TheWoodLab Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Hey Folks, Figured I'd post this in Finishing, even though it's not really about furniture, since I wasn't sure where else it'd fit. I recently (I use this term loosely ) ripped out a small step to my upstairs and put in a landing to make more surface room to step on at the bottom of the stairs since it is also where my back door is. Right now I just have plywood on top to make it functional. I have some pine treads that I will be ripping and gluing together, etc to make it the 'final product' though. The stairs are painted, but where this landing is, I think would look better as a natural wood look, since it enters the kitchen where there is plenty of wood already there. My question is, what do folks recommend I use to finish the wood? I imagine it will need something pretty durable since it will be a high foot traffic area. Thanks! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Can be used on floors. -Ace- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Jim, one thing comes to mind is that you're using pine and that is a quite soft wood. Is the rest of the staircase pine? I would think you'd want to use more durable product there, finished clear or painted. Just a thought. If the rest of the staircase is pine, then by all means, be consistent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Z. Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Why not simply use a flooring finish? That will be designed for the stresses of flooring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Do a parquet mosiac, blending the painted stairs into the wood grain of the kitchen. At the base of the stairs, it's 90-95% painted wood, and at the edge near the kitchen, it's 90-95% "bare" wood. I'd throw some sort of urethane on it, even if it's just your basic Minwax Poly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWoodLab Posted March 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Thanks everyone! The rest of the stairs are pine, so was looking to stay consistent. I was looking to see if flooring finish was an OK choice to use on pine. Ace, I'll check out that Enduro-Var. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted March 2, 2011 Report Share Posted March 2, 2011 Buy the gloss or maybe a semi gloss for a floor finish. If you go down to a flat or satin finish, that will contains more flatteners, which make the finish more slipery to walk on in stocking feet. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWoodLab Posted March 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2011 Thanks Ace! I'll keep that in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 High traffic areas are a pain to maintain. I used to install and finish floors. Our "go to" finish was Last n Last 1500 series. Its a water based professional grade floor finish.Very easy to use, no hardeners like if you were to use lets say L&L Trek or Bona Traffic. The 1500 is about 70 bucks a gallon(ouch) but......... you wont be redoing it a month later like a floor finish off the shelf at the local hardware store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenMinshall Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Another great brand of polyurethane for high-traffic flooring is Fabulon. They have both oil- and water-based formulas which perform very well on high-traffic floors. You usually have to buy it through a flooring dealer though as it is labeled "professional use only". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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