I've got a 100 year old house with a beautiful knotty pine floor, 3/4 inch t/g. Unfortunately while it looks beautiful, it's a very soft wood for a floor. A few months ago I sanded and refinshed with 5 coats of water based polyurethane in a satin finish, which from what I'd heard I had thought had a greater hardness than solvent based polyurethane. However, the new finish is scratching very easily and showing wear a lot more quickly than the old one which I'm sure was solvent based. What can I do to correct this...is there a harder finish I can apply that will protect the floor better than what I've got on it? Would a solvent based finish do a better job on the softer wood? Thanks for any help.

Jim

Jim,
I don't know what you used but not all finishes are the same. You shouldn't group them all together ei: all waterbased, all oil-based. Some waterbased finishes are extremely hard while others aren't and the same holds true for solvent based finishes. I would not go over the waterbased finishes with an oilbased because I personally don't care for the way that looks. That leaves you with choosing a waterbased one. The best one currently available is Bona Traffic but it is expensive and may be hard to to obtain if you are not a contractor. And keep in mind, pine is very soft and no finish will make it harder than it is. It will still dent easily.

Gary,

Thank you very much for your reply. I was reading the forum and saw the Bona Traffic finish mentioned. The finish I used came from Home Depot, it was a single part, not a 2 part finish. I do woodworking and remember from a few years ago that the better water based clear finishes came in 2 parts, with a catalyst or hardener, but didn't find that when I was looking to get a finish for the floor. I had used what I think was Verathane on my heart pine floors on my second floor, that was also a number of years ago. That had an extremely strong odor that hung around for weeks and I wanted to avoid that this time.

Cost really isn't an issue for the finish (oops, my wife saw me type that, I'm in trouble now....) - we've spent so much time and effort into refinishing the floors already, I want to get something that will protect them as much as possible. The pine dented fairly easily before, but sure was better protected against surface scratches with the old finish than it is with what I've got on it now.

So....the Bona Traffic sounds good. I live in Maryland....any advice on where I might be able to obtain it? Thanks!

Jim

Find a local wood flooring supply distributor. Some will sell to the general public and others won't. Bona Traffic is a two component finish. It comes with a catalyst/crosslinker. These are classified as "for professional use only" so you won't find this type in your local hardware store. Good luck.