wood floor finish, polyurethane

[cody michael]

I am going to refinish my parents wood floor, it already has polyurethane on it and I don't want to completely strip it. So my plan is to light sand it and recoat with poly.

What I would lime is recommendation on the most durable poly, it is a high traffic are plus they have dogs so it takes a beating. I have used glitsa poly 500 at my house and vara thane when I did parents 6-7 yrs ago, and they were not that happy with the varathane

[jack duren]

I am going to refinish my parents wood floor, it already has polyurethane on it and I don't want to completely strip it. So my plan is to light sand it and recoat with poly.

What I would lime is recommendation on the most durable poly, it is a high traffic are plus they have dogs so it takes a beating. I have used glitsa poly 500 at my house and vara thane when I did parents 6-7 yrs ago, and they were not that happy with the varathane

I used ZAR on my floor 10yrs ago. Still looks good but it could use another coat just because flooring moves and seals are broken and water can penetrate. Very happy and will re-coat with same. Had 2 cats,1 dog and a family of 4....

[Brad Seubert]

My local hardwood distrubter recommended pallman X 96 when i did my floors two years ago. They said its comparable to the Bona Mega but cheaper. Its been down two years now and I am very happy with it. Waterbased products are outstanding for applications like this. They dry fast, and have little to no odor. If your worried about waterbased being compatible with the existing finish you can put a coat of dewaxed shellac down first.

[cody michael]

thanks guys, I will look into both of those

[roger wiegand]

For the highest durability look at Bona Traffic HD. It's the stuff they use on wood floors in shopping malls and other high use areas. It's on the floor in my shop-- the wood dents when I slide a heavy tool across it, but the finish doesn't scratch. I used regular Bona Traffic in the last two houses, in the previous one it looked like new after 12 years. (Just two years in the new place so far). We wore through an oil-base poly to the wood in the previous house in just a couple years prior to my refinishing.

[allan kuntz]

Two kids and a cat here. I used a product from a company called Cloverdale Paints on my floors 25 years ago and still look good. I am not sure if Cloverdale is only in Canada. I do remember when I looked in the can it was purple but dried clear. I am sure it was an oil base poly. 5 coats. It was a maple floor and turned a nice golden. I helped redo a maple floor for the seniors center and used a water based poly and no golden hue. Just some thing to think about. I know in Canada it is getting hard to find oil base products

[Scott T Smith]

For the highest durability look at Bona Traffic HD. It's the stuff they use on wood floors in shopping malls and other high use areas. It's on the floor in my shop-- the wood dents when I slide a heavy tool across it, but the finish doesn't scratch. I used regular Bona Traffic in the last two houses, in the previous one it looked like new after 12 years. (Just two years in the new place so far). We wore through an oil-base poly to the wood in the previous house in just a couple years prior to my refinishing.

+1 for Bona Traffic HD. As I recall this is a moisture-cure type of poly which is one of the most durable floor finishes available. I have 10 years on it in my home and have zero issues with it in terms of lifting, etc. This is a home that has a lot of animal rescues on a continual basis, as well as on a working farm where we don't remove our shoes when we come in either.

[Jamie Buxton]

The catalyst for Bona Traffic HD has isocyanates. Read up about the toxicity before you use the stuff.

[roger wiegand]

Just as you should read up on the toxicity of everything you use. Sensitization is certainly an issue, especially for workers who contact it regularly. It's nice that it reacts with water and disappears pretty quickly. Unfortunately, most (all?) finishing products carry liabilities at some level.

[Mark W Pugh]

The catalyst for Bona Traffic HD has isocyanates. Read up about the toxicity before you use the stuff.

Without looking it up, can you tell me the problem with CURED Bona Traffic HD? Just asking because everything we use is toxic, at some level. Thanks.

[David Ragan]

I don't know about refinishing, but we have lived here 18 years. Last year I got some of the renewer for poly floors, and used it, and it worked really well in the high traffic areas.

Those particular areas had been bugging me for some time cause they definitely lost the luster. Now, it's back. Not perfect, but for a few $ and a little cleaning, then apply and stay off of for a day-fabulous.

[Tom M King]

Bona Traffic HD is way low VOC relative to Moisture Cure Urethanes. I don't know about putting it on top of another finish. The Bona site should have information on that. I've used it plenty of times, after using MCU for 30 years. I put it over Bona Naturale as a sealer most of the time. It can be applied over Mega too. Mega is one of the few that can be topcoated later, but they call for a bonding coat of Naturale sometimes for over coating. Naturale is an acid cure laquer, but it's relatively low VOC too. Any of the Bona products are WAY easier to apply than the old MCU's.

Traffic or MCU are both many times more durable than any polyurethane. We still have the same finish on the Heart Pine floors in our house since I put the MCU on in 1980.

[Steve Schoene]

Virtually any polyurethane will have some variant of isocyanate as an ingredient which reacts with a polyol to become polyurethane. The only added risk is for the applicator who mixes the finish by adding the 5 ounces of catalyst to the base to make a gallon, Mixing is just accomplished by closing the bottle and shaking it. It's a part of a polyurethane molecule when it is applied to the floor.