Wood Floor

Are you taking proper care of your woof floor? To make your wood floor last long, you can use finishes. Basically, finishes are applied to wood for two major reasons. Firstly, a finish protects the wood from damages such as stains, moisture and mechanical wear. And secondly, a properly applied clear finish will enhance your wood floor's natural beauty and color. You can also take the best care of your floor by coating. Penetrating seals or sealers and surface finishes are the two principal types of protective coatings used on wood floors. Both the coatings are capable of making your floor last long, so you have to make sure that they have been applied correctly. Penetrating Sealers are the most common finish on residential floors. Sealers are usually thinned varnishes which, when applied to wood, penetrate into the wood pores on the surface.

Thanks to Penetrating Sealers, the eventual effects of traffic become far less apparent than with other finishes that only coat the surface. One coat of a penetrating sealer on your wood floor can give you satisfactory performance. But for the best result, you can use two coats. There are two basic types of sealers. Normal or slow drying sealers are extremely easy to use. On the other hand, fast drying sealers are more difficult to use since it is easy to form lap marks or a splotchy appearance. Therefore, only experienced professionals are usually preferred to apply them. Surface finishes are relatively easy to apply. Popular surface finishes like polyurethane, varnish, shellac, lacquer will give your floor fresh lease of life. The polyurethane, for the record, is the most popular surface finish today because of their high resistance to moisture, mechanical wears, stains and spills.

Varnishes can also make your wood floor last long. Although, varnishes have a greater tendency to scratch, and worn spots are difficult to patch without showing lines between the old and new finish. Varnishes meant for wood floors are more durable. Varnishes with a glossy or matte finish are quite popular in UK. Varnishes are based on phenolic, alkyd, epoxy or polyurethane resins. Sometimes you can find shellac and lacquer being used as floor finishes. These finishes will dry rapidly, and more than one coat can often be applied in the same day. However, shellac and lacquer are not as resistant to moisture, spills and mechanical wear as are the penetrating sealers, polyurethane and varnish. Surface finishes will usually give a longer life than penetrating sealers. The best part of surface finishes is that floor won't need any attention other than regular sweeping or dry mopping.