Rubio Monocoat vs Bona Craft Oil 2k

4 years ago

I am in the process of building a house and we have new 4" Red Oak floors throughout. We are debating between three options with our installer:

Rubio Monocoat - We like this idea of 1 coat and the natural look as well as homeowner repair. I am pretty handy and have plenty of tools to do touch ups if needed.

Bona Craft Oil 2k - I really cannot find much information about this product, I would love to hear someone who had used it with success. My understanding is it is Bona's competition to the Rubio.

Bona water based stain and poly - Traditional finishing methods with 3 coats of poly. Always an option but again I think I like the other option of me being able to easily repair a spot.

I would love some feedback from others. We have hardwood throughout the entire main floor of the house with the exception of the mud room and on the second floor hall and master bedroom.

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Mary Elizabeth

4 years ago

last modified: 4 years ago

Our floor is maple - we used the Pure (no color) - LOTS of issues! I will try to find the discussion with gentleman who spent $50K on his oak floors (? red or white?), says they have a housekeeper, and STILL can't live with it!

The Waterlox (from what I have read is an awesome finish - but not low VOC.)

I think there is a recent discussion here regarding the Bona Oil. I will look for that one as well.

I LOVE the hardwax oil look, but the "ease" of applicatiion and everyday use ("easy to repair") is WAY oversold!

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Comments (9)

Mary Elizabeth
4 years ago
I would advise MUCH more research! Many discussions here where people describe the issues they have had with Rubio. Ours did not go well!

A poster named "Ultimate Hardwood" used to comment often. He had perfected the application for Rubio, and loved the product. The last comment I can find from him, he now recommends Odie's Oil.
Bryan Mathews thanked Mary Elizabeth
lyfia
4 years ago
You might want to look at Waterlox as well.
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Tung-oiled pine flooring update. It's been a year since my last post in this thread, and a year and a half from the floor install, so I thought I would post an update. Some backstory: These pine wide-boards were sawn at a local mill, kiln dried and I think indoors for abt a year before we got it. The boards sat in our house for 6 months before actual install. During that time, I sanded each board and applied and buffed in 4 coats of Hope's Pure Tung Oil. They were installed on our second floor, all bedrooms. Once installed, I buffed in one more coat of tung oil. Today. I am very pleased with how the tung-oil is protecting the floor, and how the floor is holding up. Not seeing much gap between boards, and any accidental spills are not leaving any stains, but I do get to them fairly fast. For clean up, we vacuum and when needed, use damp rag and elbow grease for any scuffs, or marks (dog paws), etc. I occasionally buff out scratches with tung oil (we have a dog and 11yo boy). Since the floor has gone thru one dry winter, this summer I plan buff in another coat of tung oil for more durability. Because it is pine, we do not allow shoe traffic on the second floor or food, but that rule was same when the flooring was carpeted. I love this floor! The patina is becoming quite lovely, it has been really easy to keep. I expect the floor to age gracefully and develop more character as the years go on. I do not regret going the all-natural route with using only the tung oil.
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SF - I believe you showed pics in a previous post. If I remember correctly, the colour is a cerused (or lime washed) white oak. Sadly the colour (the whitish colour) and the oiled finish BOTH contribute to a hazy product. If you image a glass of water that has been contaminated with a small amount of milk, you will get picture of a 'hazy' glass of liquid. Now imagine you are in a swimming pool and you are trying to dive for a coin. You open your eyes underwater WITHOUT goggles = fuzzy/grainy/out of focus. The haze is coming from both the colour (white/milky/whitish haze colour) and the oil finish (which is matte = NO shine). That is what a MATTE finish does. It does NOT bring things into focus whereas a GLOSSY finish (like swimming with goggles) will bring everything into CRISP relief. What millworkman is pointing out is the dryness of an oil finish will cause extra issues with lack of presence/character with an oiled floor. So long as the oiling maintenance schedule is maintained, you can have a floor that looks it's best. And there are ways to burnish (light polish) an oiled floor. There are products out there (Rubio Monocoat has one) that can up the sheen a snick. It gets floors into the 'dull satin' range. It gives a bit of a glow. Before you move in that direction, you MUST find out if these products are allowed on your floor. But first things first, purchase all three products required to maintain your floor and go ahead and get your first maintenance oil down over the entire floor (remember to move the furniture). See how far that gets you.
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For a satin, that is pretty low-gloss for a fresh coat. I'm more familiar with Loba's satin and they are much shinier then yours. I would let them be for a week and then view them once more before you move back in. If you are still SUPER UPSET by the gloss level, then pay the cost to have another coat added and you sleep elsewhere for another week. And remember: do NOT lay area rugs for at least 4 weeks. And preferably for 6 months. Wood will do a little bit of colour change after a sand/refinish. You want to ensure everything changes in the same way. Personally, I would be happy with this gloss level with any satin at any time. Considering this is fresh, I think you have a very good satin about to show up. Just give it a week and then see how you feel.
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There have been issues/complaints about the Invisible Protect AT. It can show PLENTY of foot prints, oil prints, dust prints, prints...with some knee prints, and hand prints, and dog prints...cat prints...sock prints...pretty much anything that hits the floor can leave a 'print'. When looking for low gloss, remember it can be HAZY (the chemical additives cause the finish to look frosty/non-clear). Many people find low gloss to be very difficult to live with. Personally I would work with Bona Traffic HD gloss on your FIRST coat...and then super matte (the commercial grade Traffic HD) on the second coat. Bona's NordicSeal is ahead of the Loba 'white' option. I love Loba 2K Supra AT. I've sold it. I've worked with it myself. I've tested the toughness of it on cork (very delicate wood) and loved it. My customers and clients LOVED it! The Invisible Protect AT does not have the same following. For low gloss + whitish look = Bona Traffic HD has a STRONG following and has been super successful.
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Bryan Mathews
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks Mary, I have read through a ton of the Rubio threads here and I see consistent opposing views in many of them. I also don't see a lot of people commenting who have all new construction and fresh solid red oak floors.

