Hello everyone, I have been reading these boards for awhile now but just registered. What a great source of information.
My question is, has anyone ever used Varathane water based polyurethane? If so, what are the pros and cons? I have never read anything on here about it, but it is available locally at or Lowes.
Thanks for the help.

A lot of the professional products are a/b water based polyurethane, meaning that they have an activator. Once the activator is applied then you have a limited window to get the stuff on the floor before it sets up. Bona Traffic is like this, products that are not like this are products like Minwax Polycrilic and Varathane. The reason being is they are trying to appeal to a DIY market, in doing so they have to sacrifice something and that something is strength when compared to the professional products. That being said if you are going to refinish your floors I suggest you entertain hiring a pro, they can get the stronger stuff and the end product will be better. Many things in the wood flooring industry can be done DIY with good results, refinishing is not one of them.

Thanks for the response. So does Varathane just wear through very easily? Scratch easily? This is a new floor that I am installing and finishing myself. Thanks for the input.

Most of my suppliers will sell to the general public, even though alot of the pro finishes say for professional use only. You can buy the pro finishes if you want to use them. That Varathane brand will probably work ok. You'll need to apply 4 to 5 coats and you will be doing more maintainence recoats than if you used Bona Traffic.

Yes Varathane by comparrison will wear faster.
IMO ... theres nothing wrong with the deep luster of a durable nice slow drying oil based finish (or OMU) my favorite is Fabulon. I really like the viscocity (spreads well), slowwer dry time (evens out before it sets up), and with the exception of OMUs that have such high solids contents that they're tough to work with, it ends up exceptionally durable in 3 coats....



anyway, have fun and good luck