I just installed ~400 sq of 7" rustic white oak. I bought Bona NordicSeal and Bona Traffic HD in satin to coat it. We just finished sanding and the more I look at it the more we like the look as it sits now. From the get go we wanted a natural raw look. There is epoxy in the floor at knots and cracks etc, and I do want to remove some of the dullness of the epoxy after sanding. Im really debating to not poly it. I've looked at Odies, Tung oil, Tung oil cut with solvent, Bowling alley wax, Gilboys hard wax oil. I also am looking at maybe a butcher block wax. Everything seems to put a real sheen on it form the pictures. what's the best option to put something on it but make it look as if there is nothing on it. fyi - I have two 150 lb drooling and rowdy Great Danes that enjoy sliding and running in place 🙄
I've had oak flooring with bowling alley wax for years snd really like the look. Wax doesn't have the water resistance of a film finish but that's never been an issue here. Theydo need to be rewaxed now and then but a little touch up in the high traffic lanes occasionally can keep the floors looking good for a long time. The nice thing about a wax or oil finish is it's easy to take care of little dings that life brings to a floor. Poly is more difficult to repair. The floors here have had sixty years of life on them and they look better because of it.
Some type of oil finish would be about the same as wax for the most part. Sheen can be controlled by choosing the proper type of pad for a buffer.
Those epoxy fills will need to be spot sanded with finer grit to make them look right. Might be able to stop at 600 and then the top coat of whatever finish may take care of the rest. Could require going to 2000 grit. A little experimentation may be required.
I do a LOT of those minor fills in the furniture I make to ensure there are no entry points for water and such over time. Top coats I use vary from oil or water based poly to just tung oil finish.
Tung oil finish seems to allow the most natural appearance but I am not sure it will be very durable to foot traffic, shoes, and puppy claws.
Yes, when you sand, there is a dull sheen on the epoxy but just about any finish will make that go away. Sanding creates tiny scratches in the epoxy which reflect light in a diffused manner. ANYthing you apply that can flow into those micro-scratches will change the reflection pattern and nearly make it disappear as a 'defect'. I usually only sand down to 320 at most, often only 220 before I apply poly. Always 320 or better if it's just Tung Oil. I only go 'way down there' to 600, 800, 1500, 3000, and 6000 if I am trying to impart a full gloss mirror like finish on something that is all epoxy, such as the bar I just did. After that I go to polishing compounds. I'm pretty sure that is not at all what you want. ;D
I betcha @tule peak timber (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=25190) already has a ready solution for your question. He is the WOC!
When we use epoxy in wood (which is every day), we'll usually sand everything down to better than 220 or 320 and sometimes higher grit. A hard wax oil on a 3M white pad, or their next pad up which has very minor abrasive particles in it, attached to an orbital sander does a good job of blending wood to epoxy and vice versa.
On your floor, you might look at what pads are available for your floor sander and try an area with hard wax oil. Make sure you wipe off the excess and put the wiping rags in a bucket of water or spread out on cold concrete to prevent combustion. Normally care for hard wax oil is floor wax, occassionally.
Quote from: btulloh on October 12, 2023, 08:37:32 AM
I've had oak flooring with bowling alley wax for years snd really like the look. Wax doesn't have the water resistance of a film finish but that's never been an issue here. Theydo need to be rewaxed now and then but a little touch up in the high traffic lanes occasionally can keep the floors looking good for a long time. The nice thing about a wax or oil finish is it's easy to take care of little dings that life brings to a floor. Poly is more difficult to repair. The floors here have had sixty years of life on them and they look better because of it.
Some type of oil finish would be about the same as wax for the most part. Sheen can be controlled by choosing the proper type of pad for a buffer.
how slippery is the floor? That was a concern considering the alleys are about like ice...
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on October 12, 2023, 09:15:34 AM
I do a LOT of those minor fills in the furniture I make to ensure there are no entry points for water and such over time. Top coats I use vary from oil or water based poly to just tung oil finish.
Tung oil finish seems to allow the most natural appearance but I am not sure it will be very durable to foot traffic, shoes, and puppy claws.
Yes, when you sand, there is a dull sheen on the epoxy but just about any finish will make that go away. Sanding creates tiny scratches in the epoxy which reflect light in a diffused manner. ANYthing you apply that can flow into those micro-scratches will change the reflection pattern and nearly make it disappear as a 'defect'. I usually only sand down to 320 at most, often only 220 before I apply poly. Always 320 or better if it's just Tung Oil. I only go 'way down there' to 600, 800, 1500, 3000, and 6000 if I am trying to impart a full gloss mirror like finish on something that is all epoxy, such as the bar I just did. After that I go to polishing compounds. I'm pretty sure that is not at all what you want. ;D
I betcha @tule peak timber (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=25190) already has a ready solution for your question. He is the WOC!
