Archive for the ‘hardwood floor finish’ Category
Apples to apples floor finish
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
I do a number of estimates for my floor business and I am always perplexed by the lack of information other floor companies are providing for the homeowner. Let me bring about a few real world points for people in order to dispel the myths surrounding the “bidding” process.
1) Two coats versus three coats versus coverage rate
Honestly this is a six versus one half dozen comparison. Your average floor finish has a recommended coverage rate for application. Some finishes have an optimal application range of 300 square feet per gallon where others are at 500. This has a big impact on the “mil thickness” (durability) of the finish. Three thin coats will actually be less durable than a quality two finish coat job. Cheap contractors stretch finish thin when applying it. Three coats sounds like a better thing, but is only a repeat visit and more work for the contractor if the coverage is less than adequate.
2) Resins and solids content
This is a real hidden point of discussion for some floor companies, particularly low priced companies and large outfits. Waterborne finishes have a protective resin suspended in water that is the “thing” that provides durability. The chemical composition of this resin has a tremendous impact on durability. Cheap floor finishes have weak resins and are “watery” with coverage rates near 600-700 square feet per gallon. They are lower in solids (the resins that provides durability).
3) Two component versus one component waterbased finish
One component floor finishes have minimal scuff and scratch resistance. They rely simply on oxygen to link the finish resins. Two component finishes rely upon a chemical crosslinker to “matricize” the finish resins and form a really tough scuff resistant floor. In talking with several finish chemists during NWFA schools, I have found that two component finishes fare almost twice as well in taber abrasion tests that test durability. For a perspective single component finishes can be about $25-50 per gallon, where a quality two component waterborne ranges from $80-110 per gallon.
CHEAP ONE COMPONENT FLOOR FINISH
DURABLE TWO COMPONENT FLOOR FINISH
My Point!!!!
Ask your contractor about these points. Why? Because if they don’t have an answer they are NOT a professional. They are a “guy with a sander” who can multiply a square foot price and use a tape measure. Please make a fair comparison when evaluating floor refinishing estimates. Otherwise you will be taken for a ride by a snake oil salesman and have a worn out floor in two years.
Tags: floor finish durability, Hardwood floor durability, hardwood refinishing, low-VOC hardwood floor finish, waterborne finish, wood floor sanding
Posted in Hardwood floor refinish, floor refinishing portland oregon, hardwood floor finish, hardwood floor refinishing prices, waterbased finish, wear layer thickness | No Comments »
Real world waterbased finish
Sunday, April 4th, 2010
I get asked so often about finish durability. Honestly, my answer is always to explain the features of various finishes and suggest only the types of products I would use on my own home.
Two years ago in April 2010 I applied three finish coats of Glitsa HP two component waterbased finish to my floor (Matte sheen). Today while I was cleaning my floors using our suggested method and was really impressed with how they still look great. My children are two boys ages 4.5 and 2.5 (they’re wild and crazy) and they are my best testers along with my dog who is young and crazy. The photo below is pretty much the best proof I can give you for the real world performance of a finish. No hyped marketing behind this one, just real world for someone else to see if they are wondering about durability.
This isn’t that I am sold on only one particular finish, just that I have this product in my house on a daily basis and can personally vouch for how well it performs in durability.
Tags: floor finish durability, Hardwood floor durability, hardwood refinishing, low-VOC hardwood floor finish, Portland hardwood floor, waterborne finish
Posted in Hardwood floor durability, Hardwood floor refinish, floor refinishing portland oregon, hardwood floor finish, waterbased finish | No Comments »
Local radio exposure for our knowledge
Sunday, February 7th, 2010
We recently wrote a response to a listener of local handyman show by Handyman Bob. We were honored when he shared it with his audience. It’s good to see great people still championing the cause of quality contracting.
Tags: floor finish durability, Handyman Bob, hardwood refinishing
Posted in Dustless Hardwood Refinishing, Hardwood floor refinish, Swedish finish, hardwood floor, hardwood floor finish | 2 Comments »
The new face of low-VOC
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Waterborne finishes run the gamut for durability. At our home we have two of the world’s greatest floor finish durability testers, boys ages 2 and 4 and a half. They lay credit to the fact that waterborne finish can be durable.
In the change of the market towards waterborne finish, California has set the standard at 275g/L VOC maximum. In response, on of our favorite finishes (Dura Seal X-terra) has recently been re-formulated to be in compliance. In addition to being a very durable waterborne, this finish performs flawlessly on the job. We love the look and workability of this finish. 
Tags: dustless refinishing, floor finish durability, waterborne finish, wood floor sanding
Posted in Hardwood floor refinish, floor refinishing portland oregon, hardwood floor finish | No Comments »
Staying on top of technology
Friday, January 29th, 2010
I am pleased to announce that we will be adding a new piece of equipment to our lineup this week. It is the new Clarke SE7 Pro edger.
Given that most dust generated during sanding comes from the edger, we are pleased to switch to this new machine. The dust collection is state of the art and greatly superior to most edgers. Dust collection systems generally are unable to capture the dust from gear driven edgers like the Clarke Super 7. The new SE7 Pro edger is belt driven and extremely clean.
For more, click here
Tags: hardwood refinishing, New hardwood edger, wood floor sanding
Posted in Dustless Hardwood Refinishing, Hardwood floor Portland, Hardwood floor refinish, hardwood floor finish | No Comments »
Restoring a botched sanding job
Sunday, January 24th, 2010
The other day we received a phone call from a distraught homeowner. She had unfortunately hired a “fly-by-night” contractor for a job. Originally when he was hired he was there to install tile, but assured the homeowners he could also refinish the wood floors. Because of the unethical nature of this person, I am willing to release that his company was called “A Touch of Class”, or at least that was the name under which he was operating. After checking his license I determined that was an inactive license with several judgments and orders to pay damage fees.
