Hi,

What does "spray-on lacquer" finish on stair treads mean?

We are currently having on-site finished red-oak flooring done, and decided, belatedly, that wouldn't it be nice if the stairs (still carpeted) are clad in solid oak, matching the floors? What stopped us from doing it in the first place was the quote from our current floor installer, which is a well-reputed company in Toronto (at least, rated amongst the top few for Toronto on homestars.com). They want $500/step, curved, solid oak. We were floored (pardon the pun), so we'd thought we'd delay that spending to another year.

So we decided to call another well-reputed flooring company. They don't do stairs but they have a referral to a stair builder. The stair builder only charges $270/stair, same solid oak, curved, but he said he uses a sprayed-on lacquer-based finish that he will do in a spray booth at his shop.

What is the difference between doing this lacquer-based finish, vs a sand, stain and finish with oil-based polyurethane on site (as per the $500/step quote)?
quality?
maintenance (is the lacquer finish sandable , re-coat-able)?
resale value?
would it hide the wood grain?
Would that match our floors?

Any experience/advice would be greatly appreciated. THANK YOU!!

IF it is truly nitrocellulose lacquer, that would not be very durable for the steps/treads. Lacquer is often used in furniture and cabinets and musical instruments but not floors. It looks fine but is not durable enough. BTW, just like anything, there are many types and brands of lacquer. Some are much better than others. You can apply a waterbased polyurethane floor finish over cured lacquer if properly prepared.

I have built custom cabinets for years, and have used a number of brands and types of lacquers, and even the lacquers that use a catalyst, are not any were near as tough as a polyurethane IMO, the great thing with lacquers is the fast dry aspect of it, as it can be re-coated in 15 Min's usually if your not in real humid or cold temps.

lacquers that use a catalyst are much better than jsut the lacquers that evaporate out the solvents. as they harden up do to chemical reaction as well.

But I would not recommend it for a floor and expecily in a high wear area like steps. It is one thing on the sides of cabinets and furnitures.

Brushing Lacquers, have a retarder in them so they do not dry as fast and can be brushed instead of sprayed.

I am not saying there is not a product that may be fine in this application, bu the "Lacquers" I have used over the years, I would not want on my floor.

Plus, a majority of lacquers are quite inexpensive, compared to a two component water borne urethane, like BONA Traffic. I've sprayed lacquer as well. I could buy nitrocellulose for $10 to $12 a gallon. BONA Traffic is $100.00

Thank you all for your replies...sounds like sprayed-on lacquer, and he did mention a catalyst used, would not be appropriate for stair treads. That could also explain why the quote is lower at $270 vs $500 (but i still think $500 is a bit steep).