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Remodeling Flooring Design Dilemma

Refinishing hardwood floors- oil or latex?

6 years ago

We are going to be refinishing our red oak hardwood floors because we had some water damage. Our contractor has presented us with 2 options - latex or oil. I don't love the "amber" look of our floor, but will latex be TOO light? Our kitchen has cherry cabinets. Also, I have 3 kids (1 is only 5 months) and a dog...love the idea of the smell not being as bad with latex but will it stand up to our family? What do you guys think?

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PRO
Johnson Flooring Co Inc
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Prior to application of the waterborne urethane you have a variety of options for sealing the floor. You can use a standard DuraSeal or Bona penetrating sealer that is applied then the excess is removed by hand or you can use a product like Bona DTS or AmberSeal that will accentuate the color of the wood without turning amber over time.

No waterborne finish wears as well as oil poly and the better finishes are a few times as costly. We use mainly Bona products (in case you couldn't already tell). Their Traffic is a very nice product. Their new Mega HD Clear is almost as nice at a significantly lower cost. I don't recommend applying an excessive number of coats unless you know you won't maintain the floor properly. Besides having walkoff mats, protection on furniture legs and keeping the floor free of grit that causes wear, the floor should be recoated when it gets scuffed and worn (but before it gets worn through).

My choice would be to find a time to refinish the floors while I was out of town and finish with two coats of gloss or semi-gloss oil poly and one coat of satin. That will likely see you through until the kids grow up and the dog is gone. Then your floor will be orange and you can have it refinished again.
nlmackay thanked Johnson Flooring Co Inc
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We have built and owned two homes over the past 36 years. In the first we had 3, 5, and 7" Bruce prefinished red oak. We also had two large (60 and 70#) Elkhounds-- no detectable damage in 12 years. In the second, where we have lived for 24 years, we have 3" and 4" site finished red oak on nearly all of our floors. Over those 24 years, we have had a standard poodle, a great dane mix, a Newfie, a lab, a Border Collie/Golden retriever mix, a pit bull, and a doberman. Again, no real damage from the dogs except for a few scratches on our staircase from when they ran downstairs after being detected illegally upstairs. We refinished the floors last year because we wanted to take those few scratches off the staircase and wanted to make sure that the wood all matched. I do not believe that dogs are necessarily the cause of your problems. Our dogs were all in the range of 60--100 # and we really had no problems. I would sand the floors and invest in a really good finish: either multiple coats of oil based floor varnish or multiple coats of a good catalytic floor varnish. Will
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I always say that an NWFA Certified Sanding/Refinishing professional will cost $5/sf. That would include the 2-part Water based polyurethane finish (option #2). The price is a good one for the amount of square footage. But it comes down to the BRAND! The UV Cured water based polyurethane is an intriguing option. Not many professionals offer this! Colour me impressed. The UV curing is EXCELLENT because it is SUPER TOUGH and it is EXTREMELY FAST. The time out of the home is GREATLY reduced. Once the final coat is done the entire PROJECT is done. No waiting. The extra cost you add into the project REDUCES the amount of costs you have to put out for your hotel bill. Depending on your personal situation, the extra $1500 for the UV cured floors could be extremely valuable. Or you could value the $1500 in your pocket and enjoy your 7-10 day 'stay-cation' in your local hotel (in my neck of the woods, we pay over $150/NIGHT to stay in a hotel...and that's a mediocre hotel...nothing fancy. Just two beds and a TV). Depending on the product they use, your prices are right on target for a very good finish.
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