Tung oil or bona traffic( water poly?)??

11 years ago

My dad did us a huge favor. Took 800 sq ft of reclaimed maple gym floor and sanded and installed it. He had to rush a bit on the sanding so after the buffer pad we see a lot if chatter ( wave) marks.

I like tung oil for the true-to-wood feel, the ease of repair.

I like bona traffic for the color( maintain light maple color) and durability, less maintenance.

I feel that tung oil will help disguise the marks and bona might accentuate them.

Any advice?

Comments (3)

gregmills_gw
11 years ago
The wavy look will continue to appear no matter what finish you use. It will get worse if you catch the floor at the right angle especially if their is a window near by.

Is the floor finished yet? If not take that buffer pas and get a 100 grit sandind paper to fit the buffer (3M makes it) and buff the floor thoroughly then rescreen. That will help.

Tung oil gives a richer tone also your standard poly urethane will do the same.

Bona traffic or ANY water bourne urethane will give a lighter tone color.

Its really your decision on how rich the tone you want.

My suggestion is this. Two coats of poly urethane and the the last coat use a water bourne urethane.

And this is totally an opinion and will vary from person to person
But the Bona Traffic you refer to is expensive and is not the cure all to problems.

There are many water bourne urethanes that work just as well and are cheaper. Traffic is different because its a two part urethane. You mix a hardner to the urethane. That helps with wearing of finish. BUT if you got kids or dogs traffic wont save you from damage. Keep it in mind.

I dont work for Bona or their competitors. Simply just a pro thats sharing over 10 yrs experience.
rwiegand
11 years ago
Definitely re-sand until you have a good surface, either finish will accentuate defects. If you can see problems without finish it will be awful once you get the finish on. Use a random orbit floor machine if you have trouble getting a good finish with other types.

We had oil-based poly to start in our last house, we were down to bare wood under the kitchen table in 3 years. I refinished with Bona Traffic and 12 years later there were only minor scuff marks under the same table. No contest for durability.

On my last floor I started with Bona Amber Seal, which popped the figure in the floor quite nicely with no worries about product compatibility.
jackmc111
2 months ago
More of a question than a comment. 2 years ago I put in a kitchen with Antique Heart Pine flooring Due to timing ( 10 days before Christmas I only put 1 coat of tung oil on and then , after drying , followed that with a coat of Bona HD. Could I put on another coat of Tung oil and another layer of Bona HD ? Would I have to lightly sand first ? Should I just do a 2nd layer of Bona and call it a day?