LET’S TALK FINISHES

LET’S TALK FINISHES

Hi today I want to talk to you a little bit about wood floor finishes. I’m going to give you the pros and cons of the most popular ones starting from the oldest to the news types. First up is Shellac, it has been used for centuries. It’s a natural material, derived from denatured alcohol mixed with secretions of the lac bug. It adheres to all types of woods and dries quickly. However it has a dark orange color to it, and it shows water marks. Next up is Wax, like Shellac it too has been around for a very long time. It has no smell, you can walk on it as soon as it’s applied. The down side is it has to be reapplied a few times a year. And when you’re applying you have to be careful of getting a wax build up. And it too shows water marks. And finally let’s talk about another time tested finish, Penetrating Oil Finish like Tung Oil. They give you a more natural look, and have no oder. But like Wax they need to be reapplied often, about every two years, and they show water stains. Now we’re going to get into more modern finishes. We’ll start with Varnish, it’s made from a combination of resins, oils and solvents. Because of it’s high concentration of solids it has a higher tolerance to UV light and holds up much better to water than the older finishes. And because of that higher level of solids, it is prone to crack or peel if not properly handled or cared for. Now we come to urethane. First one out of the gate was oil based or polyurethane, consists of linseed oil, synthetic resins, and plasticizers. Like Varnish it too protects the wood from water and is very durable. But it does yellow in time, takes about 12 hours to dry and has a strong smell to it while drying. And now come Water Based urethane, made from synthetic resins and plasticizers, it is the newest kid on the block. It has no color to it, so your finished floor will be as natural as possible. There is little to no oder to the finish as it dries, and it’s dry in 3 hours. Now with that said, it’s not as durable as Polyurethane or Varnish but it is better then Shellac, Wax and Penetrating Oils. So for main living and high traffic areas you may want to go with Polyurethane, and for spare or guest rooms Water based polyurethane.