Within the last six months I read an article where someone wrote in and described a product for finishing hardwood floors. If memory serves me correctly, the product had a name similar to “Gymn Floor Finish” or something along those lines. Does anyone recall this article or know about this type of hardwood floor finish??
Any help is greatly appreciated
Woody
Replies
woody1234
Are you planning on doing a gym floor?
I ask because there is a differance in what you should put on a home floor and one used in a gym..
I used shellac and my 150 pound newfoundland who absolutely refuses to clip his own toe nails can't scratch it.. Oh the wood gets dented but the shellac stays on..
If he did manage to scratch it I could take a rag dampened with denatured alcohol and with a few wipes the scratch be gone..
In fact fixing shellac is so easy that you will almost be happy when something happens..
It's cheap to.. Most living rooms can be done for $50.00 by you inside of two hours..
The neat thing is it's actaully good for you.. you see every drug company coats all their pills with shellac and once you take a shellac coated pill you get better don't you?
But maybe you want to hold basketball practice at your house?
frenchy,
You keep saying that shellac is good for you, since it's used on pharmaceutical pills . . .
" The neat thing is it's actaully good for you.. you see every drug company coats all their pills with shellac . . ."
So I decided to eat some (shellac, not pills). Didn't want to ingest that nasty denatured alcohol stuff, so I went straight to the flakes. Real crunchy! Hard! Took a bunch of chewing, whew!
Well, wouldn't you know it, I felt better overnight! Real energetic and full of Vim and Vigor!
Everything started going better, too. My boss gave me a raise. My bicepts got real big, my abdomen got flat as a board and my hair grew back! Babes at the beach started following me and calling me "buff." Yowsa!
Then I read that drug companies use the stuff on (some of) their pills 'cause it makes pills real shiny and protects them as they go through the stomach where the environment is real acidy where shellac doesn't disolve at all until they get into the intestine where the environment is alkaline, letting the shellac disolve and also the contents of the pill. And since shellac is inert, it doesn't harm us. In fact it doesn't do anything at all to us!
Right away, my muscles shrank, the babes disappeared and my boss yelled at me and took away my raise.
D-a-m-n!!
Rich
Rich14
all that fine print!
the devil is in the details etc..
I suppose to be more accurite I could elaborrate further about shellac. How it's natural and a normal secrection from the butt of a bug but hey it just wouldn't sound as cool..
Someday I'm gonna buy some stock or something in Zinssers since I'm touting it so hard.. but actually it's just my way of paying back to the fine people here who've helped me. I may not ever do as classy work as I see posted here. Plus the scale of the stuff I work with is hard for everybody to relate with. I mean I have a 24 foot long fence for my tablesaw, plus my sawhorses are made from 4x4inch black walnut timbers..My infeed and out feed rollers are each 10 foot long package rollers and they aren't long enough 1/2 of the time!
Most of you guys work with pieces of wood that weigh a few onces while I tend to work with wood that weighs a few hundred pounds..
Given all of that It's pretty hard for me to return the favor so I do with what I can that works for everybody.. Get people over the fear shellac holds and I can let people like you and others teach them the fine points as they develope confidence..
I agree with you about shellac - just never thought about using it on floors but it does make sense. I have some 70 year old oak floors - were refinished once about 50 years ago with lacquer. They are scratched a littlle but overall are not in bad shape. Putting a coat of shellac on is better than using weither lacquer thinner or a new coat of lacquer.
If I used shellac for a new top coat, I think I would use a steel wool pad on a polisher to slightly "rough up" the surface. then I would just roll the shellac on. Is that what you would do? Do you use store bought shellac right out of the can (usually Zinssers) or do you cut it some?
Glad I read this thread - I think I'm going to go for it - thanks frenchy!
ETG,
I'm sure frenchy will answer you also.
There's no need to abrade the lacquer before applying shellac, although it wouldn't hurt anything to do that. Make sure you get all the steel wool residue vacuumed up, however, or rust could be a problem.
