No writes:
trbo20 wrote:
Hi all,
I refinished my yellow pine dining room floor last year, and the
chairs, baby, and general carelessness have taken their toll on the
gloss. When I initially did it, I applied six coats of oil semi-gloss
urethane and buffed with steel wool between every coat. Needless to
say, there is a very thick coat down at the moment.
I would like to buff the floors with steel wool once more and apply
another skim coat of urethane on it. The problem I have is that it's
a high traffic area and I can't really block it off for the time it
takes oil to fully dry. Because of this, I would like to use Varathane
instead. It's water based and should dry much faster without the
smell.
If I clean and scuff the surface properly, is there any reason why I
shouldn't use a water finish over an oil one? Like I said, the
oil's had a year to cure so I don't think that leaching will be an
issue.
Thanks in advance,
-Tim

FYI - For those that read this post later on when researching floor
finishes. If you want a semi-gloss finish on your floors and not
glossy and are doing multiple coats as the original poster has
done. It is advisable to use gloss for your first coats and only
semi-gloss for your final coat. The reason is is that the semi-gloss
finish contains a matting agent to make it semi. This can obscure the
wood under the finish. The gloss does not contain this additive. Only
the final coat give the gloss level desired, intermediate coats have
no effect. So, use gloss for first coats, your last coat should be of
the desired sheen.


I have also heard that using intermediate Gloss coats have two other
advantages:
1. Glossy polyurethane is often cheaper because doesn't have the
flatteners
2. It also goes on easier with less lap marks