Southern yellow pine + aniline stain + tung oil + shellac + wax
fasola-shapenote
15 years ago
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bigdoglover
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
why is everyone pushing water based poly?
Comments (123)Angela Noble, Applying 3 coats is meaningless if, the contractor does not prep or apply the proper coverage. All of Pallman's water borne finishes require a final cut at 100 or 120 grit and 450-500 coverage per gallon. The sealer will seal 80% of the pores with proper coverage of 450 sq. ft. per gallon. Allowing 20% of wood for the first coat of polyurethane to grab onto. With an additional 2 coats of water borne polyurethane at the proper coverage of 450-500 per gallon. Your floors should be more than sealed. If, the products was diluted or applied improperly. Your floors will not have the proper coverage and will not be properly sealed. Leaving it vulnerable to premature wear and failure. How was the product applied: T-bar, rolled, brush? Are there gaps in the floor? Was there any thinning of the product?...See Moretung oil finish on pine - any thoughts on maintenance?
Comments (45)I have to say in regards to Waterlox: it is a wonderful finish when first applied. For the record I have laid yellow/heart pine and used poly to finish, I laid 900sq' of eastern white pine and covered with Waterlox. We built our own home 4 years ago and used waterlox original on the entire 900sq' of the downstairs. It gave is a yellow orange tint which is eactly what we wanted. It did darken over the 3 years we lived there as when we moved last week and lifted the rugs there was a very noticable difference in coloration. Application was horrible. I used a quality paint respirator in january. Since it was cold I had the windows closed. Eyes burned so I used goggles. When I would take the respirator off to readjust etc the fumes almost knocked me out. After the 4 coats over 2 days I shut up the house (opened windows at timed intervals to allow new air in). About 3 weeks later we moved in and could still smell the waterlox. A few days before we sold our house I did some touchup work since our yellow lab left several claw marks down below the finish. I simply put a little waterlox on a rag and applied by hand the 1'x1' area. You could smell it upstairs with the door closed. We had to open windows in january. Waterlox finish very much resembles poly. It never chipped on us but had the same type of appearance with the scratches. Repairs. Don't let anyone fool you. If you have a dog scratch your floor and it is deep you now have fresh unstained, unweathered wood showing. It will look very white next to the tinted weathered finish. You can apply new waterlox but it will not tint the scratches to match the finished side adjacent to it. It will reseal it and tint it a bit but you are going to see the scratches. Not as bad a poly, but you will see them clearly. Fast forward. Economy goes bad, decide to sell our home and purchase a cheaper fixer upper and try to pocket a little cash in case of job loss. The new home has pergo, yuck. I have already found a dealer for red pine this time. (should be a bit harder than the eastern white pine we had in the last home.) Plan on installing red pine in the entire house less the 2 bathrooms. Equates to about 2000sq'. The big debate. Tongue oil or more waterlox. We did lover the finish of the Waterlox and always got great compliments on the floor from guests. I don't really want to evict my family(young child) from the home for 7-10 days while the new finish gases off while drying. I have heard mixed reviews on the citrus solvent as being almost as bad for you as mineral spirits. I loved the finish of the waterlox and it did bead up nicely and cleaned well. I have never used the tongue oil and hope I am not making a mistake by taking that route. We love the matte finish of the waterlox along with the slippery feel to it. Does the tongue oil leave a smooth slippery texture also or do you feel the wood grain more? I have used a marine based tongue oil on a boat I built and that was not something I would want to walk on every day....See MoreHardwood in my farmhouse - need advice on options (tung oil)-PICS
Comments (25)From your link describing using the tung oil, I'd go with that. I would stay away from polys at all cost as they are so difficult to repair without redoing the whole thing. I am hoping to do my kitchen floor--don't know what's under the vinyl tiles or the several layers underneath, but the rest of the downstairs is oak--white I presume? I think my trim is red oak--is that possible? My house was built in 1908. I would replace the registers also, but don't go to the expense of the linked site--they seem to only sell ones to fit modern ductwork; check out salvage shops/antique shops...there is one in my town where I've bought a couple registers from their large pile--all the good old cast iron black, some with louvers, some without, but all with varying designs of patterns for the grate. I put in an additional duct to my living room, and absolutely had to have the large register if I ever move furniture to match the one in the open near the dining room doors. Your idea of tung oil has given me another and easier option than sanding insanely and doing smelly chemicals. Thanks!...See MoreWood floor colors...
Comments (21)Marita, your floors were shellacked, most likely in amber. Over the years, it does get an even more yellow/orange tint. Shellac has been the favored treatment for wood floors for so many years because it dries so quickly and is easy to fix (dissolve the finish with denatured alcohol and reapply). It sort of coats / protects the wood, rather than penetrating deeply, which makes it preferable to a stain. If you stain and then need to refinish, you can lose a lot of floor in order to sand down to bare wood. Shellac also comes in a variety of colors, you just don't usually find them at the big boxes (HD/Menards/Lowes). Check your local woodworking shop (Woodcraft, Rockler, Lee Valley). It is also available online. In it's 'storeable' state, it is in flakes. You dissolve the flakes in denatured alcohol to achieve the desired 'cut'. You add more alcohol to get a lighter and more dilute color. Problem with shellac is that it doesn't get along well with water, hence the wax. A few coats of paste wax and your floors are beautiful and water resistant. (Note: you can't set something that doesn't allow for water evaporation on them and expect it to go well - i.e, a plant with drainage holes, wet bucket, etc. If that does happen, and you catch it before it wrecks the wood beneath, just dissolve, sand and reshellac.) A waxed shellac floor finish will last for many, many years if properly cared for. (and really, that just means use a damp mop, don't pour water on them to wash; don't scrub with a brush - throw a coat of wax on once a decade or so) To the OP (and anyone thinking of staining their 'old' floors): Make d*mn sure that's oak and not maple. If it's got 80 years of shellac and wax (housewives LOVED to wax wood floors. All. The. Time.) that has yellowed and aged, you might not have red oak. You may have maple. You may have pine. You may have white oak. It really depends on what woods were prevalent in your area when the house was being built. Or if it was a kit, what came with it. Or if the original builders were rich, who knows? Point is: maple and stains, especially dark ones, don't get along so well, they can splotch and streak somethin' fierce. Do a small test patch first. You may need to use wood conditioner. Waterlox is also an option, as mentioned. It also has an amber tint to it, though. It also smells, as it is a tung oil product. Plan to do it when you can leave your windows open for a week or so. It also needs up to 24' b/w coats, and you will need multiple coats. Be prepared. (Shellac, otoh, dries in minutes - love that!) Okay, that's my little diatribe on floor refinishing. (As a purist, I would avoid polyurethane anything - since it can look like plastic. Polyacrylics are usually better looking if you need added durability because of high traffic, kids, dogs, whatever. I don't mind 'living' scratches because I think it reflects the age of the house, but not everyone does....)...See Morebigdoglover
15 years agolast modified: 9 years agofasola-shapenote
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