tint.) Water-based
finishes dry fast— most within two hours—so you can apply several coats in a day and use the room that night.
They have minimal odor and clean up with water too. But water-based polys have their tradeoffs. They cost twice as much as
oil-based polys. They won’t give wood the rich glow that oil-based polys impart; some even consider them cold looking.
When I applied waterborne poly recently, I found that it went on so clear I had to use a bottle cap to mark each 8-in. wide
swath of finish as I went. Most water-based polys contain only 30 to 35 percent solids, compared with the 45 to 50 percent solids in oil-based
products. Since these solids create the protective finish, you need to apply four coats, as opposed to two or three. And you
may need to apply additional coats every two years or so. There’s debate over which finish is harder, but some experts
maintain that hardness isn’t necessarily a good attribute of a floor finish. You want a finish that will flex along
with the floor. And a super-hard finish shows scratches more readily. You’ll prolong the protective life of any finish
by eliminating its No. 1 enemies: dirt and grit. Sweep or vacuum the floor often and put throw rugs in high-traffic from:the Family HandyMan,
Wood Floor Refinishing
When you feel your wood flooring is not looking as it use to before, when you look closer you see many small scratches, dents
marks, small and large gaps it may be the right time to call a professional floor company to estimate and better advice you
on what type of floor work is more efficient to your situation's floors. A wood
floor refinishing consists of removing all the floor sealer, stain and varnish that was once applied to achieve the expected
results. The NWFA Guidelines suggests a 3 coats of oil based floor polyurethane or a 5 coats of water based floor polyurethane.
But also is wise to always check the manufactures's instructions as there are so many different floor refinishing products
out there. Having all this old floor products removed is not easy and also very
dangerous as this type of chemical is highly flammable. It's also very important
that you get a licensed and fully insured flooring company to provide this type of flooring work for you as the professional
machines are really heavy and the good ones works at 220 volts. One point really
important is check the floor insurance's policy coverage, the value of the coverage and the most important is that the company
providing the work carries work's compensation's insurance. This last one will make
sure that if happens any accident and someone gets insured the contractor's employees will have medical assistance. If anyone
gets insured in your house and if the floor company doesn't carry this insurance all the problems will fall on your lap. After you have decided weather having a floor company to provide this work or if you will
do it yourself it's time to decide if you will have your wood floor stained or just natural finished. "Natural Wood Floor
Finishing" means that it will be the wood natural color, without any stain to be applied. it will be sanded, buffed, screened, cleaned and oil based, water based or Monocoat floor finishing applied.
If you decide to have the Wood Floor Refinished and Stained you can see a wide range of Wood Floor Stains Here Original Article From FloorAbc.com
Floor Sanding NY | Things you Need To Know if you are considering having a unfinished hardwood floor installed and then sand and stain it. Please read this article so
you can make a wiser decision on this floor project. You'll have to consider the
kind of flooring to install and then the kind of floor finishing to apply and sure if you will have a floor stain applied
or just a clear finishing. If you don't know anything about unfinished hardwood flooring please check this page for Hardwood Floor Janka Hardness Other factor you should consider on choosing the unfinished hardwood floor is the
thickness of it and its width, the wider is the plank more is the incidence of gaps in between the planks. Usually people
goes for 3/4" thick x 2"1/4" width. A 3/4" thickness has a 5mm wear layer which will make it possible
to be sanded and refinished several times. Choosing an unfinished hardwood floor
will give you the option to pick any stain color. if you are unsure of what stain color to pick, you can view here more than 20 different stain colors form Minwax wood stains. Before having the unfinished flooring sanded and stained you can pick several different color
and try it on your flooring before staining the whole thing. Having the wood flooring
installed, sanded and finished will give you also the possibility of choosing the shiny of the polyurethane. You can choose
among Satin, Semi Gloss and Gloss finish. You now can decide weather to have water based polyurethane or oil based polyurethane
floor finishes. The most used is Oil based polyurethane. Usually is applied 3 coats
of oil based polyurethane and it takes about 12 hours to dry and accept another coat. The flooring needs to be buffed and
slightly sanded using 100 grit sand paper in between coats. The water based polyurethane
is recommended to have at least 5 coats applied to have a great protection and durability. It's always recommended to read
the manufacture's instructions to make sure you have the right amount of coats applied. For
a work like sanding wood floor is always recommended to have it done by experienced, professional, licensed and insured floor
company as these type of floor finishes are high flammable and dangerous chemicals, high power sanders and also will be working
using 220 volts. Request always the liability floor insurance certificate and works's
comp insurance. Having all these insurance will make sure you will not be liable for any accidents that may arise during the
