Need advise on finishing hardwood floor?

Question

floor is sanded ready to finish. been convinced by others using shellac instead of stain is way to go . shellac though not more durable then stain &poly. its very forgiving easily fixed and has a deeper finish color. can i apply a tung oil first though, to bring up &out the grain look.? also what type grade sand paper is used to rough sand between 2 or 3 coats i,m planning. its possible i will stain &poly. if someone can give me any convincing reasons. i appreciate any thoughts on this matter. room to be finished , a den used only lightly by myself.

Answer 1

      I have been working with wood for 47 years and have a wood working shop in my basement, use shellac on a lot of things but, not on a floor, especially one that I'm going to walk on. Shellac is for looking at, as far as I'm concerned. I don't know what others think, I've never used it on floors, not with what's on the market today and, a new product just came out that I'm anxious to try.

     Your floor is sanded down, good, make sure, go over it with your clean, dry hands. Carefully. As one said, you can over-stain. I wouldn't get a stain exactly the color I want but, maybe the color lighter, then I could go one more if needed. I'm chicken in these areas.

      Why would you finish a floor with a shellac with the intention of redoing it later, you'd think you'd want to do it once and finish it, get it ?

      What type of wood is it, how old is it, what's the condition, have you filled it. etc, etc.? lot's of questions. Let's say they've all been asked.

        Then stain the floor and wipe it dry, let it dry and wipe it again. Ace has a wonderful water based Poly that I've used many times, it's $44.00 a gallon and one gallon will go the 200 sq. do not use a sponge, use a good brush. It leaves a good sheen and has lasted two years on the last job and looks like it will go another two at least. They have kids.

    

        I have never used Tung Oil before or after staining, it was never necessary. If you need to, 220 sand paper after one coat of stain but nothing after poly, you'll ruin it. Good luck.

      The new stuff is also at Ace, it's a two part resin and it's $98.00 a gallon. Is a cermic high shine. Seen on garage floors, can put glitter in it.

Answer 2

I have a wood floor in my house and would HIGHLY ADVISE you to consider a stain and then SEVERAL coats of polyurethane.  Let the stains dry a minimum of 24 hours not just overnight, longer if high humidity.

You should use a glossy polyurethane for your first coats and then for your last coat you can use a satin or glossy dependent on what you want the final finish to be.  Glossy is the hardest and most durable finish, but does not have to be the final coat.

As far as sanding, I have found that with polyurethane you need to use at least a 220 grit, but you only need to sand before your final coat, and make sure you tack before you polyurethane and after any sanding you do.

A floor should last 15 to 20 years with a good coating of polyurethane with normal wear and tear.

Answer 3

IF you are going to color the wood, do it carefully with an oil based stain....wipe down to remove all excess stain, but be very careful, you can overstain so quickly, it is scary!   Allow to dry 24 hours and apply flooring polyurethane. Shellac is very brittle, will not withstand swelling and contraction due to humidity changes on oak. And it is not a hard finish. Shellac went out years and years ago as a finish for practically all wood...it just doesn't hold up  AND it is alcohol senistive...spill alcohol of any kind on it and you have a stain.  

Answer 4

all you need to do is go to your closest home depot or sherwin williams somewhere that sells minwax stain and pick out whatever collar stain you like best. stain your floor let dry over night then put a coat of marine poly over stainand let dry overnight. dont try to sand between coat of stain and first coat of poly. then you can use 120 grit sand paper between coats. repeat until you get the look your after. make sure you clean floor between each coat or sanding does no good. as far as being ok with poly thats why I use marine poly they use it on boats that says it all. hope it turns out how you want good luck.