Hello
I am in the process of finishing my basement floor with a mixture of hardwoods that I have reclaimed. I have planed the wood to 5/8″ tongue and grooved enough for about 450 sq ft. I have laid about 80% and now must consider the finishing and staining. It is laid over concrete with a moisture barrier and no problems as the wood is well aged and dried. Some of it has been down for 5 months and it looks great.
However there is little ventilation! I need to sand first then use a sealer for pre-staining, then stain with a medium to dark stain and then urethane or some other hard “floor-needed” finish.
How should I proceed? Probably 2 coats of stain. I figure 4 – 5 coats of urethane, or more? Fumes? Which is better water base or oil? Please suggest some ideas, I have been cautious thus far as most stores seem to be biased to their in house product lines. Thank you.
Replies
I refinished an oak floor in an old house. I didn't use stain, but after sanding used a product called Varmor polyurethane made by Pratt & Lambert. It's an oil based product and took 24 hours to dry and recoat but came out real nice. I haven't had much luck with water based poly but haven't used it too much because I like oil based.
Just built a new house using reclaimed maple flooring. This time I hired out the finishing of the floor. The contractor used an oil based polyurethane. Don't know the brand, but he would only use oil based. Hope this helps
Doug
I have southern yellow pine on my floors. I did not want them to be darkened so I was told to use a water-based sealer and poly. The drying time is much faster than with oil-based and they say the fumes are less but it is still somewhat strong so you'll want to open a window or have some fans going.
Good luck!
-Mark
Proffesional floor finishers stop at 3 coats, unless you want to pay for the extra coats.
I prefer water-based finishes because they dry faster. 5 coats though! Your buddy must have been in the diploma laminating business.
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