In addition, we aren't changing the floor color too far off from natural. Maybe a very slight shade of brown but for the most part, we plan on going mostly natural. I know a lot of the Rubio issues have been with darker floors.

With that said, I guess I am really interested in anyone who has used Bona Craft Oil 2k as I have seen basically nothing on that.
jkt107
4 years ago
May I suggest you take a look at Fiddes Hardwax Oil? We used it in our previous home and liked it so much that we just used it again in our newly built home.
Mary Elizabeth
4 years ago
Here is the link to the Bona Oil discussion - very recent. I am not familiar with the product, but the issues he describes are very similar to others' Rubio stories.. Bryan Matthews, you are right that there "seems" to be more problems with certain colors, but IMHO, the problems are there regardless, they just show more because of the color.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5755967/advice-needed-in-refinished-hardwood-flooring-problems-thank-you#n=16
Mary Elizabeth
4 years ago
Bryan Matthews, maybe you've read this one: both good & bad experiences. Go to the end and read "Randy Nash" and "Greg Kaminski" - they explain the issues well.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2694873/please-share-your-experience-with-rubio-monocoat-in-the-kitchen
3pinktrees
4 years ago
We used Waterlox on butcher block and loved it so much we used it again on red oak stair treads. Super easy to DIY both initial and touch up applications.
PRO
G & S Floor Service
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Avoid using Rubio's reactive stains. Spills will leave stains. Look into using Pallmann's Magic Oil. It's a better product. Doesn't have as many color selections compared to Rubio, but doesn't stain with water, coffee, soup or food. Pet urine will stain it. And if, you like the look but concern with maintenance. You can apply a bond coat and apply a water base polyurethane over it for a more durable finish.

Rubio Monocoat vs Bona Craft Oil 2k

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Rubio Monocoat vs Bona Craft Oil 2k

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