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This is Scott Avery. I want to go over what we call surface finishes. These
are the finishes that you apply to the top of a wood floor or over a wood
floor that give you protection against traffic and wear. The three major
classes you'll hear about will be oil modified polyurethanes, conversion
varnishes, and waterborne finishes. I'm going to explain the three from the
perspective of your benefit as a homeowner and the practical sides.
The pros for oil modified polyurethane, this is your typical Minwax you'd
buy at Home Depot, are its cost is great, it has a rich appearance, and it
has a pretty time tested durability. The con is that the cure time is
really the slowest of all the three finishes. And it has kind of a
lingering odor for a pretty long time. So if you're sensitive to odors I'd
recommend just kind of nix oil modified polyurethane.
Conversion varnishes are great finishes, very time tested, great
durability. They have great optical clarity. And the key is also they have
great adhesion. If you're doing a remodel, and you want to do part of the
floor and then do some painting work and then put on a final coat, painters
won't pull this finish off the floor.
The downside is these finishes can be perceived as being toxic because they
have n-Butanol as the primary solvent. It's just an alcohol, but it does
burn your eyes and nose. But it goes away very quickly because it is an
alcohol. So, a great finish, but during application and within probably the
first 24 hours of application these finishes can really smell.
Waterborne finishes are perhaps the newest to market. They've evolved quite
a ways. Originally, they weren't that durable, but now they've definitely
come out with some great finishes. They have great dry time and reduced
odor. Those are the pluses.
The downside is they're very much not as optically clear as the oil
finishes. I liken them to looking through Plexiglas versus glass as far as
the clarity. They are widely variable in durability. If you're getting an
estimate and somebody says, "Oh I'm using water based, it's durable," you
may want to investigate what water base it is. General rule that I have is
that single component finishes of water based that rely only on air to dry
are definitely not as durable as those that apply a catalyst to the finish.
Those are your three categories. Next, I'll talk about what are the
components, the three important things that actually make a finish durable.