Floor finish

[Gino]

Not sure if I should be putting this new thread in finishes instead of general wood work but here you go.

Just finished laying a wooden floor (Tas oak) for my brother. He would prefer a more natural finish other than what seems the norm with that thiners based varnish.

Any suggestions for some alternative would be apprieciated.

as a secondary issue what do the pro's use as filler for the odd gap that I have. I'm aware that there are a multitude of wood fillers available but it would have to be something ecconomical.


thankyou ladies and Gents

regards

Gino

[rsser]

One of the oil-based finishes would fit the bill.

For filler check out Timbermate.

[Gumby]

You want hard wearing and something easy to clean and stain resistant. I think the custom high gloss finishes are best for that.

Timbermate is what I use to fill gaps. A few more appeared as the timber moved slightly nut spotted gum tends to do that. Others not so much.

[bitingmidge]

See Gumby is just plain wrong!

High gloss is sooooo 70's. Use flat or satin, to give you the same level of durability, but with a much warmer feel. If you like, you can then wax and polish using good old floor wax to give it the old wax look, but without the need to constantly re-polish if you get sick of it.

Personally, I'd skip the wax and stick with the satin finish.
Cheers,

P:D

[Bloss]

Gumby is not 'wrong' - just different. :)

The choice as to gloss, satin or matt is aesthetic - so up to you.

The type of finish is more technical and depends not just on what it looks like, but how much effort goes into cleaning and maintaining it (and do you clean the floors or does your spouse?).

The oils require re-oiling every two to three years, do not always handle stains well and do not seal the cracks & joins so dirt and dust etc does (eventually). But they look very 'natural' and are serviceable enough although it is the toughness of the wood that determines wear rates.

The modern water or oil-based (urethane or acrylic) finishes look very 'natural' too, especially matt & satin, and have the great advantage of durability and ease of cleaning and maintenance. They can last 10 years or more. So long as you clean, lightly sand and re-coat before the wear has gone through to the timber they can last 30 years or more.

They are an additional hard layer over the timber so add their own wear capacity for scuffing, scratching and marking. Of course the wood density will be the factor in hard dents from dropped items and high heels, but the plastic finishes also add resistance to these too.

As to fillers - Timbermate is good for nail holes, but for long gaps at doorways or where movement is likely then a flexible filler (mostly acrylic) is more suitable Fullers have a good range, but there are many brands. All can be colour-matched well, but try on a spare bit of wood or in an inconspicuous place (and with the chosen finish) before using it on the whole floor as the dried and coated colour can look very different to the actual wood you have and the colour samples in the shop.

Take care with all fillers (as with glues) to avoid getting on areas that do not need filling, wipe up thoroughly with the recommended solvent, and even sand back to be sure that there is not a thin layer of the filler that might appear when the coating is applied. This can easily ruin the appearance of a floor.

[namtrak]

The professional guys use timbermate as a filler. I've been using tinted car bog with hardener. It works a treat. We tint ours with black, and it makes a feature of the floor. The first floor we did was some four years ago and the bog is still holding fine.

[what the DECK]

I've spent 25 years making & applying pure aliphatic urethanes. Beautiful, hard, chemical resistant, non-yellowing...you name it... but never to coat hardwood timber. Why take a natural product and do the un-natural to it.
If pure tung oil ( or very similar ) can't do the job then maybe its the wrong substrate your looking at.
Set in my ways ??? well maybe, just like I don't go to bed with my wellies on.
You all have a good day.

[Gino]

Thanks for the responces guys really appreiciate the effort you all have made. But not sure how I stand at this point, what I had in mind was alternate finishes to thinners based varnish.

eg. tung oil, waxes etc.

If you know of "specific" products especially if you've used them too, would be interesting to see how they went.

Just want something easy to apply and not need a respirator for it.
Because my brother has built this room above his garage it won't be getting much traffic through it.

hope to hear more from you.

thanks again

Gino