Wood floors used to be pariahs of the flooring industry and there was a brief time when only bowling alleys would put them in. This was because they were so much work to maintain. They had to be waxed every few months and the old wax had to be stripped away. This sometimes took a whole weekend. In the 1970’s new finishes came along that brought wood floors back into prominence, so much so that wood is the most cherished of all the flooring products. Here are some flooring finishes from least to most desirable.
1. Shellac: This is an insect secretion from India and Thailand that forms a hard, golden finish on wood. It’s drawback is that is it not impervious to stains and can water-stain. This made it unsuitable for flooring after the new urethanes came in to style. It was also hard to get off when refinishing.
2. Varnish: Varnishes replaced shellac as the premier floor finishing product but it too would not stand up to heavy traffic and has to be re-applied frequently.
3. Wax: The only drawback with wax was that it had to be applied frequently. This entailed stripping the wax which was a long, arduous job. Otherwise, a newly waxed floor looks spectacular.
4. Urethane: The first hard finish was urethane but it required a professional to coat to the surface. Unlike the new polyurethanes it did not stand up well and tended to yellow quickly. Water-based urethanes improved the usability of the product because there was no gaseous odor.
5. Polyurethane: The products that revolutionized modern wood flooring were the polyurethanes. Easy to apply and fast-drying they form the bulk of the floor protection process today.
6. Aluminum Oxide: The best possible finish comes from heavy solids suspended in an aluminum oxide resin. The solids are the wear agent for the flooring while the resins help it penetrate and seal the wood fibers. These should only applied by skilled floor finishers as they dry quickly.
Because of the new technology in floor protection it is possible to have softwoods like pine that can take the punishment of a harder floor.
