UV resistant floor finish?+

[Erik Christensen]

After we closed on the house about 18 moths ago one of the first things I did was refinish the wood floors in office and master bedroom which were solid oak but in bad shape. I used Varthane water based floor finish that I have had good luck with on stairs and other high traffic areas in the past. Both floors extend to sliding glass doors and both have skylights. After a year the finish is visibily fading and the wood is looking wrecked again. The stripping and finishing process is WAAAYYY too much work to consider doing it every 2 years so I have to find a more light resistant finish or rip it out and put in tile.

Anyone have a suggestion?

[Steve Schoene]

Add a UV blocking film to the sliders and sky lights, or replace them (or at least the sliders with UV blocking glass.

This isn't meant to be a flip answer, but most of the UV blocking finishes are designed for exterior use and tend to be long oil varnishes that end up much too soft to stand up to much foot traffic.

I suspect there are some two part finishes that combine the abrasion resistance with the UV protection, but I don't know them. Some may be professional only application, with a several days vacation in another location recommended.

[Erik Christensen]

I intend to add UV filters to both skylights and glass doors but here in san diego the doors are open and just screens used 8+ months out of the year so the problem cannot be really solved with UV filters on the glass - even worse one door faces east & the other west with little roof over-hang so they get a ton of sun.