Comparison Of The Five Hardwood Floor Finishes I’ve Used In Our House (Waterlox, Oil-Based Polyurethane, Whitewashed, And Two Different Painted Floor Finishes)

Waterlox for hardwood flooring

Once we purchased our home again in August 2013, the very very first thing I did earlier than we moved into the home was take away all the carpet, sand all the unique hardwood flooring, and seal them with Waterlox. They regarded nice after they have been completed.

I had to do this when our couch gouged the ground and left this deep mark.

I simply sanded that particular space, utilized extra Waterlox, and the gouge disappeared.

It’s additionally very straightforward to refinish a complete room with Waterlox. Again once I was attempting to show the lounge right into a eating room, I made a decision that I wished to recoat the entire flooring within the room. So I did a really fast sanding on the entire flooring utilizing my small orbital sander (no have to hire the large drum sander to get all the earlier end off!) and recoated. It was a reasonably straightforward course of, and it regarded model new afterwards.

Oil-based Polyurethane For Flooring

In 2017, I made a decision to redo our flooring to do away with the orange, so I had all the flooring sanded (I employed it out the second time), after which I completed them once more. I used Minwax conditioner first, adopted by a mixture of two Minwax stains, and the topcoated with Minwax oil-based polyurethane tinted with a little bit of stain. The flooring turned out beautiful and I used to be capable of get the precise coloration I wished.

These flooring have been very sturdy. I used to be nervous to make use of a product that couldn’t be simply spot-repaired, however they’ve held up superbly through the years. I do suppose the end has dulled a bit since they have been newly completed, however I don’t thoughts that since I’m not an enormous fan of shiny finishes anyway.

Since I polyurethaned the ground, we’ve had 4 animals in our home — three cats and one canine. Two of the cats are not with us 🙁 however we nonetheless have one cat and a canine. Our canine Cooper is a 100-pound lab/German shepherd combine. We obtained him from the shelter, and he’s a hyper and really anxious canine who nonetheless gained’t let me contact his toes even after he’s been with us for seven years. He gained’t let anybody contact his toes to chop his claws. Not me. Not the vet. Not anybody. I’ve tried each trick and tip that anybody has ever given me, and none of them work.

The one time he has “allowed” his claws to be reduce was when he needed to be sedated for an X-ray, and the vet requested me if I wished her to chop them when he was below anesthesia. That’s actually the one time they’ve been trimmed by a human since we’ve had him. I see him biting on them after they get so lengthy that they begin annoying him, however they get fairly lengthy earlier than he does that.

And once more, he’s hyper. He typically doesn’t simply stroll from place to put. He jumps, runs, twirls. He’s like a hyper pet, regardless that he’s 100 kilos and allegedly 12 years outdated, in the event that they shelter is to be believed that he was 5 years outdated after we adopted him (which I discover laborious to consider simply from his puppy-like conduct to this present day).

With all of that stated, I’ve been amazed at how our oil-based polyurethaned flooring have held as much as him. I don’t see scratches, gouges, or something like that on our flooring. I don’t understand how straightforward it could be to restore a scratch or gouge on the oil-based polyurethaned flooring as a result of I’ve actually by no means needed to do it.

Painted Flooring Topcoated With Water-Primarily based Polyurethane

In August of 2020, I painted the ground in our visitor bed room with common Behr latex paint after which topcoated the flooring utilizing Varathane water-based polyurethane. Once more, they regarded beautiful after they have been new.

However these flooring didn’t put on properly over the following two years. I couldn’t discover any footage of simply the worn areas on the ground, however you’ll be able to see it plainly within the images I took after my mother and I took a weekend to do the tear out of this room to arrange it for the contractor to come back in and begin the conversion from visitor bed room to closet and laundry space. The ground is soiled and dust-covered within the photograph beneath due to our work that weekend, so that you’ll must look past that. You’ll be able to clearly see these worn areas.

Pay particular consideration to the areas circled beneath. You’ll be able to see that the end is carrying off within the excessive visitors areas.

Right here’s one other look from the opposite path…

And you may see it from this image that I took for the put up the place I shared about making a present closet for storing all of my sneakers. Look past the sneakers and you may see the worn end.

I wasn’t certain if that was due to the paint I used (common Behr latex paint), or due to the water-based end. However this subsequent one sort of provides me a clue…

Whitewashed Hardwood Flooring With Water-based Polyurethane

The primary end I did on my studio flooring was a beautiful whitewashed end topcoated with water-based Varathane polyurethane. Once more, it was a phenomenal end when new.

I couldn’t discover footage of this flooring proper earlier than I refinished it, nevertheless it was terrible. Not solely had the colour darkened, however there have been some critical stains on the ground. This leads me to consider that water-based finishes will simply by no means evaluate to oil-based polyurethanes. My oil-based polyurethaned flooring are older than this flooring was once I redid them, and I don’t have any stains on the oil-based polyurethaned flooring.

And eventually, there’s my new-ish painted flooring within the studio. After I did these, I made a decision to forgo any topcoat in order that they might be straightforward to restore. I used Behr Porch and Patio Flooring paint. I had my doubts how properly this could maintain up with no topcoat, however I made a decision to take that gamble.

This flooring has been AMAZING. I don’t know if it’s due to the primer I used (Zinsser B-I-N shellac-based primer) or the paint, however I’ve been so stunned at how sturdy this flooring is. Our canine Cooper LOVES to play in my studio, and he performs tough. And but, there’s not a single scratch or gouge wherever to be discovered on this paint. That is the most recent end of any flooring in our home. I simply completed these in Could 2023, however that might be loads of time for him to scratch them, particularly contemplating how a lot he performs in right here. And but, they’re holding up nice.

So simply going by my very own private experiences with these numerous finishes over the past 13 years, I’ve come to the next conclusions for myself:

1. So long as I’m coping with pink oak hardwood flooring, Waterlox gained’t be an choice for me as a result of it brings out the orange in pink oak. As a lot as I preferred the end and the straightforward spot-refinishing of the product, I simply didn’t like the colour. I can think about selecting Waterlox if I had a naturally fairly species of wooden like walnut and even white oak.
2. I’ll by no means use a water-based polyurethane on flooring in our home ever once more. They simply don’t appear to carry up over time. The end appears to put on off shortly and stain simply.
3. On flooring that shall be stained, I’ll solely ever topcoat with oil-based polyurethane. My expertise is that oil-based polyurethane is probably the most sturdy, hard-wearing end out there. And particularly, I’ve been more than happy with the Minwax oil-based polyurethane that I used on our flooring. In relation to water-based finishes vs. oil-based finishes, there’s no comparability, for my part. Oil-based wins out so far as sturdiness and resistance to stains, and it’s not even a detailed name.
4. If I ever paint one other hardwood flooring, I’ll solely ever use the Zinsser B-I-N shellac-based primer and Behr Porch and Patio Flooring paint combo that I used this final time in my studio. I’ve been amazed on the sturdiness of that end.