I am in the process of laying a laminate floor. My wife suggested that
before laying the floor that we spruce up the woodwork around it. The
woodwork is currently dull and needs a bit of shine. We had a painter
do some interior work a few months ago and he also did the woodwork.
It looked the same but now is shiny and looks good. He used a
polyurethane finish. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it was oil-based
or water-based. I'd feel funny calling him and asking about it. What
do you experts suggest and how should it be applied.....foam or bristle
brush?

On 13 Feb 2005 17:14:52 -0800, "rile" wrote:
I am in the process of laying a laminate floor. My wife suggested that
before laying the floor that we spruce up the woodwork around it. The
woodwork is currently dull and needs a bit of shine. We had a painter
do some interior work a few months ago and he also did the woodwork.
It looked the same but now is shiny and looks good. He used a
polyurethane finish. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it was oil-based
or water-based. I'd feel funny calling him and asking about it. What
do you experts suggest and how should it be applied.....foam or bristle
brush?

You shouldn't use a foam brush with oil-based urethane.

Water and oil-based urethanes have different finishes. Oil is thicker
and tends to lay on top of the wood while water tends to aborb into
it. If the wood is open grained, like oak, you can often see the wood
grain with a water urethane, particularly in a side light.

If you're not sure what kind of finish it is, rough it up with 220
grit and use water-based.

Steve Manes
Brooklyn, NY
http://www.magpie.com/house/bbs

"rile" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am in the process of laying a laminate floor. My wife suggested that
before laying the floor that we spruce up the woodwork around it. The
woodwork is currently dull and needs a bit of shine.


Remove the baseboard before you put down the laminate. The put it back in
the same place, but it will be higher as the floor was raise about 3/8" or
so. Use care in removing it. The new nails can even go back in the same
holes again. I write the location it came from on the back of the board to
avoid confusion later.

Sand it with 220 grit just to smooth any imperfections, then put on a coat
of polyurethane. Oil based is the one most frequently used, but water can
work too. Use a good bristle brush. The foam brushes are OK for a small
tough up job, but are not nearly as good as a $10 bristle brush. Clean it
in mineral spirits.

In most cases, one coat is all that is needed, but you may want to sand
again and put a second coat. Can be done the same day. You'll appreciate
the extra time you took to do it right.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

rile wrote:
I am in the process of laying a laminate floor. My wife suggested
that before laying the floor that we spruce up the woodwork around
it. The woodwork is currently dull and needs a bit of shine. We had
a painter do some interior work a few months ago and he also did the
woodwork. It looked the same but now is shiny and looks good. He
used a polyurethane finish. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it was
oil-based or water-based. I'd feel funny calling him and asking
about it.

Why would you feel funny asking? In reality, it doesn't make much
difference in what you use as long as there are no areas in the current
finish that have worn through.

If there *are* bare areas, you can easily tell what the top coat is by
lightly sanding a worn area and moistening it with spit on your finger.
The spot will darken. Does it look like the finished area? The finish
was oil based. Is the finished area lighter than the damp spot? Top
coat was water based.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

Polyu needs something to stick to so sanding the entire baseboard is
needed. I was raised using oil based finishes and tried the initial
waterbased stuff and switched back to oil. The makers have figured
out how to make usable WB stuff and I've switched back to WB finishes
and really appreciate their attributes. Easy clean up, little to no
odor, fast dry enabling 3 coats a day for some. Posts have complained
about oil based finishes on floors lingering in the house. With
baseboards removed they can be taken outside for sanding and finishing
if desired.

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 03:09:35 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:


"rile" wrote in message
roups.com...
I am in the process of laying a laminate floor. My wife suggested that
before laying the floor that we spruce up the woodwork around it. The
woodwork is currently dull and needs a bit of shine.


Remove the baseboard before you put down the laminate. The put it back in
the same place, but it will be higher as the floor was raise about 3/8" or
so. Use care in removing it. The new nails can even go back in the same
holes again. I write the location it came from on the back of the board to
avoid confusion later.

Sand it with 220 grit just to smooth any imperfections, then put on a coat
of polyurethane. Oil based is the one most frequently used, but water can
work too. Use a good bristle brush. The foam brushes are OK for a small
tough up job, but are not nearly as good as a $10 bristle brush. Clean it
in mineral spirits.

In most cases, one coat is all that is needed, but you may want to sand
again and put a second coat. Can be done the same day. You'll appreciate
the extra time you took to do it right.

dadiOH wrote:
rile wrote:
I am in the process of laying a laminate floor. My wife suggested
that before laying the floor that we spruce up the woodwork around
it. The woodwork is currently dull and needs a bit of shine. We
had
a painter do some interior work a few months ago and he also did
the
woodwork. It looked the same but now is shiny and looks good. He
used a polyurethane finish. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it was
oil-based or water-based. I'd feel funny calling him and asking
about it.

Why would you feel funny asking? In reality, it doesn't make much
difference in what you use as long as there are no areas in the
current
finish that have worn through.

If there *are* bare areas, you can easily tell what the top coat is
by
lightly sanding a worn area and moistening it with spit on your
finger.
The spot will darken. Does it look like the finished area? The
finish
was oil based. Is the finished area lighter than the damp spot? Top
coat was water based.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

OK......I've put one coat of oil-based polyurethane on a door. I'd
like to lightly sand it and apply one more coat. But, the work is
being done in an unheated garage and the temperatures have turned cold
again....low to mid 30's. Is that too cold to apply the poly?

rile wrote:

OK......I've put one coat of oil-based polyurethane on a door. I'd
like to lightly sand it and apply one more coat. But, the work is
being done in an unheated garage and the temperatures have turned cold
again....low to mid 30's. Is that too cold to apply the poly?


Probably. Read the can.

BTW, you really need at least 3 coats of any top finish.


--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico