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Wood Floor Finishes

Wood Floor Finishes create lasting beauty and requires minimal care with today's modern technology in wood floor finish products. The right finish protects wood flooring from wear, dirt and moisture while giving the wood an attractive color and sheen. Today most wood floors are finished with a stain and a top coat. Technology has provided a wide selection of wood flooring finishes, each with its own distinct benefits and appearances.

The days of having to wax and scrub your hardwood floors are pretty much gone forever because the manufacturers of wood floors have developed sophisticated techniques to quickly apply hard, durable; urethane based finishes right at the factory.

By using ultra violet lights the prefinished wood planks can have several coats of urethane applied within a matter of a few minutes. This is helping make hardwood floors both more affordable, and much easier to maintain. Recently, the hardwood flooring manufacturers have begun to add small chips of Aluminum Oxide directly to the floors’ finish which dramatically increases the life of the urethane finish. The job-site urethane finishes have been improved dramatically as well and will add years of performance to your wood floors. This does not mean you should wash your floor with a wet mop, but it does mean that these wood floors won't watermark like the old waxed, strip wood floors. The the UV cured urethane wood finishes are extremely durable and much more abrasion resistant than waxed floors.

Most factory finished hardwood floors have several coats of finish applied to the wood's surface. As example, some wood floors are applying 6-10 coats of a ultra-violet (UV) cured urethane over the stained wood finish layer.

Acrylic-urethane – Has a slightly different chemical make up than polyurethane, but with similar benefits.

Aluminum Oxide – particles added to the polyurethane finish to increase the abrasion resistance of the wear layer. This has become extremely popular on the better grades of hardwood floors.

Ceramic – Advanced finish technology that allows the use of space-age ceramics to increase the abrasion resistance of the wear layer.

UV-cured – these floors are finished at the factory and the polyurethane finish are cured with Ultra Violet lights instead of using heat.

Acrylic Impregnated – Acrylic monomers are injected into the cell structure of the wood to give increased hardness and then finished with a wear layer over the wood.

Polyurethane – A clear, tough and durable finish that is applied as a wear layer.

Solvent Based Urethane – Oil components are used as part of the chemical make up of the polyurethane finish. Dry time for most needs at least 24 hours before recoating and/or light foot traffic.

Water Based Urethane (latex) – Water is used as part of the chemical make up of the polyurethane finish. Dry times in 2-6 hours for most.

Finish Types. How To Choose the Right Floor Finish

High gloss: a very bright, smooth finish that tends to highlight scratches or marks of any kind and makes dirt and dust more visible. High gloss finishes look professionally, they show scratches more easily. A high gloss finish is appropriate for low-traffic rooms such as dining rooms, living rooms, and bedrooms because it tends to show scuffmarks, scratches, traffic areas and dirt more readily than satin finished.

Low gloss or satin finishes are typically used in residential hardwood floor installations.

Semi-gloss finish is ideal for moderate-to-high traffic areas such as family rooms. Semi gloss: this medium-bright finish is the standard for prefinished hardwood floors.

Satin finish is suitable for high-traffic areas including kitchens and dens. In a heavy traffic area a satin finish will require less maintenance. Satin and matte finished minimize the appearance of scratches and marks. They stay looking new longer than glossy finishes.

Matte finish gives wood an oiled look, but with the advantages, easy care, and durability of polyurethane.

Refinishing

Real hardwood floors are a beautiful asset and an investment. Sometimes that beautiful asset is covered by years of dirt and abuse. Refinishing a hardwood floor can be a challenging job that requires lots of sanding with heavy tools. The sanders create lots of dust but this hard work will be rewarded with a beautiful "new" floor. Refinishing hardwood floors takes time, patience, and the proper tools and techniques, but the results can be extraordinary. The great thing about wood floors is that they can last forever with proper care.

No matter how careful you are with your hardwoods, though, you will still have to refinish them at some point. If your floors take a beating, from pets for example, you may have to refinish more often. Some floors only need to be refinished every three years; some high traffic floors may need more frequent refinishing. To refinish a floor, all you do is sand it and reapply the finishing product to protect and seal the wood.

You can determine if the floors need to be refinished by an easy test. First, you have to find a high-traffic area where the finish is likely to be most worn and pour a tablespoon of water onto the floor. If the water beads up and you can wipe it without a trace, the finish is still working and you don't need to refinish. If the water slowly soaks into the wood floor creating a moderately darkish spot, the floor is partially worn. You don't need to refinish right away, but you'll want to save room on your "to do" list. If the water immediately disappears into the wood leaving an obvious dark spot, it's time to refinish the floor.