Four coats of finish were smoothed on over the course of the weekend, and I believe there are two coats left to apply. (Dakota decided to do extra coats since the kitchen is such a high-traffic area.) We ended up going with AFM Safecoat PolyureSeal BP, which I purchased at Architectural Coatings + Design Center in Tarzana. I found them to be very helpful and accommodating in terms of the finishes and amounts I needed.
After doing some online research, I decided that AFM Safecoat was the right choice for us. It's a water-based clear finish with very low VOC. It's also LEED qualified and contains no formaldehyde. I got a gallon of gloss and a quart of satin. Safecoat isn't cheap; the gallon ran me about $100 and the quart was about $30, but I think it's worth it to have a less toxic floor.
According to the directions, for a satin finish, you apply several coats of gloss first, followed by the satin. Here's an image of the first coat going down, after a thorough floor sanding by Dakota.
The smell from the Safecoat PolyureSeal BP was fairly strong, but dissipated after about an hour. I've never refinished a floor before, so I can't really speak to how the odor compares to other polyurethane finishes. I do appreciate that the odor doesn't linger after the finish dries.
So far, the new floor looks great. The finish is shiny and smooth, and the transition between the old floor and new floor is noticeable but not distracting. Predictably, I now want to refinish the floors in the whole house. But I think for now we'll have to focus on the kitchen. (One project at a time!)
Your floor looks beautiful. Wait tell you finish the rest. I have used safecoat products since 1988 and won't use anything else.
Bonnie from Michigan. sbkeec1@yahoo.com
Four coats! No wonder it looks so beautiful! Love your blog, BTW.
I was just at Architectural Coatings + Design Center in Tarzana yesterday. They are super helpful. I'm still trying to decide between Osmo Polyx-Oil and Safecoat. I like everything about the Polyuraseal except the idea of having a plastic film on top of the wood. Your floor looks beautiful but some things are hard to tell on a picture. Do you feel the floors still have that natural wood feel to them?
I still like the Polyuraseal, but they do have a somewhat shiny look to them. Putting a coat of the matte finish on at the end helps with that, though. I think you'd probably get a more rustic, "natural," look from wax or other products--but then you'd have to do a lot more maintenance. We recently redid the floors in my son's room and used the Safecoat again.
I thought $100 a gallon was expensive until I started looking -- it seems like this is a standard price tier for quality water-based polyurethanes. Though there is stuff out there for $50 and it's hard to figure out what the difference is. Varathane "high traffic formula" from the big box stores is less than $50/gal and I think must be rated at 250 g/l for VOC to be sold in California.
For a natural untreated wood look finish, I'm intrigued by Bona Naturale. It's a two component finish which is a little trickier ("For trained, experienced professionals only" according to the company's literature), but it's still water-based and rated at 210 g/l for VOC. It's a matte finish and Bona claims, "With Bona Naturale, you get as close to an untreated look and feel as possible while still providing your floor with a durable surface."
Oooh. This Rubio Monocoat oil wood floor finish product also looks interesting for a natural look finish. It is VOC-free and Leed certified. Not sure about the maintenance regimen, but they claim that it's durable.