How to Apply Water Based Polyurethane to a Raw Wood Floor
Polyurethane is the best top coat to put on your wood floors. It's durable and easy to apply. It comes in oil-based and water-based formulas and a variety of finishes. Due to VOC (volatile organic compound) laws, water-based urethane is gaining popularity. This is compounded by the reduction in odor and drying time as compared to the traditional oil-based finish. And applying water-based polyurethane is easy. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Water-based urethane
- Shellac
- Rollers or fleece applicators
- Drywall sanding screen
- Drywall sanding screen holder and pole
- Tack cloth
Instructions
-
-
1
Apply a coat of shellac to the entire wood floor. This will keep the water in the polyurethane from raising the grain in the wood. Shellac will create a slight golden hue when dry. If this isn't desired, skip the shellac, but you will need to apply lighter coats of polyurethane, and more of them.
-
2
Lightly sand the dried shellac with the drywall sanding screen. This will remove any bubbles or dust that stuck to the surface.
-
-
3
Attach the tack cloth to the sanding screen holder and dust the entire floor by pushing it around like a push broom.
-
4
Apply a thin coat of water-based polyurethane.
-
5
Allow to dry and repeat. To get the same protection as three coats of oil-based, you may need as many as a dozen coats of water-based urethane. However, due to fast drying time (1-2 hours,) you can accomplish this in a couple of days. Three coats of oil-based can take a week.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Water-based polyurethane is more self-leveling than the oil-based kind, so there's no need to sand between coats. However, if there may have been dust or flecks cause by the roller, you may still want to sand lightly with the drywall screen.
