How to Apply Gloss to Stained Pine Wood Floors

Pine is a soft wood that is easily marred by heavy foot traffic. A high gloss polyurethane coating will add a beautiful gloss to a stained pine wood floor while at the same time adding a much needed hard, protective layer. Sand your floor lightly and then vacuum and clean thoroughly before applying the urethane. Wear an organic vapor respirator when using polyurethane and ventilate the area using fans. Do not walk on a newly-painted polyurethane floor for at least 48 hours after applying.

Things You'll Need

• Pole sander
• 100-grit paper
• 120-grit paper
• 150-grit paper
• Tack cloths
• Vacuum
• Lamb's wool mop
• Organic vapor respirator
• Random orbital sander
• Rubbing alcohol
• Cotton cloths

Instructions

1. Empty the room entirely and then lightly sand the floor using a pole sander and 100-grit paper. Do not sand hard enough to remove the stain.

2. Vacuum the entire floor. Take your time and go over every square inch of the floor, including along all of the baseboards. Wear your organic vapor respirator to protect yourself from dust.

3. Wipe the floor with tack cloths to insure that all dust and dirt has been removed. The cleaner your floor, the better your finish is going to look.

4. Set up ventilation fans in the windows of the room. Fans should be set to blow air out of the room. The more fans and the more air flow you can create the better. Tape or pin electrical cords to the walls to keep them off the floor.

5. Put on your organic vapor respirator and wear it continuously when applying polyurethane. Pour a small amount of high gloss polyurethane designed for floors near a corner of the room away from the door. Use your lamb's wool mop to spread the urethane evenly over the floor. When spreading urethane always push your mop toward a completed area. If you plop your mop into a finished area and then pull it toward you it will leave a line on your floor--however, if you start the mop in a dry area and push it into a finished area there is no line when you lift the mop up.

6. Allow the first coat of urethane to dry for at least 24 hours. Lightly sand the floor using 120 grit paper on a pole sander. If small "rolls" of urethane peel off the floor as you are sanding, then the urethane is not dry enough and must be allowed more time to dry before sanding. After sanding evenly (especially sanding any bubbles in the first coat) wipe the floor with tack cloths and then apply a second coat of urethane being careful to push your mop from a dry area into a wet area to avoid mop lines in the floor.

7. Let the second coat of urethane dry for 24 hours. Sand the second coat of urethane with a random orbital sander using 150-grit paper. Look for areas with bubbles or other defects in the urethane and sand these especially well. Vacuum the dust carefully and then use cotton cloths sprayed with rubbing alcohol to wipe the floor completely clean. Apply a third coat of urethane, being careful to mop your urethane from dry areas into wet areas. Allow the third coat to dry for 48 hours before walking on it.

Tips & Warnings

• If your second or third coat of urethane appears to "wrinkle" as it dries this means the previous coat was not fully dry before you applied your next coat. The only solution is to allow the urethane to dry completely and then sand with a floor sander, starting the entire process over again.

• Clean the floor carefully and completely between coats. Any dust or dirt will be permanently embedded in the urethane if not cleaned thoroughly. If in doubt whether the urethane has had enough time to dry, err on the side of caution and allow extra drying time.