Hello,

My wife and I recently purchased a new home and the hardwood floors currently have glossy finish. We love the glossy look of the floor when they are clean, but having a Lab (shedding) and kids, the dirt and hair quickly becomes noticeable.

We would like to change the finish to a matte or satin finish. What is the cheapest, but most effective way to do this? Thanks in advance!

Tim

Hire a local pro to buff and coat it withe the appropriate type of finish (water or oil)

I was hoping to do it myself without hiring anyone, hence the "cheapest" in my original question.

Tim

For sure doing yourself may be the cheapest. But, I wouldn't risk it at all. Chances are if you don't do this often, you will ruin the floor. I'd say that there is 90-95% chance that this is your most expensive option.

I agree that a screen & recoat or buffing (they are synonyms) is the best way to go. And, it's not expensive. In fact, if you were to try yourself, you will need to rent a machine...so your "savings" would be minimal.

I think it's fine if you want to save money for you guys to move the furniture - anyone can do that. But buffing, no I would hire a pro for sure.

Debbie Gartner aka The Flooring Girl
http://TheFlooringGirl.com
Westchester County NY

I wouldnt recommend doing yourself unless you have a small room separate from others to experiment with. Ive seen many jobs like this go for under a buck a foot some as low as .50 . much of the cost of this type work depends if you want a cheap oil based poly or a high end two component waterborne finish . Again by the time you have rented a buffer bought the screens and finish plus your time your not saving anything but your free time.

I'd also ask about people's experience with trying to tone down gloss or semi-gloss by putting satin over it. My business partner had a customer who decided she didn't like the semi-gloss that she'd chosen, and she wanted him to put a coat of satin over it. He did, but it had a glossy appearance from the coats underneath it. And I've had satin recoats come up with a semi-gloss sheen, even over some floors where the original finish didn't look glossy.

I don't know whether you can solve this problem by buffing until you completely dull the semi-gloss coat. Ordinarily, you wouldn't have to buff that hard for a recoat. So if you do hire someone, mention this to them. A satin recoat is bound to tone it down some; I'm just not sure you can bring it down flat like a regular satin sheen. Has anyone experimented with this?

Alloy

you can absolutely change the sheen.

in your instance 1 of a few things ma have been at play..
improper prep of coating
improper mix or over build of product.

Thorough abrasion , proper mixing and proper application will give the floor a satin finish

I was curious about this, James, so I called Bona tech support. They were basically agreeing with me that it would be hard to get a true satin finish when there's a build-up of gloss coats beneath. The rep said that two coats of satin might help, but he really didn't know from his own experience. He said that abrading too aggressively (in order to dull the sheen), would show up scratches. I said that I would figure new maroon pads would dull it down without the scratch factor, and that using prep solution and the maroon pads would be enough abrasion, and he agreed with that.

So that would be my approach; dull it down with maroon pads, use Prep on it, and then prepare to apply another coat if necessary. Have you been successful on this procedure with only one coat?

Alloy wrote:


I'm past the time limit to edit my other post, but I'd like to clarify: that should read, "and then prepare to apply a second coat of satin if necessary."

Last coat will show the sheen. I know many guys who use gloss for their base coats then top with sheen of choice. Going straight satin all the way from the start will have a milky/ cloudy satin when compared to building with gloss. You need to dull the exsisiting finish evenly and apply the top coat evenly. Be sure to keep it mixed before and through out the application.

Thanks, Kevin. I'll be interested in seeing what happens on the next recoat.