I have just had new white oak floors installed. The installer and I agreed to a Swedish finish as we have dogs, are on a farm and have a lot of traffic in the house.
I looked at the jug of finish he was using and it is not Swedish finish it is a water base finish. Will it hold up? Did I get taken?
It looks beautiful, (no one has stepped on it yet) but I really need the strength of Swedish finish. Do I need to take action or is this OK?

I wouldn't be happy with him. I would never tell a customer that I would use one product but actually use another.

As far as durability, I would not expect to get anywhere near the life expectancy with the water based.

Instead of having him re-sand it, I might make a contract to have the floors buffed and coated gratis 2 times. That is if you expect him to be in buisness in 5 years.

thank you for your input! He told me he needed his space and not come around while he was doing the finish. Now I think I know why.

often times BONA FINISHES get presented as "Swedish Finish" because they are "technically" a Sweddish finish because they are a Swedish company.producst are made and designed there.

they are not however the same as "Swedish finish/ or Acid Cure.

so I think there could be a language issue.
Not all areas sell Acid Cure due to VOC laws.

so dependent where you are located you may not even be able to purchase it.

Thanks for your input James,
That helps to understand this more.
We are in WA state and the 'Swedish Finish' is still in use. But I'll take your input under consideration when making a decision as to how or if I Perdue this issue.

Dont know why anyone in their right mind would want an acid cure finish these days. Thats stuff is so toxic that im surprised people still put it down. Check out the msds sheet on it, its pretty nasty stuff. Its outlawed all over for good reason. Not that much worry for the client/homeowner but the guy applying it is shorting his life span and his brain cells working with that stuff. He probably is using Bona's waterborne products which are made in Sweden. If you want it to hold up like acid cure id go for Traffic. BTW Id confront the guy, dont sneek around his back looking on the internet for a way to slam the guy just walk up and ask, "hey I wanted acid cure and your putting down waterborne why is that? " Once you put down water you cant top it with acid cure so you need to speak your mind before he puts hundereds of dollars of product into your floor just for you to throw your hands up and say its the wrong finish when you knew all along. That would make me want to walk away and never come back.

Thank you for your input Kevin,
It seems you feel very strongly about this issue.
FYI - It was made very clear we wanted the Swedish Finish (or so we thought). We did ask him about the water base product he used, unfortunately it was only after he completed the job did we noticed what he was using. We are not going behind his back, we are asking for advice and input from the pros. We had no idea we needed to make clear we wanted a 'Swedish Finish', not just a finish made in Sweden. Learn something new every day.
Our floors are truly beautiful. We'll just hope they hold up in our farm house.
Have a good day.

Didnt mean for that to come off as harsh. I just have seen it often when the internet has caused more problems than good. Im all for communicating and some people's form of communication is short paying the little guy. Been there.

Yeah, that guy was apparently an unethical contractor. You requested a Swedish finish and should've gotten it. All you can do right now is leave it be and see how it goes unless you are up to sanding and refinishing so soon.


_________________
Wayne Pro
Chicagoland Pro - Hardwood Flooring

Thanks Wayne,
All our contractors have been the best craftsmen we could ever ask for. We are our own general and things have been great. This guy took us by surprise. We are glad we decided on rift and quarter sawn white oak so the wood is tough. Just hope the finish holds up.

Sounds like there was a communication problem regarding the phrase Swedish finish. The bottom line is there are multiple types of floor finishes and you will have umpteen floor finishers argue forever which is the best. Bottom line is they generally will never wear down to the wood as they will generally, if not protected from grit, by use of door mats, moping etc, they will get microscopically scratched causing them to look dull in the traffic areas and will then want to be recoated. Much cheaper than sand and finish. Look in any supermarket, or any commercial building with high gloss finishes, all utilize walk off mats and they constantly are dry moping. Oh yeah, they never pick up anything they just push it against the displays until later.

Oh additionally there is no finish that will stand up to animals toenails just check the NWFA and most mfg's care guidelines. I was raised on a dairy farm we had to take off boots in the mud room not in the house. With a family of eight we had plenty of traffic. However living with grandparents and parents i.e. two sets of parents we didn't get away with not removing our boots.