Urethane vs Glitsa hardwood finish
margaret21638
11 years ago
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JillAgain
10 years agoRelated Discussions
prefinished hardwood vs. engineered hw vs. unfinished
Comments (18)I have real oak hardwood in my kitchen, and three years ago I installed engineered, handscraped hardwood by Appalachian Hardwoods in my bedroom. The engineered hardwood is superb. It didn't even scratch when we had heavy, sold bedroom furniture installed. These pieces require four people to move, and at one point it was dropped on the floor: no scratches, no dents. We now have felt pads on all the furniture for more protection, but the engineered wood has held up well. It's also easy to clean. It was more expensive than some hardwoods: $8.00 per square foot! Since our home was built to look like an old Louisiana antebellum home, I wanted floors that looked old and had character. The handscraped engineered floors fit the bill, especially when compared to the price of real, reclaimed wood from old homes or barns! Now I'm replacing all the flooring in my house with the same engineered wood. I'm even removing the oak plank in the kitchen. It has not held up over the years. The finish is gone in some spots, probably from wear and the use of things like vinegar, grease, etc. Some things really seem to eat away at the finished oak regardless of how quickly you remove a spill. It also has some dings from me dropping heavy cast-iron cookware. So, I can only speak from my experience, but so far the engineered hardwood seems to be the better choice for my home. Plus, it was faster to install. If I had done raw hardwood, the contractor said he would lay the wood in the house for a week to let it "cure" before finishing it. I live in a high-humidity area (NC). I'm impatient and didn't want to wait....See MoreEngineered vs. hardwood flooring questions
Comments (2)I was the distr mgr for Bruce so pretty familiar with them. They were bought by Armstrong but there wasn't any big change except they let a whole lot of us go, but the quality was way better. Why don't you look at a 3 or 5" plank flooring vs a strip flooring. Vintage or Anderson made a lot of handscraped looks, in fact Bruce had a real propular one that Home Depot sells as a special order. They only show one width but it actually comes in 3 -5 or-7. You can mix and match two widths if you want a different look. "real wood" and engineered aren't going to appear very different, though engineered is more stable especially in wider widths. Look for eng that is sliced veneer vs rotary peeled veneer and they will look identical. Many suppliers including Bruce have gone to a matte finish as an alternative to shiny urethane....See MoreAdvice, please, on finish for hardwood floor
Comments (16)I wanted to chime in on this since I used matte Glitsa Maxx on my white oak floors about 4-5 years ago and have been thrilled with the finish. Its on my kitchen floor and I don't have a single scratch. I was told the chemistry of Glitsa Maxx is about the same as Bona Traffic so I would expect similar durability between the two. My floor finisher initially put the Glitsa swedish finish on the floors and I hated it because it yellowed the floors. My finisher swore it wouldn't yellow much but it did. I wanted the natural medium brown color of the white oak to come through. I loved the look of the bare wood and wanted to keep that look with the finish applied. So he stripped it and used the Glitsa Maxx with a water-based sealer. Oil based sealers get used as a first coat to prevent the grain of the wood from raising but all oil finishes yellow with time. My water based finish over a water based sealer has held up really well over time and maintained the natural wood color. I liked the matte finish, it has a bit of sheen but looks natural. On my floor there were a couple small spots with a glossier sheen for some reason. Maybe that was where the brush was picked up. Those spots fixed themselves over time and the floor became an even sheen. Someone suggested the infinity 2 finish, that has an amber color to it which I didn't like. I won't use a 1-part water based finish and the pros that do use them do a disservice to their customers in my opinion. The expense is the labor not the finish. Why would you do a lower quality finish to save 5-10% on the total job? Its like painters that buy cheap paint, it makes no sense. Last comments on the Glitsa swedish finish vs the water based finish. There was more depth to the swedish finish. Some people like that. On my living room floor that used wide rift sawn white oak planks the ray flecks in the wood are less prominent with the water finish. Thats what I wanted. If you want more depth an oil based sealer or the glitsa swedish finish might be your preference. The swedish finish would probably maintain its color better than any oil based. The stink of the swedish finish is truly terrible, i would leave for the week if you go that route....See MorePre-finished or site finished hardwood
Comments (6)As a hardwood floor enthusiast, having been in the hardwood floor business all my life, it is site-finished hands down for me. Aside from the aesthetic knocks I have against prefinished floors (seams you can see and feel with your feet, a funny sheen, no choice on sheen, color fading problems, etc.) the main point I stress with my clients is maintenance. You mention small children and a dog, both of which I have to contend with on my own floors. Any hardwood floor you choose will eventually show signs of wear. With the proper finishes on a site finished floor, restoring your floors to new is very feasible. With a factory finished floor, it is virtually impossible. With the current cost of unfinished red and white oak in standard widths of 2 1/4" and 3 1/4" at extremely low prices, we have been finding that site finished floors can actually be less costly than even median factory finished floors. The difference in material price easily offsets the cost of sanding and finishing. Of course, any homeowner making this decision must consider the possible issues of dust, fumes, and time off the floors. It is imperative to find a top-notch floor finisher who works primarily or exclusively in occupied homes. You need a finisher who can keep dust to an absolute minimum (which is possible) and who uses high-end water based urethanes such as Bona, Glitsa or Basic Coatings. Each of these companies makes a commercial grade water based urethane that will be prefect for your traffic needs. They are also very low in VOC's and some are green guard certified. The best reason to use them, though, is that 5, 8, 10 or more years from now when you see a traffic pattern becoming visible, a good floor finisher can use the same finish to "re-coat" just those areas showing wear. It is possible to blend these newly recoated areas into the surrounding areas without moving all your furniture. This is typically very affordable and takes only a few hours to complete and dry. In this way you are able to indefinitely maintain your floors making it possible to avoid ever sanding them back to the wood. Unfortunately, with prefinished floors, once they wear out, all you can do is to sand them back to the wood and do exactly this process. To make matters worse, most of them now come with aluminum oxide finishes which make this refinishing very difficult. I say, why install a floor trying to avoid refinishing when refinishing will eventually be the only way to make them look good again? Get it right from the start, use the best finishes out there, the right finisher and then maintain your floors. You will have floors you love for life....See Moregregmills_gw
10 years agoJillAgain
10 years agogregmills_gw
10 years agoJillAgain
10 years agoJillAgain
10 years agogregmills_gw
10 years agoJillAgain
10 years agogregmills_gw
10 years agoUser
10 years agoDeborah lippitt
2 years ago
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