To tell the difference in a pinch, just rub your finger across the floor. Be sure to do this on a clean floor. If no smudge appears, the floor is surface sealed. If you do create a smudge, the floor has been treated with a penetrating seal, oil finish, shellac, varnish or lacquer, and then waxed.
Sealed wood floors have an extra layer of protection that prevents the majority of water damage, whereas unsealed floors are much more sensitive to moisture. (You can find out which one you have by placing a drop of water on the floor. If it keeps its shape, your floor is sealed.
Most unfinished hardwood floors require one coat of sealer and at least two coats of protectant finishing. Sealing is very important, especially under polyurethane finishes, because it seals the wood and helps to prevent panelization; the separation of groups of boards from others or from the rest of the floor.
With regular wear and tear, the finish on your hardwood floor should last about 7-10 years. Floors in high-traffic areas or that are exposed to a lot of sunlight may need to be refinished more often.
Unsealed parquet floors are fairly easy to clean. They should only be cleaned with a vacuum, broom, or mop, and if you need to use moisture to remove any dirt, then try to stick to only water.
Being unsealed, the water you use to clean with may soak into the boards and cause damage. Raw floors should be dry cleaned only. This means using brooms and vacuums, rather than water and chemical cleaners. If a spill occurs, clean it up quickly with a small amount of water and absorbent towels.
Polyurethane, Shellac, Varnish and Lacquer – Use a cotton swab with acetone on it and apply to the wood. If it becomes tacky, than it is shellac or varnish and if it beads, it has a polyurethane finish. If it is lacquer, the lacquer will dissolve completely.
Wax finishes are easy to distinguish due to the way they react to water. It is easy to mark them with water spills. In an inconspicuous area, corner or behind a door, apply two (2) drops of water. If within ten minutes, white spots appear under the drops of water, the floor has a wax finish.
The best way to clean hardwood floors is to adopt a regular routine. Use a broom or hardwood floor mop for cleaning wood floors daily. A microfiber dust mop pre-treated with a dusting agent will pick up dust and dirt and prevent scratches. Vacuum your hardwood floor once a week.
Sealed hardwood floors can withstand the moisture and heat from a steam mop, and they clean really nicely with a streak-free finish. However, avoid using a steam mop on unsealed hardwoods, as they're more vulnerable and easily damaged by excessive moisture.
Although it may be tempting to deep clean your hardwood floors with a steam mop, don't. “Drastic temperature changes and moisture may warp the wood,” says Steve Stocki, manager of marketing and merchandising at Lumber Liquidators. That's true whether you have solid or engineered wood floors, and for bamboo, too.
If your really want to stain the wood, your best option is to seal the wood with Zinsser's Sealcoat first, then apply either Polyshades or gel stain to the wood. As described above, these products sit on top of the wood, and therefore don't need to be absorbed into the wood.
As a whole, the post and lumber specimens indicate an expected durability of over 50 years for creosote-treated wood and over 60 years for wood treated with pentachlorophenol, copper naphthenate, ACZA, or CCA.
For water-based finishes, the recommended wait time is 4-8 hours. For hard wax oils, this increases to 4-24 hours. Finally, for oil-modified Polyurethane, the surface will take between 12 & 24 hours to dry. The benefit of the dry time is that it allows us to access our floors in between coats.
Before applying wax to the freshly stripped floors, you should first use a floor sealer that protects the underlying floor surface from absorbing wax. Floor sealer helps insulate floor tiles and laminate from wax, and it's best practice to apply two layers of sealer to prevent any wax from seeping through.
Aluminum oxide offers the absolute best protection and durability for hardwood floors, making it the best choice out there for heavily trafficked areas. It's quite low maintenance and available as a low-gloss or high-shine finish, depending on one's preference.
Run your hand over the floor surface. If you can feel the wood grain, the finish is probably a penetrating finish. Select an inconspicuous area of the floor surface and apply a small amount of paint remover. If the finish bubbles up, it is most likely a surface finish.
There are three highly popular hardwood floor finishes used for hardwood flooring today: water-based polyurethane, oil finishes, and wax finishes.
How many coats will be applied? The standard for a hardwood floor is at least three coats. This consists of one seal coat (which may be the stain) and two coats of finish. Additional costs of finish may be applied depending on the need.
While floor sealers protect floors by penetrating into the pores of the flooring material, the floor finish provides a protective surface layer that is the first line of defense against floor damage.
You should expect refinishing your hardwood flooring to take a minimum of three days. For water-based finishes, it can take about two days to refinish hardwood floors fully. Expect that each coat of water-based polyurethane will take between two to four hours to dry.
Depending on many factors, like your lifestyle and type of finish, polyurethane can last between three to six years. However, if you see damage on your floors, it may be time to reapply a fresh finish to your hardwood.