Waterlox on Red Oak floors

[Ken Shoemaker]

I put down solid red oak floors (about 730sqft). I hired out the sanding because fo time crunch. Adrian drum sanded to 100 grit. I have never sanded a floor, but it looked pretty good to me.

I'm quite sure I over-did the prep after that. It took me about 4 hours to sweep the floors and prep them as I only wanted to do it once and get the best results.

I applied three coats of Waterlox Sealer/Finish on the wood with no additional sealers, stains, etc using a 1/4" foam roller. I wanted the tun oil look and the satin finish. The problem is that after 3 coats some areas still look "dry" after three coats. I'm not sure why. I hope the answer is that you just keep coating ti untill the entire floor "evens out" because Waterlox is expensive.

Any help would be appreciated.

Ken

[Prashun Patel]

Yes, you just keep applying until those areas (more porous) seal enough to start developing a sheen and build.

You mention something rich in yr msg though: "I wanted the tung oil look".

Waterlox is a varnish pure and simple. It will build very quickly - especially if you keep applying coats to the whole floor in hopes of getting the unsealed areas to develop a sheen. You can quickly develop glossy areas. If this is your goal, then no problem; just keep applying the Waterlox and it will get evenly glossy.

If, however, you truly want a tung oil/hand rubbed type look, then you have to be careful not to build the finish. In that case, you should take care to buff off the finish after each application so that you remove most of the stuff on the surface, and leave only the stuff that has penetrated. Not sure if that's appropriate for a floor.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Waterlox has a Pdf Floor finishing guide on their website that outlines the use of the product.. I would link to it, but it is against it policy of SMC. I have used Waterlox on furniture but never on a floor, sounds like we don't have enought product build yet, the flooring guide says that three coats of the original product are needed on new floor at rate of 1 gallon per every 500 sq feet.. That is going to be one smelly room

[Scott Holmes]

Waterlox Sealer Finish is a a wipe-on varnish; so 3 or 4 coats equals 1 coat of the regular original. So you barely have one coat on the floor at this time. Floors need about 3 brush on coats or 9-12 wipe-on finish coats. Keep going and sand before the last coat or two...

[Ken Shoemaker]

Well, it looks like Waterlox is going to be an expensive operation. It looks great, and I bet it will look Fantastic when complete.

Thanks for the help.

Ken

[Ken Shoemaker]

Scott,

I reread your post and wonder what grit to sand as the last coat goes on???

[Prashun Patel]

I defer (as always) to Scott, but I'll tell you that when I'm applying SF thicker, I tend to apply a few coats, sand with 400, apply a couple more, sand with 600, then wipe on the final 2-3 coats to bring back the sheen.

[Ken Shoemaker]

Is it possible to sand a floor to 400-600 grit? I may have to look for a different solution. Thanks for your help though.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Is it possible to sand a floor to 400-600 grit?

Sure - it's just a big "piece of wood" laying down on the ground.
Just whip together a sanding block that you can stick a whole sheet of 400/500 on and have at it.

I did all the floors in a house a few weeks ago with Varathane - 3 coats.
I sanded the floors qith 220 grit in a 5" ROS on my hands and knees.

I'd never do that again. I'm way too old and fat. Somehow I managed to booger up a nerve or something in my left hand and haven't had any feeling in two fingers since pulling that stunt.
Word to the wise here - if you don't feel comfortable crawling around on a floor on your hands and knees running a ROS or sanding by hand,,,,,,you probably shouldn't do it.

[Scott Holmes]

On floors I have never used anything finer than 220 between coats. With Waterlox there is no "MUST sand" requirement. That's only for poly.

[robert raess]

When i buff the floor between coats,i use a 120# screen on a 17" buffer on slow speed.Sometimes i use 150# or tops 180#..this is pretty much standard in the industry and if you try to order from a 'wood floor distributor' anything with finer abrasion ,they probably won't have it in stock.If i told you some of the grit selection i have used for refinishing floors, you would howl in disbelief ...less than 24# grit on some wicked refinish. guy parked his Harley on the floor and changed his oil there as well and then asked me to refinish it..55 gallons of dust later it was great..but how i got there was brutal . Scott is right re. the lack of a need to sand between coats of waterlox, only if dust nibs present themselves. 61 yrs. old and i still r.o. the entire perimeter on my knees.. my legs like it less now then 30 yrs. ago..but at i have legs.. right?.........Rob

[Scott Holmes]

Robert is not kidding... I said the finest I've ever used on a floor is 220; most times I stop sanding at 40, 60 or 80 and then use 120 or 150 between coats. I did one floor that I never used any paper finer than 80 (Waterlox finish) and didn't even need to sand before final coat. Floor leved out just fine.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Waterlox has a Pdf Floor finishing guide on their website that outlines the use of the product.. I would link to it, but it is against it policy of SMC. I have used Waterlox on furniture but never on a floor, sounds like we don't have enought product build yet, the flooring guide says that three coats of the original product are needed on new floor at rate of 1 gallon per every 500 sq feet.. That is going to be one smelly room

Robert,

It is not againt the policy of SMC to link to a website. In fact, we encourage it with the exceptions if you are linking to your own website from which you will benefit monetarily or if you are directing traffic to a website for the sake of directing traffic to that website.....we won't allow you to link us to a site for a vote for you, etc.

You can certainly link to that .pdf file at Waterlox's website.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Robert,

It is not againt the policy of SMC to link to a website. In fact, we encourage it with the exceptions if you are linking to your own website from which you will benefit monetarily or if you are directing traffic to a website for the sake of directing traffic to that website.....we won't allow you to link us to a site for a vote for you, etc.

You can certainly link to that .pdf file at Waterlox's website.

Thanks Ken, I guess I misinterpreted the TOS agreement... So here is the link to the Waterlox Floor Finishing guide... http://www.waterlox.com/assets/pdfs/...uide-FINAL.pdf

[Ken Shoemaker]

Did I ever tell you guys how much I appreciate your help. SMC'ers are THE BEST!!!!