Floor varnish

[siggy_7]

I will shortly have a wooden block floor which will need a finish. This is for a lounge which sees a lot of foot traffic as it leads through to the garden, so I'd like something hard-wearing that will last a few years between maintenance. The product I originally had in mind is Sadolin PV67 recommended by a few people on this forum, but I'm a bit put off by reports that it basically fumigates your house during application (my wife doesn't cope well with that sort of thing). I've found a product called Finney's extra tough floor varnish which looks like a possible alternative, it also comes in a variant with waxes in to give a less glossy, traditional waxed look which I like. Has anyone got experience of this product or similar? How durable (and how frequently would I expect to have to re-coat) can I expect this to be compared with Sadolin? I believe it's a water-based varnish which generally seems to get poor marks for longevity compared to polyurethane based products, I don't want to be recoating the floor every 18 months!

 

[Mar_mite]

I can't comment on the products you've mentioned, but I can recommend Bona Traffic floor varnish.

 

[wallace]

I recently laid some parquet and used rustins clear coating which is a two part system. I have only put two coats on as yet because I just wanted to seal things while I'm still working in the area. You have to be quick when applying because it starts to coagulate really quickly. It really stinks I used a mask and had an extractor running to take some of the fumes away. Good points are you can walk on it within two hrs and when fully cured it seems really hard.

 

[dzj]

Yeah, the hard-wearing ones usually smell bad. Best if people who don't cope well with this aren't there for a few days.

 

[petermillard]

Big fan of Junckers Strong - low odour water-based polyurethane lacquer. Satin finish has a nice sheen to it.

HTH Pete

 

[PhilM]

I can recommend Ronseal Diamond Hard Floor Varnish - hard wearing, easy to apply, no smell that I can remember. I used clear satin.

Regards, Phil

 

[yetloh]

The Bona finishes are brilliant. Water based so very little smell and extremely hard wearing, also widely used by professional floor finishers.

Jim

 

[Droogs]

you could have a look at this stuff. Environmentaly sound, for high traffic areas (industrial) but most importantly for you odourless;

http://www.blanchon.co.uk/wood-products ... arnish.htm

 

[custard]

Floor varnishes aren't any tougher than other varnishes, I'll say that again so it's clear, NOT ONE TINY BIT TOUGHER, however the good ones (read expensive) are a bit less prone to lethal slipperiness and dry a bit faster so the commercial operator can crack on with a second coat or little Johnny can cross the floor to reach the toilet.

Of course other times the "floor" bit is just marketing blah blah, and they're actually every bit as slippery as well as being no more tough and taking just as long to dry.

Good luck!

 

[n0legs]

Big fan of Junckers Strong - low odour water-based polyurethane lacquer. Satin finish has a nice sheen to it.

HTH Pete

Yes, lovely stuff.

I can recommend Ronseal Diamond Hard Floor Varnish - hard wearing, easy to apply, no smell that I can remember. I used clear satin.

Regards, Phil

Yes, very good and at a decent price.

The Bona finishes are brilliant. Water based so very little smell and extremely hard wearing, also widely used by professional floor finishers.

Jim

Yes, again lovely stuff

 

[Mike.S]

I've just re-varnished my hall floor using Bona Mega (Gloss, water based), almost 20 years after first varnishing it with a Mega (solvent based equivalent) varnish. Easy to apply and very hard wearing, as you might imagine a hallway needs. Highly recommended, despite the price (c.£70 for 5 litres).

P.S. I have 2.5 litres left. PM if it might be of interest.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

New Zealand has millions of bare wooden floors, and they are mostly done with water based polyurethane.

 

[siggy_7]

Thanks all for the recommendations - quite a few products to have a sift through! Seems like a wide variety of products all do a good job. Mike.S - thanks for the offer, SWMBO wants a satin/matt finish rather than gloss though. I'd be interested to see what the finished result looks like though - it's hard enough trying to judge finishes by pictures, doubly so when most of what you find is studio shots.

 

[Mike.S]

siggy

Here's the gloss Hall floor:

and my dining room floor, which I varnished with a satin finish (morrells 30% sheen w/b):

with some tool porn thrown in just visible on the table(turning and other chisels I'm sorting through!)

FWIW, the two adjacent to each other:

Hope that helps.

Mike

P.S. The Hall's American Oak, the Dining Room is Maple.

 

[siggy_7]

Thanks Mike, the subtle satin sheen is definitely more what we're aiming for.

Just finished huffing 27 packs of new oak block flooring into the house. I'm hoping being new it will be much easier to lay than the reclaimed horror stories I've heard, but even so looks like an awful lot of floor!

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[Parquet Dave]

You won't go wrong with either Junckers Strong, or Bona Mega. If you want one that's a commercial grade then look at Junckers HP or Bona Traffic.

I've used them for years in some high traffic areas.

I've never used Sadolin or Ronseal products on floors so can't comment as to their qualities.

 

[Prawn_Cracker]

I've had excellent results from Junckers strong. It's not immediately obvious from their brochures or trade sellers but they do an extra matt finish. The sheen is extremely low. I sealed with Junckers prelak before the strong. For filling in small gaps and punched in nail heads use lecol resin with sawdust from a reasonably fine grit paper.

For high traffic the strong will be fine. Aim for three coats and you'll be fine. I'll see if I can post up a picture.

Last if you get in touch with these people:

http://www.floorstock.co.uk/

Then they will send you out some Junckers samples FOC



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[siggy_7]

Having researched some more I've ordered 5 litres each of Junckers Prelak and Strong silkmatt (satin). Hopefully SWMBO will be satisfied with the test pieces!

 

[siggy_7]

The floor is now down and coated with Junkers Strong. Mostly it looks great. However, there are a few bits that need some attention. Any tips for localised repairs appreciated - I've read that the edges should be feathered in with wire wool?

Unfortunately there is one bit that will need stripping right back. About 2 days after I put the final coat down, someone was cleaning the patio windows and left a small amount of water on the floor overnight. I came down the next morning to find this:

The water appears to have gotten right down to the wood, so the whole lot in this area will need stripping off

I'm also a little concerned at the appearance of a few scratches already, most of which seem to be only visible to me as everyone else keeps telling me I'm being too much of a perfectionist. Aside from regular sweeping to remove grit, is there anything else I should be doing as a cleaning and maintenance regime? Bona, Junckers and others sell various cleaning and polishing products, are they worthwhile using and do they prolong the life of the finish?