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 the entire carpet, sand the entire authentic hardwood flooring, and seal them with Waterlox. They appeared nice after they have been completed.

I had to try 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 simple 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 needed 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 lease the large drum sander to get the entire earlier end off!) and recoated. It was a reasonably simple course of, and it appeared model new afterwards.

Oil-based Polyurethane For Flooring

In 2017, I made a decision to redo our flooring to eliminate the orange, so I had the entire 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 shade I needed.

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 fantastically through the years. I do assume 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 now not with us 🙁 however we nonetheless have one cat and a canine. Our canine Cooper is a 100-pound lab/German shepherd combine. We received him from the shelter, and he’s a hyper and really anxious canine who nonetheless received’t let me contact his toes even after he’s been with us for seven years. He received’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 lower was when he needed to be sedated for an X-ray, and the vet requested me if I needed 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 usually doesn’t simply stroll from place to position. He jumps, runs, twirls. He’s like a hyper pet, despite the fact 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 once we adopted him (which I discover exhausting to imagine simply from his puppy-like conduct to today).

With all of that mentioned, 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 know the way simple it will 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 Ground Topcoated With Water-Based mostly 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 appeared beautiful after they have been new.

However these flooring didn’t put on nicely over the subsequent two years. I couldn’t discover any photos of simply the worn areas on the ground, however you may see it plainly within the pictures 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 under due to our work that weekend, so that you’ll need to look past that. You’ll be able to clearly see these worn areas.

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

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

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

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

Whitewashed Hardwood Ground 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 wonderful end when new.

I couldn’t discover photos of this flooring proper earlier than I refinished it, but it surely was terrible. Not solely had the colour darkened, however there have been some critical stains on the ground. This leads me to imagine that water-based finishes will simply by no means examine 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 at last, there’s my new-ish painted flooring within the studio. Once I did these, I made a decision to forgo any topcoat in order that they might be simple to restore. I used Behr Porch and Patio Ground paint. I had my doubts how nicely this could maintain up with out a 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 shocked 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 latest end of any flooring in our home. I simply completed these in Might 2023, however that will 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 varied finishes over the past 13 years, I’ve come to the next conclusions for myself:

1. So long as I’m coping with purple oak hardwood flooring, Waterlox received’t be an possibility for me as a result of it brings out the orange in purple 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 only don’t appear to carry up over time. The end appears to put on off rapidly and stain simply.
3. On flooring that might be stained, I’ll solely ever topcoat with oil-based polyurethane. My expertise is that oil-based polyurethane is essentially the most sturdy, hard-wearing end obtainable. And particularly, I’ve been very happy with the Minwax oil-based polyurethane that I used on our flooring. On the subject of water-based finishes vs. oil-based finishes, there’s no comparability, in my view. Oil-based wins out so far as sturdiness and resistance to stains, and it’s not even an in depth 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 Ground paint combo that I used this final time in my studio. I’ve been amazed on the sturdiness of that end.