The state of PA has adopted low VOC laws. since dec. 31 2005 my supplier has discontinued selling (Lenmar) poly. after many years of sanding and refinishing floors, with oil based polyurethane I am forced to convert to water borne finishes. Keeping in mind that 90% of the floors i do are refinishes (old ones) and lots of yellow pine. What is my best choice in water base or low voc for me to convert to and make this transition a smooth one? After asking the suppliers in my area, they gave me no recommendations. I've used Bona kemi's pacific strong and fabulon in the past. Other product recommended were Basic, and absolute coatings. What are other contractors using? Are there any water based coating that will give me that amber tone for my old floors?

hi I had the same problem and am still getting use to the water base myself. I use the bona product myself and overall am happy with it . To get the answer about color or amber as you say take a look at Kens website just go to there home page and look on the left side near the bottom there is a link to a good info there and the gentelmen discuses oil and water and answers your question. It basically comes down to using the alchol based sealer . Lacqer without wax , it gives the affect you desire. What I have done , and hate it but for me its a must. Water sets up so fast , in my area we have fog alot of it in the morning. I get up very early and try and do my coat before it burns off it allows me a bit more time before set up . Not much but enough . Another thing I found helpful was being told DO NOT PLAY WITH IT in other words if you got a holiday , skipper , whatever you want to call it leave it alone do not go back right then and try and get it the next coat will cover it . Even the final . In many cases I found it hard myself to find the mistake when it was all said and done and would much rather take my chances trying to feather in the area after it dried rather than try and get rid of a ridge I left cause I tried to get it when I was doing the coat . Never watch it dry is something I try and tell myself all the time alot of what you see with the water base is thin areas that have set quicker than the rest and apear to be a holiday Have a good one.

Rich made some good points and tips. However, I think he meant to shellac based sealer ( Zinsser Seal Coat or Parks Universal Sealer) instead of laquer. Two different animals, so to speak. There a couple of ways to use waterbased and still get an oil look. Bona has a Dri Fast poly sanding sealer that imparts that oil based appearence. They also have a neutral oil stain. Using these under Bona's Traffic or Pacific Strong will give you an oil look. You can also use the wax free shellac like Rich suggested. Or you can use Waterlox tung oil finish and use a waterborne over that after it is COMPLETELY DRY. In general, waterbased finishes dry quickly so you need to learn to work fast and accurate. And plan on spending a lot more for your finish and charge accordingly. For small rooms and cut up areas, I like the ease of the 10" Padco cut in pad. For large floor areas, many use a T-bar. There's a learning curve using that. Way different than working with oil and a lamby. Here in CA. we have voc laws as well BUT it doesn't apply to finishes in quarts (at least not yet ) So we are able to get OMU with the higher VOC's in quarts and that's what many of us do. Bona has a finishing school that teaches the application of it's finishes. It would be worth it to attend IMO. It could be cheaper than having to redo a bunch of floors you have been practicing on.

Thanks Gary. Thats the one . Sorry for giving the bad info . As I do not use it myself I am not all that familiar with it . Again sorry bout that . And lets hope that the quarts deal stays that way. Wishful thinking huh. As for the schooll I myself am going to Anaheim to do just that . Old dogs have to learn new tricks sometimes. Just wish I could have learnd in Colorado . But class was full. Oh that leads me to a point if you want to attend the school class size is limited to 28 so sign up early. With out looking I am not sure of the dates but its on bonas site . Have a good one all.

thanks guys, I think i'm on the right path. I was told by the local hardware guy that minwax is going to only sell quarts, until they come up with a low voc stain. The supplier in my area is not handling any oil, even quarrts and his distribitor isn't selling any to him. the quart thing is soon to be outlawed also. Maybe their right that it's for our own good. I'll let you know how i make out after mondays job.

What I have found with water based is the first coat is usually where it all goes wrong. If you apply water based directly to the wood with a sealer it still seems to evaporate so quickly that it is uneven. Priming the floor with a Tung or an OMU allows the coats to flow on better they seem to go on effortlessly. Where you run into problems is when you don’t want the ambering which makes the oil based stuff unusable. When I run into that problem I just make sure that the floor is well sealed and work fast. Once the first coat is down it seems to be smoother sailing. Resist the temptation to go back a fix that first coat, while it is wet you will kill yourself.

are there any brands of water borne that work better than others, as in work ability and length of time it holds up? do the one part brands work and hold up better than the 2 part?

I have found the 2 parts to be the strongest. I use Bona Traffic for all my jobs if I need the warmth of an oil I use Waterlox tung oil as my first coat. Every once in a while I will use an oil poly (exotics) but I think tung oil produces a better result.

I also think the 2 parts are harder to work with, Bona says to use two coats at a certain spread rate. I am with Gary I think it is impossible, so I use three thinner coats of Bona it makes it easier to work with and you don’t have to worry about thickness of your coats. I do 1 coat tung and 3 coats Bona. Some tricks I have learned are:

Don’t try to spread thick.
Don’t try to touch it up wet.
Use an oil as your first coat.
Don’t take on too big of an area.

The last one is key, segment your work by rooms and tape of the thresholds run the finish up to the tape and not over. Then go back and touch up the threshold at the end of the job. It is a little more work but the alternative is a lot more work.

i USED BONA STRONG TO SCREEN AND COAT A GYM FLOOR(SAME ONE EVERY YEAR) AND IT WORKED FINE. I'M GOING TO "EXPERIMENT" ON A FLOOR (2 ROOMS AND A SMALL FOYER) TOMORRW OR THURSDAY. I STAINED IT TODAY,SO WHEN IT DRIES I'LL COAT IT. IN CASE MY SUPPLIER DOESN'T HAVE IT ON STOCK, WERE WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO GET IT FROM (I WOULD HAVE TO HAVE IT SHIPPED TO MY HOUSE(PA) ?
THANKS FOR THE INFO.

Bona Pacific Strong and Bona Traffic are a bit different but they are both waterbased and good finishes. Pacific Strong was Bona's best finish for many years until Traffic came along. Bona tried to convince us Mega was better than Strong but it's not. With Pacific Strong, you should use the BonaSeal over stain (after the stain is ABSOLUTELY DRY). With Traffic, NO SEALER is to be used over stain. Don't ask me why as no one has been able to give me a good answer. Anyway, Strong is a little more runny and watery but it is fairly easy to use. you can get up to 600 ft per gallon for your final coat. First two coats are a little less, 500 to 550 per gallon. Plus, with Strong, you can reuse it for up to three days if you mixed more than you need if you add more crosslinker. Not so with Traffic. Gotta use it within four hours of mixing. Good Luck.

All I have used for the past few years is the waterbase.
I recently switched to Basic Emulsion for the first 2 coats followed by streetshoe for the last. The emulsion gives a color that you would swear is an oil base.

Try Erricsons decorating in michigan ( they have an online store). Emulsion will run about 38/gal, streetshoe is around 75/gal

Scott

Lenmar makes a low voc blend, Hoboken in Stoughton, MA has been carring it for awhile. See if they carry that. I sometimes have to buy quarts of finish as you can't sell it in gallons but quarts or fine, Doesn't make sense but oh well
Steve