What is the best, heavy duty varnish/finish for hardwood floors in house with lots of dogs and kids.?
Question:My husband and I pulled up the tri-colored shag carpet that was in the house when we moved in. It had been there since the early 70's. The padding was glued down so we scraped that off. We sanded the floors and put two coats of varnish that the person at Lowes said was the best for heavy traffic. He said it would work best. That was two years ago and now it's worn down and the wood is again exposed. What do they use on gymnasium floors? That is the kind of heavy duty I'm looking for. Please Help.
Answers:
basically when you have a floor refinished your choices are
1)oil based finish
2)water based finish
3)commercial grade finish
go with the commercial. it will be more expensive but its more or less what they use on basketball courts. it will hold up the best and you should get 10-15 years before a recoat is needed. also, normally a refinishing person will put 1 coat of stain/sealer and 2 coats of finish. depending on whos doing it you can usually pay to have a 3rd coat of finish put on and this will help the wearability of it
If the floors are already finished, there is a product called Pro Shot (you can get it online at Walter Drake). I use this on my hardwood floors,which are already sealed. Your floors will continue to get scratched no matter what you put on them, and I use this about once a year, and it really brings the shine back, fills in the scratches.
The best polyurethane on the market is Tuff Coat. This product is extremely durable with an outstanding finish. It is also highly scratch resistant and should suit your needs perfectly. You should get a least 5-7 years or more without having to do a top up coat. This product consists of 70% solids whereas other products are only 30-35% solids. Check out the link below for more information. Hope this is of help to you?
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