work. Please don't be worried, a reputable floor company will give you all this information before starting your floor work. Browse our floor website for more information related to wood flooring. Here you will
be more informed and updated about the wood flooring industry. If you have any questions or comments please contacts at your
earliest convenience. Original Article at FloorAbc.com
Pre finished Hardwood Floor InstallationPre finished
Hardwood Floor Installation NY Nowadays real solid hardwood flooring comes a wide
variety to widths, lengths and thickness along with so many different kinds of wood. You can get any kind of wood flooring
already sanded, stained and finished before you install it. These types of products are called refinished hardwood flooring. Pre finished flooring are a great option if you don't want to deal with chemicals like
varnish, stain, sealer, all the hard sanding work which generates a lot of dust and of course several days to have it done. Pre finished flooring requires a special attention when installing as you need to work
in a cleaner and organized manner to avoid scratching, denting or damaging the already refinished floors. It really worth
the time and effort invested on these type of work as you can get a new and beautiful flooring system in one single day. A professional flooring company can have a huge space done in a day or so. Having this
type of flooring installed will add value to your home, will add elegance, beauty and warmth. Our company can handle 2.000
sqf of refinished flooring installed in a single day and guarantee the satisfaction of our clients and contractors. If you plan on moving on towards a project like this, choose a solid refinished hardwood
flooring. A solid hardwood flooring has a 5mm wear layer, it means that you will be able to have it sanded and refinished
so many times in the future. If in the near future you decide to sell or rent your property and your flooring is scratched,
dented or if it has any imperfection you will be able to have it restored to new just by sanding, staining and finished again
for a really low price compared to a new wood flooring. Our company uses many different
ways to provide a refinished hardwood floor installation in New York and surrounding areas. The first important step to take
is to make sure to follow the product's manufactures's guidelines and if you don't have enough information available from
its manufactures follow the National Wood Flooring Association guidelines. Our Company
is a Member of the NWFA. Also the most used method to have a refinished hardwood floor installed is using nails every 6 inches.
If the floor planks are over 4"inches in width you should use a professional wood floor adhesive in conduction with the
nails. it will prevent the floor boards to move more than allowed when the weather changes. Solid
hardwood flooring moves and expands a lot. when the the weather is too cold it tends to expand, when the weather changes to
a high temperature the floor boards tends to contract. as the weather changes all the time having your refinished hardwood
floor installed following its manufactures guidelines or the NWFA will prevent it to get damaged, gaps to appear in between
the planks and the most important: its guarantee. It's extremely important that
you hire a licensed and fully insured flooring company. A licensed professional will help if you run into any floor that was
damaged or showed some problems after some months of use. Having a licensed professional to do the work for you will make
sure that you don't avoid your floors warranty. if the floors are installed not following the right guidelines you may loose
all your floors if you need to claim for any warranty. Also it's really important
that you understand that a pre finished hardwood flooring needs the right attention to keep beautiful and last for years to
come. You have to use felt pads under your furniture's legs, clean the floor using only recommended floor cleaners from its
manufacturer. NEVER use water to clean any type of wood flooring. If you have water
on you wood floors dry it using cloths as soon as possible. Also is advised to use carpets on high traffic areas, entrance
doors and bathroom entrance. The moisture from the bathroom, the the dust from outside can harm your floors little by little.
having carpets on these areas will help your flooring last for so many years more to come. Pre finished hardwood floor & Other Finished FlooringMany people
think that solid Pre finished hardwood floor are any flooring that comes finished. Pay attention that engineered wood floor
can be sanded and finished in the future but it has a wear layer from 2mm to 4mm what makes it inferior to the solid hardwood.
Laminate flooring is other type of flooring that comes finished, but this one does not give the ability to be sanded or refinished
in the future. Nowadays you can find any kind of wood specie in a pre finished hardwood
flooring. Today's wood floors come in more than 50 species we have already installed pine, maple, red oak, white oak, walnut,
ash, ash white, Bamboo, Beech, Birch, Black Walnut, Brazilian Cherry, Brazilian Maple, Brazilian Walnut, Bubinga, Cherry Black,
Cork, Cumaru, Cypress, Douglas Fir, Hickory Pecan, Iroko, Jarrah, Mahogany, Maple Sugar Hard, Merbeau, Mesquite, Pine Antique
Heart, Pine Southern Yellow, Pudauk, Purpleheart, Sapele, Spotted Gum, Sydney Blue Gum, Tasmanian Oak, Teak, Wenge and other
kinds of refinished hardwood flooring. No matter what the look you want to achieve using a refinished hardwood, there are
a variety of species to meet your expectations. For more information on Hardwood
flooring, Browse our Flooring Company: Articles Written By: Refinishing Hardwood
Floor |