Question from Angelique
Does anyone have experience with Bona or Safecoat wood floor finishes? Or any other finishes? And I mean PERSONAL experience, or the experience of another chemically-sensitive person. We don’t need stain, but if we decide to install 100% mesquite wood floors (nails only, no glue) we will need a sealer. For my husband’s office we’ll need an “ordinary” sealer, but my husband wonders if we want to put the wood in the kitchen too, instead of new tile (our tile is very chipped) so I think that will need a thicker, more waterproof sealer. The wood company likes Bona products. I have had good results with other Safecoat products.
Debra’s Answer
Readers? Any experience with these products?
We have Bona “Traffic” on all floors in our home except the kitchen and bathroom. It has been in place for about five years now and is holding up well. We choose to have an extra coat applied to our hallways, where the carpet had shown excessive wear. Please note that this product has no odor after it has cured, but curing takes 21 days. I used Debra’s recommendation of heating the area and airing it out throughout the 21 days. I could not live in my home for two weeks after the product had dried. Bona makes several floor coatings which differ in durablity.
The Safecoat Polyuroseal is an excellent urethane-like finish. We are a family of 5 and have used it on all types of woodwork including pine floors, trim, and counters. I am a carpenter so I’ve tried a lot of products. The Polyuroseal is expensive but worth it. Have the sales associate pop the top so you can have a smell. The smell is strongest while it is wet but quickly disappears as it dries and is gone in a few hours.It should dry in Arizona in only 15-20 minutes.
Another natural product for your floor is from Vermont Natural Coatings. They have the PolyWhey which is a urethane based product using the whey waste from local cheese makers (http://vimeo.com/7729181). It really works well both in immediate results and I still have perfect results from an oak floor I did 6 years ago.
Good Luck
COMMENT FROM DEBRA:
I am a big fan of Vermont Natural Coatings. It’s my #1 choice for wood finish at the moment. Low VOCs and beautiful result.
Thank you, everybody! Lots of great suggestions and feedback. I hadn’t looked back at this question because for various reasons we don’t have posession of the wood yet.
Loved using Bona in our home of 7 yrs. Worked very well and I have sever MCS. But as PJ commented we did not live in our house for three weeks. It was July and we could open all windows to help it outgas. I have used Safegard poly on a home project and found it took more layers of poly and much more expensive. Hope this helps.
did anyone use stain under the Bona high traffic? The stain tends to have very high VOCs, but supposedly will outgas quickly.
I am wondering if you don’t find the above tolerable if you could use Silicone Magic? It is a water based silicone. I have had no expeience using it on floors, or inside. But I have used it alot on a timber frame.Even being extremely chemically sensitive, I got so I put it on myself. (Though I would suggest have someone else put some on a sample for you and test it when dry.) It is extremely low oder and dries very quickly..can be used on any pourous surface. You can get a concentrate that you thin with your own water. E – Pro are the makers. 1- 800 882-5440. Hope this helps.
Go with a 100% natural oil + beeswax. Linseed, Tung, Walnut and Help are all hardening oils that are traditionally used to finish wood. Beeswax can be added to the final layer for extra protection. All the oils have a natural scent – Linseed and Tung being the smelliest but Hemp and Walnut not so strong. Buy small amounts of each to test for your sensitivities and allergies! I get into it more and link to some info on it @ http://mychemicalfreehouse.blogspot.ca/2013/02/natural-finishes.html
We went with hardwood floors throughout the house and used a product called Osmo Hardwax Oil. It is made in Germany but we purchased in Canada. We are very happy with it.