I am putting Bona Traffic over new unfinished hardwood floor with an oil based stain. Do I need to use the sealant that Bona sells after the stain and before the Bona Traffic finish? Will this product work without the sealant? Thanks.

the instructions are on the bottle and available online throuhg manufacturers MDSD..

but bottomline..no..do NOT use sealer..strait finish over the stain.

to add...do NOT Use Bona sealers as they do not recommend it..you can use universal sealer, oil sealers..most waterbase finishes require no use of their sealer over stain..some exceptions apply..

For some reason, contractors say you can't use a water based sealer over stain. So I contacted Bona's tech staff directly .I asked why contractors say that and their answer was that they didn't know .

Over stain, you can use Bona DTS sealer or BAsic Coating's Hydroline or Basic Coating's emulsion .Let it dry, buff it out and then top coat with Traffic.

The real issue here is transitioning fro man oil based product to a water based product . The solution is to allow for extra drying time.

If you stain on a Monday, don't even consider adding water based products until at least Wednesday if not longer . I give my floors a full 48 hours before I coat with water over an oil based stain.

The info I got from Bona was that they don't recommend using Bona Seal over white stain because it causes some additional unwanted yellowing .

Thanks for the info, this is my first time laying and finishing hardwood floors the information is invaluable. Thanks again.

PAUL


Funny they take that stanve and you as well..its right on their Bona seal and other bottles not to use sealer but to apply strati finish..same on LnL products.

i have used commercial cat sealer from Basic with no problem..as well color lok..

then all of sudden the manufacturers started changing their game..

anyway..its in their instructions.

i copied this right from Bonaseals instruction page from Bona

here's the link..scroll to the Bonaseal system where they clearly state NOT recommended over Bona Stain..now if they don't recommend it over their own stain, they certainly wont over anothers


on the Traffic bottle it simply states sealer not needed over stain.

the actual link might help..=)

http://www.bona.com/Global/Countries/Un ... naseal.pdf

I have a bottle of Bona DTS in front of me and the instructions say- "Bona DTS is not needed when using a Bona stain with a Bona waterborne finish".The instructions you linked to are for their other sealer Bonaseal.


To quote your own words from above - "to add...do NOT Use Bona sealers as they do not recommend it..you can use universal sealer, oil sealers..most waterbase finishes require no use of their sealer over stain..some exceptions apply.".


Saying you don't have to is very different from saying , you can't or shouldn't . As a professional, to get the floor nice and smooth after staining, I recommend using a good sealer so that you can buff the floor and get it smooth before laying traffic , which is much harder and much more difficult to buff smooth.But Bona doesn't say not to use a sealer as a rule, they just say that you don't have to.


Just to summarize for the original poster, Bona's instructions for bonaseal do mention that that specific product is not recommended for use over stain . But in testing myself and talking with their tech staff, you can use bona seal over stain. Their issues are primarily color related.

I personally hate the Bonaseal product as it is difficult or impossible to buff smooth . When buffed, Bonaseal melts and makes a big mess and still doesn't become smooth. So I use their DTS sealer which buffs out nicely and can definitely be applied over stain. You could also use Basic Coating's sealers over stain, just allow for extra drying time of the stain