I could use some suggestions for a pine floor. Some more detail on floor's history is in this thread:

'Intervention Tips: Improve on Landlord's El Cheapo(!) Job?'
intervention-tips-improve-landlord-cheapo-job-t7055.html


Proviso: this is a hack sanding job on a damaged floor. That is my starting point. I'm just lookig to get the best finish possible given the current floor condition.
Here's a couple pics of my kitchen floor. I believe the wood is Yellow Pine.

a




Other than some putty (that needs to be sanded down) on a board in the center of the top photo, the floors have already been sanded. Problem is that the floors are 80 years old and were poorly protected by a bad refinish job that rapidly wore off leaving the raw wood exposed to water, dirt, and wear. The sanding that was done didn’t completely sand out the stains and damage so there is some dingy mottling and splotchiness but nonetheless, it is what I have to work with. Pics make it look a little duller than it actually is and the floor is a little lighter and slightly more yellowish in tone. The area in these pics is the worst part of the floor (between sink & fridge) the rest is not nearly as splotchy.


I wanted to use a waterbase and was thinking of using Mega or Traffic (latter for wear). My only concern with a WB finish is that my instinct tells me that pine will be difficult to stain and if I just use a straight WB finish, it could just sit on top of this wood and leave it looking very dingy and dull but with a plastic coat. I was thinking an OMP would give a little pop to the grain and also maybe unify the floor a bit aesthetically, reducing some of the flaws and write the rest off to ‘character’. I actually like the look of OMP when freshly applied, but my problem with OMP is I do not like the dark amber color it gets with aging.

Is there a way to finish this with a WB finish, but also get a little beauty in the picture? Would something like Bona DriFast Natural stain bring out a little depth to the wood and maybe tie wood variations together a bit? Then follow up with Traffic for durability?

Or would you guys recommend just going with a OMP, preferably one that doesn’t turn really dark. I really do want to keep this kitchen floor sort of light in tone, have quicker drying, and less fumes, so I am reluctant to use OMP, that’s what was there previously.


Ideas?

As I suggested in an earlier response, the best way to achieve the look you want is with "Emulsion" from BASIC COATINGS. If you wish to max out the durability of the finish, you can top coat the Emulsion with "Street-Shoe", also from BASIC.

Dennis,
Thanks for the reply.

I was thinking of sticking with the Bona stain/finish products system.
Would Bona Mega (topped with Traffic) acheive the same thing?

Is there a benefit of Street Shoe over Traffic (pot life, ease of application, durability) to make me exchange the finishes I already bought?

What you're looking at was never intended to be a finished floor. That is T&G fir decking used as the subfloor. Initially, that was covered with real linoluem. Then at some point, someone ripped out the lino and decided to use those fir subfloors as finished flooring. The good news is fir stains BETTER than pine and isn't as blotchy. They're both pretty soft and will dent. Once an old fir floor has gotten those "bruised" marks ( blotches ), you cannot sand then out. So either accept the look of the wood or stain them any color you want. If properly sanded, they stain pretty well. Not as good as hardwoods be still pretty good. I use OMU on fir because I like the way it looks. If you stain it, it don't matter what finish you use in terms of appearance. Street Shoe is NOT as durable as Traffic. It's only selling point is it is less money, has UV inhibitors (no big deal IMO ), and use can re-use catalyzed material again if within a few days by adding more catalyst. It's good, just not as good as Traffic.

.
UMMMM, don't think I will respond to that, Gary.

Real life experience my friend. I've done many, many floors with Street Shoe BEFORE I started using Traffic. Street Shoe is good but readily scuffs easily. I've had newly done floors scuffed up badly from furniture movers and chairs. Not sure with Traffic. Spoke with the general manager of the Parks Corp. a few years back when Parks was trying to formulate their Nano finish. We talked about most durable. Turns out Parks had been doing many independent tests of the popular floor finishes of the time, just to see what their competition was. He told me Traffic was more scuff and scratch resistant. And generally more durable. Street Shoe had more chemical resistance, but scratched and scuffed more easily. I've seen that in the homes I've done as well. Plus, Street Shoe has ALWAYS had bubble/foam issues, even the newer XL version. So, all though it is good, it isn't the best by any means.

Thanks for the replies.
You've got a good eye Gary. I've lived here 24 years and actually when I first moved in there WAS ratty linoleum on the floor. Lino was removed about 18 yrs ago and the floor was sanded/OMP finished, but the job was poorly done and the floor was never maintained with a finish. Yes it is somewhat soft and dents easily.

I actually like the look of OMP allot when freshly applied on this floor, but I'd like to keep the floor a light tone and do not want the dark amber with age, which I dislike. Is there a brand of OMP that doesn't darken so much with age? What about one with faster dry/cure times?

Conversely, what about either: 1.) Bona Natural Drifast stain, topped by Traffic or other waterbase (do you think the Natural stain would give a little 'kick' to the wood or make it look worse), or B.) a coat of dewaxed shellac under the Traffic?

Thanks again.

Either, Or. Both will look similar. Shellac is harder to work with so, I'd chose Bona Dri-Fast OMU sealer and top it with Traffic. Works great, looks good, should not continue to amber much over the years.

Gary,
When I attended the Bona Kemi floor sanding school out in Denver ,that was the method (one coat of Bona Kemi Dri-Fast oil modified sealer followed by two coats of traffic...just using water based finish will make that floor look pretty bad just like bleached floors looked back in the day(any stains or dirt stand out like a sore thumb.

Yeah, I've been using the Dri-Fast OMU sealer for years under water-based polys. It gives the floors that rich, ambered solvent look that water-based finishes do not have. One still has to deal with the odor but I'm used to OMU odor. There are times when one does not want that amber/solvent look however. When I do natural maple floors, I usually do not use stain or solvent finishes. On maple, I like the very light look of only water-based. Here's one with Bona Seal and Traffic.

Gary,
How do you post pictures in this forum? Here is a link to one of my jobs
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2 ... 0133520830

To post a picture, the picture must already be posted on another site. One cannot upload directly from a computer to this site. So, first, go to the site where the picture is and right click on it. This will bring up a small menu box on your screen. Left click "view image". That will bring up the jpg link in the top browser location bar. You want to copy and paste the jpg link. So highlight the jpg link and right click it to copy it. Now go to the post a reply box. Above you will see the grey boxes for bold, italic,underline, quote, code, etc. Click on the Img box to open that and paste the picture's url between the two [img]addyourlinkhere[/img]. You must not allow the vertical bar (l) that designates where you're typing to be inside the Img boxes or the process will not work. Sorry if my terminology isn't completely correct. I an self taught on the computer and do not always know all the proper terms and lingo.

I just finished a dark stain on some six inch douglas fir. I'll upload the pictures later today.

I agree with Gary on the Traffic/Street shoe debate. Once cured Traffic is the best when it comes to scratch and scuff resistance. I've used both extensively and have both finishes down in different areas of my home.

Here are the pics: 80 year old (or older) 6" Douglas Fir stained Antique

That's a pretty nice old fir floor you've got there. I noticed where there was some filled face nailing and some places where the sander sanded down to those old #8 common nails used to blind nail the floor down with. That always cracks me up when I see these floors blind nailed with common nails. I do have a question re: your sanding procedure. How'd you do it basically? The reason I ask is there is some blotchyness ( yeah, I know, it's fir ). I was wondering if you water-popped or left it a little rough to allow the stain to take more evenly? I've stained dark some of these floors and it's a crap shoot on how they will turn out. Sometimes, the wood stains fairly uniformly. Other times, it's blotchy. Just wondered if you did anything different knowing you were sanding and staining fir.