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Bona Traffic over Varathane?

8 years ago

I am finishing some stair treads for my new house. I spoke to a finisher who can supply the Bona Traffic Anti-Slip. He told me that is just a top coat, and I'd need something else underneath.

I have almost a full gallon of Varathane for floors, left over from top-coating my cork floors at the old house, so I am considering using that. The guy said it would probably be okay, but it's not guaranteed that the Bona would adhere to the Varathane.

I have the Varathane, and definitely want the Bona. So I will do a test before painting all the treads in Varathane. But that's just going to show me if the Bona goes on and doesn't bubble or peel off immediately. I won't be able to test long term wearability. If it sticks, is that good enough?

Alternatively, I am buying the gallon of Bona anyway, and will easily have enough for 2 coats. So can I just do 2 coats of Bona Traffic anti-slip?

As a side note, is there a reason to look into Bona stains for the colour? Or if I can find a water based stain colour that I like, can I just use that?

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Comments (3)

gregmills_gw
8 years ago
Is the varathane oil based? Is so, do your test first. always good to test. I routinely do water over oil. But I learned the hard way to give the oil a day or two to dry before applying the water bourne finish.

as far as stain goes. do you HAVE to use Bona? no. but same thing applies. test, and if its oil based give it a few days to dry.

NWFA will tell you you can use either finish over the other, i.e water over oil, and vise versa, as long as its fully cured. which is true. Oil generally takes 30 days to fully cure.

As far as your test, you should be looking at color change. truthfully it will probably adhere, the issue your going to see is the off gasing from the first coat being trapped by the top coat.

The main issue I would be looking at is after applying the top coat, look for a milky color change. not right away, after a few days.
amberm145 thanked gregmills_gw
amberm145
Original Author
8 years ago
It's a water based Varathane. I try to avoid oil based products wherever possible.
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User
8 years ago
Water based stain? Generally stains have a solvent other than water. You're best off using a stain that's quick drying and compatible with waterborne urethane like Bona Drifast or DuraSeal Quick Coat.

Using the Varathane for the base coat might be false economy. It may work on a sample, then not on the actual surface. If it goes bad it's a lot of work to get it back to the starting point. You could probably use the anti slip for both coats and abrade between coats.
amberm145 thanked User

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