hardening a floor

[andyboyo]

ive just finished sanding back old floor boards and i dont want to stain it just seal it with a varnish.

Whats the procedure for ensuring maximum durabilty?

 

[Nestor_Kelebay]

You get maximum durability when you have the most durable coating over that wood.

There are several new polyurethane technologies making their way down the pipe into consumer goods, and one of them is a catalyzed waterborne polyurethane. It's about 3 times as durable as the conventional "oil based" polyurethane hardwood floor finishes (that the Bayer Company ((the Aspirin people)) first patented in 1956).

Also, there are more "waterborne polyurethane" chemistries than you can shake a stick at. The kind I'm talking about has the isocyanates polymerized and dissolved in water. To put on this coating, you pour a small container of a catalyst into the jug containing the isocyanates dissolved in water, shake or mix, and then apply the coating to the floor. The chemical reaction proceeds slowly enough that it won't harden up on you until you get the coating down on the floor. However, be warned that once that catalyst has been added, the stuff is going to harden up on you regardless of what you do to stop it, so it's not very user friendly in that respect.

These catalyzed waterborne polyurethanes have about the same film hardness as moisture cure polyurethanes, so they're on par with epoxy based floor coatings, like epoxy floor paints.

One example of such a catalyzed waterborne polyurethane is "Traffic" marketed by the Bona Company of Italy. Google should be able to find it for you.

PS: The chemistry of these catalyzed waterborne polyurethanes is similar to moisture cure polyurethanes, and neither have anything in common with the polyurethane "varnishes" or hardwood floor finishes that most DIY'ers are familiar with. They're non-yellowing and extremely durable.

 

[Nestor_Kelebay]

Here's a Product Description of Traffic:

http://www.bonakemi.com/productspecs/pdf/traffic.pdf

Because Traffic will begin curing as soon as you add the catalyst, you might try going with a less durable but more user friendly hardwood floor finish from Bona called "Mega":

http://www.bonax.com/Mega.html

I understand the chemistry behind Traffic, but I don't know how Mega uses the oxygen in the air to crosslink the polyurethane resins. (It's not an oil based product.)