Just make sure the surface is really clean and free of wax, although shellac will adhere right through some waxes. Wash with a detergent and possibly mineral spirits or naphtha to clean the lacquer surface, then have at it with shellac.
Rich
Thanks Rich - I agree about making sure the surface is clean - I usually "spritz" some mineral spirits on the floor and use the steel wool pads for a quick go around. Then a quick wipe off with an old towel and I'm ready - really no different than old furniture.
ETG
thin that sucker! never can be too thin or too rich especially with shellac..
I mix two gallons of denatured alcohol to a gallon of shellac. Yep! Zinssers!
(someday I intend to see if they sell it by the 55gallon drum)
I've never tried a roller.. what seems to work the best is a lambs wool applicator but you can do anything.. Heck someday if I can get over the squemishness of putting my delicate little toesees into a cold gallon of thinned shellac I intend to put it on with my stocking feet.
(the cool thing is when you're done with the stockings and they are all stiff, toss them in the washing machine and they will come out just fine!)!
Terriffic! And plenty of good ventilation - you can get a little woosey from that alcohol. But the good thing is it dries quickly - how do you let it "cure" before really moving furniture on it?
Woody,
I have always known of a McCloskey product called "GymSeal"
http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/Floorfinishes.htm
In a Google search, a "Gymseal" also came up for Valspar finishes, but the website comes up in a blind end.
http://www.valspar.com/val/resident/gymseal.jsp
Rich
Woody,
Frenchy's dedication to shellac is admirable, and he isn't just blowing smoke. But if you choose not to take his advice I believe this link will show you what you are looking for http://www.o-geepaint.com/ArchiCoats/McCloskey/McCloskey.shtml .
The third product down the list is Gymseal a tung oil based varnish that is most likely made with a phenolic resin. I can't get the MSDS without a UPC code so I don't know for sure. If anyone does know the resin used in it let me know. Anyway McCloskey products are as good as a non-professional is going to get, and are on par with most pro stuff too. Just be aware that if you use this it will darken the wood initially and continue to do so as time goes by. That may or may not be a bad thing, it's your call. It will also take a long time to dry, and will have a strong odor for at least a week. I'm not trying to talk you out of it, it's a fine product, I just want you to know what you are getting.
Now all the waterborne enthusiasts can attempt to convince you that a waterborne acrylic or poly will wear just as good if not better, and avoid the issues I just pointed out. Don't listen. You would be much better off using shellac as Frenchy suggested.
Rob
Rich's Google search would have gotten it, but they've inserted a "global" after "Valspar:"http://www.valsparglobal.com/val/resident/gymseal.jspIt appears the MSDS for the product is athttp://www.martellabs.com/msds/80284.txtbut I don't think it will tell you much, unless you happen to know what "ING 16" and "ING 17" are. "Ing 18" looks likely for the Tung Oil.Dan
Woody1234
FWIW
I refinished the floors in my previous house with Gym Seal. It's true that it will smell for a while while it cures, but it is not severe. It also has a strong yellowish cast to it. I countered that by adding a little raw umber japan paint to it. Mix a little raw umber japan with mineral spirits. Keep the amount of color low, and use this to thin the varnish. I found this was just enough to turn down the yellow quite a bit. It didn't darken or change the color of the wood significantly either.
I did three coats of this. I'm sure a water based finish would have been done quickly, but when I sold the place nine years later, during the open house, everyone was pleased that the floors "were just refinished"
Peter
I'm going to jump in here with an alternative. I have used Bona Mega water based poly on floors for a long time with great success. Bona makes several products including one for gym floors and/or high traffic areas.
Several years ago I had an oak floor installed in the kitchen. Used 3 coats of glossy and 3 coats of semi gloss. Contractor doing some work in the house thought it was prefinished flooring. Guess I did a good job finishing.
ASK
Great reply. It just shows you the alternatives available. Study first, make samples, and then decisions.
PG
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