No, don't go around the room's edges first. Apply with the grain and
immediately cut in the ends. The stuff dries too fast to put it around
the edges of the entire room first.

The vibrating pad sander is VERY slow to remove wood. I used it mostly
to remove excess filler and even for that it was excruciatingly
slooooooow. I understand your reluctance to uncover all those nails,
however.

dave



JP wrote:

Dave, Thanks for the excellent tips.

I will be planning a visit to the local GSF to see the stain colors as
well as if they have samples that I can try on my red oak floor.

I'm still debating whether I'll use MEGA or TRAFFIC. TRAFFIC done
right would seem to assure me that I'll never, ever, need to do the
floors again, while MEGA leaves open that prospect. Maybe I'll do 4
coats of MEGA and not fuss with the 2-part mixing of TRAFFIC. . .

Given that both dry so quickly (and adding water to the mix to slow it
down is probably not recommended), did you brush on the edges as you
got to them or did you go all around the room edges prior doing the
floor?

Interesting on how the drum sander is very aggressive (and effective
at making ridges in the floor !) A friend had somilar results from
hired help and was not pleased although to be fair, once the room was
filled with furniture, it was much less evident.

My problem is that my floor boards are rectangular red oak strips that
have 2 face nails every 6 inches or so, no tongue-and-groove with
hidden nails. If I sand too much, then the small bit of putty hidding
the nail head gets sanded off and the nail head exposed. Going around
1000 sq. feet to resink and then re-putty the holes is out of the
question. As a result, I will be more tolerant of slow sanding
progress with a vibrating plate sander (Home Depot rental) than risk
taking off too much with a drum.

November should an interesting month for me and the floors.

Cheers,

Jonas


On Wed, 29 Oct 2003 20:03:25 GMT, Bay Area Dave
wrote:


I got the stuff at Golden State Flooring. they are supposed to only
sell wholesale but if you sweet-talk them a bit, they might sell to you.
Otherwise I don't know where to get it at retail. BTW, I didn't save
any money by getting it at GSF.

I used Bonakemi's Dri Fast oil modified Provincial. It is nearly
identical in color to Minwax's Provincial, although I like the Dri
Fast's color a bit better.

I rented a floor drum sander at HD, but would recommend that you find a
floor styled belt sander instead. Think of a beer can on it's side,
laying on the floor. Not much surface area of the can touches the
floor. That's the problem with the drum sander. As much as I tried to
avoid it, I got plenty of depressions in the floor from using that
sander. I started with about 40 grit, then 60, and 80 to smooth it. I
also rented an edge sander which is a real PITA to use. It will create
divots in the blink of an eye. Then I filled the grain and gaps with
trowelable wood filler (water based) from Southern Lumber. Sanded that
off the next day with a pad sander.

Stained in the morning (the easiest part of the job) and put on the
first coat of Bonakemi Sealer about 5 hours later, using the 18"
applicator pad from GSF.

The next day I put on a coat of Mega gloss, let that dry and then
another coat.

Next day I rented a floor finisher with a pad as close to the grit as
recommended (HD didn't have EXACTLY the right grit). You are supposed
to use a maroon pad, but HD doesn't stock it. Scuffed up the floor with
that, wiped off the dust with a damp towel and then applied the final
coat: Mega Semi-Gloss. You gotta go real quick and easy if you use one
of the HD rental pads, as the grit is lower than recommended. It was the
Norton brand. Had I had more confidence in the quality of the sanding
job I would have used gloss, but it's better to somewhat hide the
defects with semi gloss, or Satin, which is too flat for my liking.

I waited over a week to put anything in the room, just to be safe.
Bonakemi's tech support said emphatically don't cut the gloss with a
pad; use the proper sheen product for your top coat instead.

Some tips:

Make sure you have at least a 500x2 halogen light source to let you see
how the finish is going on. Without proper lighting you won't be able
to tell where the finish is, after the first coat. Don't hit your
popcorn ceiling like I did with the pole that the applicator pad is
mounted to!! Just as I was finishing up the last section of the last
coat, I hit that damned ceiling, bringing down a cascade of white
particles all over the wet finish. I got most of them out by lunging
for the nearest towel and dragging it through the junk. You literally
have SECONDS to fix any major mistakes. A minute is an eternity with
the waterborne finishes. The applicator does a great job of flowing the
product onto the floor properly. I also used a standard paint pad to
get the ends brushed out, as the applicator won't go all the way to the
wall because it is round.

I used a bit of nylon stocking inside the pour spout to filter the
material. I just poured it out of the bottle onto the floor in a
"river" as suggested by Bonakemi. Works well that way. So with the
stocking in the spout, you are filtering as you pour.

any questions, let me know.

MSH is the pro when it comes to floors. He gave me some great advice.
You might Google our thread from a few months back. I forget the name
of it...

The end result is pretty nice, but my 2 regrets are that I worked like a
slave to do the job, and with rental four machines, plus the materials,
I only saved a couple of hundred dollars, and the slight depressions
left by the drum sander. (The pad sander used to remove the excess wood
filler isn't going to remove the drum sanding boo boos.) I spent over
$500 to do one room 13 x 17.

One other note: make sure you fill the whole floor with the wood filler.
If you just put it one here and there to fill obvious cracks and gaps,
it will look different in the areas that you spot patch, once you apply
the stain. Don't leave any more filler on the floor than you absolutely
have to, as it is time consuming to sand it off, and you don't want to
over sand either, or the wood pores will open again.


dave

JP wrote:


Dave, Thanks for the suggestions. I was actually considering using
MinWax stain but then started getting cold feet when reading about
adhesion issues.

Which DriFast stain did you use?

Also, did you sand the floors yourself? If so, drum sander? vibrating
plate sander (Home Depot rental)? did you use sandpaper or screens
(still trying to figure out what a 'screen' is/used).

Did you buff the floor between coats or at the end when cured? If so,
how and with what?

Where did you buy the BONA products? Local? On-line? (I'm in San Jose,
CA)

Many thanks,

Jonas

On Wed, 29 Oct 2003 15:31:48 GMT, Bay Area Dave
wrote:



yes, I used Mega a couple months ago on an oak floor. It works great.
be sure to use their applicator. I used the 18" one. I put down the
sealer first, followed by 2 coats of mega gloss. then I put down one
coat of semi gloss. by using gloss except for the top coat, the clarity
of the wood shows through. be sure you work FAST! the stuff works well
as long as you don't dally around. the smell is only mildly
objectionable to me. Most finishing products irritate my sinuses, so
I'd rate the Bonakemi stuff pretty good on that score.

one last caveat: don't use Minwax stain; use the Bonakemi Dri Fast
stains instead. Bonakemi states that they have adhesion issues with
Minwhacks.


dave

JP wrote:


Has anyone tried BONA 'TRAFFIC' or 'MEGA' water based floor finishing
products (listed here http://208.139.199.128/productspecs/index.asp )

They make some interesting durability claims here
http://www.bonakemi.com/contractors/...as_tough2.html

I'm looking to redo my floors just once and be done with it.... I have
little faith in Home Depot pushing their "Parks' oil and water based
products. Any experiences, thoughts, ideas or considerations accepted.

TIA