Hardwood floor finish (solvent vs water poly)

[Zoran]

I'm fairly new to "woodworking" and my current project at home was removing the dust mite infested carpets and replacing them with hardwood timber flooring. I decided to do the job myself and I might say it has been a success so far. I'm at the stage where sanding and finishing needs to be done and am not feeling comfortable tackling the job myself and have instead opted to leave it for the professionals. The problem is that each person I contacted (through the yellow pages - yes we still use these in Australia) I have received a different response of what type of finish is best. Some state water based finishes are better, while others claim that solvent based (oil) are superior. My two main requirements are durability and most importantly leaving a natural colour of the wood. I've used a beautiful variant of the Australian Blackbutt hardwood floor which has amazing shades of cream, brown, green and pink and would very much like to preserve those colours as much as possible. What I found through my research is that the oil based polys tend to give a yellow tint to the wood and the cream becomes very much lemony and browns more like yellowish brown. So I thought there's no better place to ask then a woodworking forum for decent explanation of what will be my best option. If someone can please give me some insight on what I should do before I take the plunge. Thanks!

[jimmykx250]

My 2 cents are go with oil based finish. Flooring guys dont like it because you cant do multiple coats in a day. From a durability standpoint you just cant beat an oil based finish. From the other side of the coin remember once a coat is applied you need to leave it for a min of 24 hrs to cure and youwant a MIN of 2 coats.

[BenMinshall]

In my experience the water-based floor poly is just as durable as the oil-based. The water tends to be much more clear though so you don't get the "warmth" of color that the oil finish will add. I think that with the advantages of water poly you should consider going that direction unless you really want the look of oil finish. Based on the floors I did in my own house and my grandparents' house, the whole house will smell like poly for at least a month after you finish the floors with oil. If I was doing it again today after seeing some of the modern water polys, I would certainly consider water based.

[atomicmike]

I don't know if it's available in Australia, but I just recently refinished my dining room floor with General Finishes' Enduro-Var (http://www.generalfinishes.com/Enduro-Var-Waterbase-Varnish). It was a great product to work with, and adds a nice amber tint to the floor, much like oil-based finishes. The only gotcha is that it dries really fast, so you have to work quickly to avoid lap marks.

[Zoran]

Thanks for the input guys. The so called "warmth" is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. In my opinion it doesn't complement the wood type at all. It tends to blend the beautiful colours into different shades of brown and and yellow. I've heard that this effect is even more accentuated when the floor is exposed to UV light (over time) -- speaking of oil based polys here. (Ben) I've heard as well that the stench will make the house inhabitable for nearly a week. I guess I'll have to make a decision pretty soon as the household is getting aggravated from the disarray in which the home is in right now with all the furniture moved from the bedrooms as well as the saw dust that's infested the house

[Dyami Plotke]

I'm fairly new to "woodworking" and my current project at home was removing the dust mite infested carpets and replacing them with hardwood timber flooring. I decided to do the job myself and I might say it has been a success so far. I'm at the stage where sanding and finishing needs to be done and am not feeling comfortable tackling the job myself and have instead opted to leave it for the professionals. The problem is that each person I contacted (through the yellow pages - yes we still use these in Australia) I have received a different response of what type of finish is best. Some state water based finishes are better, while others claim that solvent based (oil) are superior. My two main requirements are durability and most importantly leaving a natural colour of the wood. I've used a beautiful variant of the Australian Blackbutt hardwood floor which has amazing shades of cream, brown, green and pink and would very much like to preserve those colours as much as possible. What I found through my research is that the oil based polys tend to give a yellow tint to the wood and the cream becomes very much lemony and browns more like yellowish brown. So I thought there's no better place to ask then a woodworking forum for decent explanation of what will be my best option. If someone can please give me some insight on what I should do before I take the plunge. Thanks!

Zoran,

I've finished 4 hardwood floors between my 2 houses (Oak, Ash & Brazilian Cherry). I've always opted for oil based finish and I've been very happy with it. On my most recent project (an oak floor with patches of Ash I had left over) I used Zinsser Bull's Eye Oil Based Polyurethane to great success. It's holding up to a 6 year old boy very well (previously the oil based finishes I've used have done will with dogs too).