Real milk paint has a tung oil that sounds like it ps pretty much made for floors. I'M just concerned with the look. I think i'm going to buy a few of these things and finish a few pieces on my work bench to see how it all looks.
Quote from: tule peak timber on October 12, 2023, 09:26:17 AM
When we use epoxy in wood (which is every day), we'll usually sand everything down to better than 220 or 320 and sometimes higher grit. A hard wax oil on a 3M white pad, or their next pad up which has very minor abrasive particles in it, attached to an orbital sander does a good job of blending wood to epoxy and vice versa.
On your floor, you might look at what pads are available for your floor sander and try an area with hard wax oil. Make sure you wipe off the excess and put the wiping rags in a bucket of water or spread out on cold concrete to prevent combustion. Normally care for hard wax oil is floor wax, occassionally.
so they make pads for the hand held orbital sanders?
I was anticipating having to sand the epoxy a bit more, but when I sand it the floor around it inevitably gets sanded also and then it looks blotchy so I have to resand with the floor sander to blend it in agai n, which inevitably sand the epoxy.
There is a microfiber pad for my sander I thought about. they also have red blue and white pads for buffing, but i'm not sure if white is an industry type thing or if their white is compeletly different than a 3m white pad....
I can tell you that for barnwood, we want it looking like barnwood and not plastic so I use a FLAT water based urethane, specifically General finishes High Performance flat. I think any flat water based urethane would work though. I've used Aqua for a circle sawn doug fir floor. Although it's "FLAT", there is still some gloss to it. Any more gloss than the FLAT though I think makes wood look more plastic-y. It's easy enough to get a small can and do a test piece or two. It's also hard to beat a urethane for sealing the floor and keeping splinters from coming up.
Quote from: BeeBazaar on October 12, 2023, 10:08:11 AM
Quote from: tule peak timber on October 12, 2023, 09:26:17 AM
When we use epoxy in wood (which is every day), we'll usually sand everything down to better than 220 or 320 and sometimes higher grit. A hard wax oil on a 3M white pad, or their next pad up which has very minor abrasive particles in it, attached to an orbital sander does a good job of blending wood to epoxy and vice versa.
On your floor, you might look at what pads are available for your floor sander and try an area with hard wax oil. Make sure you wipe off the excess and put the wiping rags in a bucket of water or spread out on cold concrete to prevent combustion. Normally care for hard wax oil is floor wax, occassionally.
so they make pads for the hand held orbital sanders?
I was anticipating having to sand the epoxy a bit more, but when I sand it the floor around it inevitably gets sanded also and then it looks blotchy so I have to resand with the floor sander to blend it in agai n, which inevitably sand the epoxy.
There is a microfiber pad for my sander I thought about. they also have red blue and white pads for buffing, but i'm not sure if white is an industry type thing or if their white is compeletly different than a 3m white pad....
Yes company's make pads or you can just cut them with scissors to fit. Lots of different options.
I answered your question on sawmillcreek, but will answer again here in case you didn't see that.
Bona Naturale looks like nothing at all has been put on White Oak, but is durable enough to be used in hotel lobbies.
I haven't used it since it was just Bona Naturale, but checked and they now have several variations like Traffic Naturale and another.
Follow their directions. I have no experience with these to know if they are any different.
What I used was an acid cure urethane. It's low VOC, but you still need breathing protection. It brings out some natural looking color on Pine, but looks like nothing at all has been put on White Oak until you feel the surface.
Quote from: Tom King on October 12, 2023, 12:37:36 PM
I answered your question on sawmillcreek, but will answer again here in case you didn't see that.
Bona Naturale looks like nothing at all has been put on White Oak, but is durable enough to be used in hotel lobbies.
I haven't used it since it was just Bona Naturale, but checked and they now have several variations like Traffic Naturale and another.
Follow their directions. I have no experience with these to know if they are any different.
What I used was an acid cure urethane. It's low VOC, but you still need breathing protection. It brings out some natural looking color on Pine, but looks like nothing at all has been put on White Oak until you feel the surface.
I wish I would have seen that and the Traffic raw before I bought the HD. after the fact I think i changed my mind. the closest we could find online in appearacne pf what we want was nordicseal and HD. Im debating no poly though all together ang going another route. I just havent made up my mind yet
When you say you like what it looks like now, have you considered that oil finishes are going to cause darkening and ambering?
You should be able to return it. I'm guessing you bought it online, so may have to eat shipping fees, but at least you can get what you want. I have used Traffic Hd after using Naturale for a primer, but the client wanted a semi-gloss finish. The Naturale then was only available in flat.
That was on a Pine floor that we didn't want to darken any more than we had to, which is the reason I used Naturale for the first coat.
It keeps for some years, but I haven't found out how many yet, if you don't mix it.