Pre-finished hardwood floor vs pre-finished timber floating

Dukekamaya · Nov 19, 2007 2:29 pm

Yak_Chat

But don't some timbers stretch/move more than others in winter and summer, wet / dry periods?

Casa - Also look at the long term volatile gases of your floor coverings.
Steve

NOt 100% on different species sweling more or less with moisture - I iagine it would be fairly neligible.
I have read about floating floors and the noxious formaldyhyde in the mdf - its interesting.

DeeElle · Nov 24, 2007 6:05 pm

Dukekamaya

To me its more to do with the look rather than the maintanance. Tung oil gives a natural low sheen look whilst oil based polyurethane looks like a sheet of glass over the floor. The water based poly does come in low sheen - the downside of water based is it doesn't bring out the rich colour of the timber, its a complete toneless clear.

We used tung oil on our 19mm jarrah floorboards (over joists) in the last house and we had to sand out deep scratches and reapply after 2 years. Tung oil is really a conditioner for the floorboards and offers no protection. We also used polyeurethene on previous wooden floors and it provided a much better protection against everyday wear and tear i.e. we re-sanded and polished after 12 years.

This time around we will definitely avoid tung oil - I agree with Dukekamaya - it does look good (soft sheen) but it does not outperform the harder wearing products on the market IMO.

Dukekamaya · Nov 24, 2007 7:13 pm

You can apply a wax over the top of tung oil for protection but yes thats right - its an oil, not a protective coating.

royalblue · Nov 24, 2007 7:22 pm

A question about using tung oil in a home.....

If the home has carpets or rugs in adjacent areas, will not the tung oil migrate and contaminate other surfaces? Is this desirable, as it may lead to premature soiling?

Ash.

Dukekamaya · Nov 24, 2007 7:26 pm

Once the tung oil is dry - its dry

Casa2 · Nov 24, 2007 9:09 pm

DeeElle

Dukekamaya

To me its more to do with the look rather than the maintanance. Tung oil gives a natural low sheen look whilst oil based polyurethane looks like a sheet of glass over the floor. The water based poly does come in low sheen - the downside of water based is it doesn't bring out the rich colour of the timber, its a complete toneless clear.

We used tung oil on our 19mm jarrah floorboards (over joists) in the last house and we had to sand out deep scratches and reapply after 2 years. Tung oil is really a conditioner for the floorboards and offers no protection. We also used polyeurethene on previous wooden floors and it provided a much better protection against everyday wear and tear i.e. we re-sanded and polished after 12 years.

This time around we will definitely avoid tung oil - I agree with Dukekamaya - it does look good (soft sheen) but it does not outperform the harder wearing products on the market IMO.

That's amazing. My previous summation on 19 Nov was "So tung oil or water based polyurethane coating for timber floors it is." Now we have:

1) Tung oil: sand and reapply after 2 years
2) Polyurethane: sand and reapply after 12 years

Looks don't come into the equation when the difference in maintenance is so big. You want a low maintennace house and the difference between tung oil and polyurethane is huge. So now it's: "So water based polyurethane coating for timber floors it is".

Any proponents for tung oil out there?

Dukekamaya · Nov 24, 2007 10:20 pm

You do not have to re-sand the floor to recoat for tung oil. Just because one household had to recoat after two years doesn't mean your one will. It simply isn't that 'black and white'
I would avoid water-based poly if your laying blackbutt - it has a tendancy to give it a greenish hue. It doesn't seem to do it to any other species from what I have read about it.

Jo K · Nov 25, 2007 11:24 pm

After spending half the day yesterday looking at floorboards I totally agree with Luke's comment -

The water based poly does come in low sheen - the downside of water based is it doesn't bring out the rich colour of the timber, its a complete toneless clear.

The timbers that had the oil based finishes looked so much better - IMO anyway.

Jo

DeeElle · Nov 26, 2007 12:05 am

Just to clarify. Our polyeurethene was a 2 pack system recommended by a sanding/polishing specialist who was a subcontractor through my husband's business. We chose the 2 pack over the water based acrylic system, as my partner has seen both in commercial applications. In his opinion the 2 pack poly far out performed in looks, durability and preservation the acrylic equivalent.

On the other hand, we absolutely loved our tung oil jarrah floors - the finish was stunning but the furniture really damaged the boards (indents around chair legs, dog scratches etc). It also became quite dull in high traffic areas although we took pretty good care.

We prefer the look of tung oil but the durability of 2 pack.

Acoustic guitars are often finished in tung oil and it really shows off the natural features in the wood. Just don't expect it to protect from surface scratches and indentations.

Dukekamaya · Nov 26, 2007 7:48 am

Water-based poly is available in single and two-pack

DeeElle · Nov 26, 2007 12:50 pm

Dukekamaya

Water-based poly is available in single and two-pack

yep ur rite. When I say 2 pack poly I am referring to the solvent based product - Polycure. For a semi gloss or satin finish we will use a sealant, gloss and then semi gloss or satin finish for the last coat.

What is your opinion of this product Dukekamaya? Is it any good?

Dukekamaya · Nov 26, 2007 1:50 pm

I can't say I've heard of it. We don't go too much into different brands of floor finishs'. There are that many its not funny.
I personally used Intergrain tung-oil on my floor, I'm pretty happy with it. I used water-based poly on my kitchen bechtops - its not as tough as oil-based poly, but as we were back living in the house I didn't want the fumes