During this first portion we sanded the floor at a slight angle to remove the drum marks from the original sanding process. Here are the results after the first round of sanding.
Afterwards, we filled the floor to remove gaps and the process is shown here.
To illustrate the dust collection process we have a video clip of the process as seen here.
Final finish sanding is done using a Lagler Trio.
After all sanding was completed, we dampened the floor to prepare for staining. The floor was stained as a mixture of Coffee Brown and Golden Brown. Afterwards, two finish coats of a traditional Glitsa Swedish finish system.
Tags: dustless refinishing, hardwood refinishing, Swedish finish, wood floor sanding
Posted in Dustless Hardwood Refinishing, Hardwood floor Portland, Hardwood floor refinish, Swedish finish, floor refinishing portland oregon, hardwood floor finish | 3 Comments »
The price isn’t right
Sunday, November 8th, 2009
One of the things I have been startled about lately is how the hardwood floor refinishing market in Portland has been subject to really large variances in price. At our company we try to deliver a service with considerable value that includes very personable customer service in addition to a quality product. We make a very disciplined effort to hide no element of what is included, which are the questions that consumers should ask in order to make an apples to apples comparison:
1) How many finish coats will be applied? This determines longevity to a great degree
2)What type of finish will be used? Home Depot polyurethane versus GlitsaMax 2 component waterborne urethane isn’t really a contest, the latter will start to outperform after 2-3 years easily. Just look at my floors, which are the test subject of 2year old and 4year old boys dragging toys and dropping everything. They look brand new one and a half years later.
3)How is the floor being filled? Is the floor being trowel filled across the whole area to alleviate gaps or simply spot filled in the large areas? This has a considerable impact on labor in the process.
4)How clean is the contractor? I think most people who want a refinish might care about a clean house. Does the contractor vacuum the house and vents after sanding and before coating the floor? Do they use dust collection? These are questions to ask when you want to know how MUCH service you are paying for.
5) Is the contractor licensed and CURRENTLY bonded? Do they pay their taxes? These may seem like simple questions but I assure you they are essential because if the contractor does not have a current bond, then any damage they are liable for upon entering your home comes from your pocket in most cases if there is no bond. Paying taxes is essential for supporting our parks, schools, etc… so it goes without saying that it is important for a community.
6) Do they contribute to any organizations or have ANY credentials beyond a license?
Our memberships and certifications alone cost us close to $2000 per year alone not counting any time for involvement with committees or helping educate other members. This may seem like a minor element, but I say that it is the fundamental building block for a quality contractor for two reasons. The esteem of being known for quality work goes with being in an organization and secondly the access to the latest information ensures better quality in your business.
I hope that these questions stay current amongst the consumers of Portland so that during the trying times we can all maintain or hopefully elevate the state of this industry rather than take the path of least resistance by lowering quality and price simultaneously.
Tags: dustless refinishing, Hardwood floor durability, hardwood refinishing, Swedish finish, wood floor sanding
Posted in Dustless Hardwood Refinishing, Hardwood floor durability, hardwood floor choices, hardwood floor finish, hardwood floor refinishing prices, portland hardwood professional | 1 Comment »
Hardwood finish and adhesion, the overlooked but critical factors
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
The tremendous range of hardwood floor finishes available these days has become almost exhausting to keep pace with any more. In the previous blogs we have discussed wood floor finish options and pro and cons. This blog has less to do with actual chemistry and understanding mechanisms of adhesion.
There are pretty much two ways by which hardwood floor finishes adhere to a floor, chemical or mechanical bonding. Chemically bonded finishes integrate into previous layers and essentially fuse into one layer of finish. Acid curing “Swedish” finishes will chemically bond to a wood floor and merge into one finish layer. The significant advantage of this type of bond is that it is virtually impossible for the finish to have adhesion problems to a wood floor regardless of the final burnishing steps or the species of the hardwood. Some species of hardwood contain a high content of oil and sometimes silica and this may create potential adhesion problems for a finish.
The second form of bonding of finish to a wood floor is a mechanical bond. A mechanical bond of a finish requires a roughed up surface so that finish can literally fall into the texture of that surface and “grab” the substrate. The layers of finish in a mechanically bonded system are much more sensitive to compatibility as they are applied in succession. For example, if you stain a wood floor with a penetrating stain, and then apply a weakly bonding quick dry oil sealer, followed by coats of waterborne urethane, there is a real chance for the finish layers to be torn off the floor following application of tape or some other sticky substrate. I have witnessed this firsthand and received many phone calls from distressed colleagues.
The final finishing grit of the sanding process can also affect adhesion. I know that there are sanding machines present that rotate with such significant speed that they may close down the grain of the hardwood floor at certain sandpaper grits so that a mechanically bonded finish will have problems sticking to the floor. In this case I recommend re-opening the grain by wetting or “water-popping” the floor.
A final and overlooked factor affecting finish adhesion occurs during abrasion of a finish coat layer in order to accept a new finish coat. The abrasives used to abrade the floor will typically become dull within a suggested square footage for usage. If a contractor continues to abrade the finish layer with a dull abrasive, the surface may again become too slick for the new finish layer to hold on. The result is that the finish will peel off the floor in big sheets.
Although this blog may not be particularly intriguing to all, it may serve as a reminder that there are sometimes questions to ask your contractor that go well beyond the price of the job.
Tags: floor finish durability, Hardwood floor durability, low-VOC hardwood floor finish, Swedish finish, waterborne finish
Posted in adhesion, hardwood floor finish | 1 Comment »