Well I have decided that moving into the master bedroom is a must now. We have lived in the small guest bedroom ever since we moved into our house. The room is painted and livable, but the question I have is, "What should I cover my floors with?". I know a lot of people would sugguest polyurethane. And I bet that is a good solution, but listen to me first. I have 5 dogs, ranging from 3 tiny chihuahuas and 2 big black labs. They do a number to my floors everyday and with poly I am afraid that I will have to refinish every few year. I know the plus side is that it is very durable, but then the bad is that you can not fix it after it has been damaged. I have read a lot about shellac and have written a few things about it on my blog. The plus is that it is easy to spot repair and dries a lot faster, the bad is that it is easily damaged. I won't even go into the n-th number of other floor finishes either. So if you could please put your input on what I should use. I will take what you say and make my decisions.
Remember: I do have to stay in the house as the floors are being refinished. Please help. Thanks so much.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
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7 comments on "Question about wood floor refinishing... Damn animals!"
My aunt refinished her wood floors over 15 years ago with about three coats of polyurethane. She has had three dogs and about five cats. There have been kids, inlaws, etc. move in and out of the house. Her floor today still looks good. I'm not sure what kind of scratches people are talking about but I'm willing to bet they are from something much more sinister than a dogs paws. Even several furniture moves haven't hurt the floor so I'm not sure how realistic the scratched poly argument is. Poly has come a long way and so has shellac. When it comes time to have my floors done I'm going poly (I have two big dogs and two cats and one kid who likes to rollerskate inside).
You're stuck between a rock and noplace unfortunately. While shellac will be easier to spot fix than urethane you also won't have the protection of urethane for the wood either. The dogs' claws will just rip into the wood instead.
With a young newfoundland and a pit/greyhound mix here I'm facing the same problem. My new floors were finished five years ago and need it again.
I'd go with a tough poly and NO STAIN, the reason being that when the floors start looking ragged you can just re-screen (rather than re-sand) the floors and lay down a few more coats of poly. If you stain the floors it will require a thorough sanding to get the finish consistent again.
There are some very tough polys out there too. Ask the guys over at Premium Floors on 3rd Ave at 31st St. They carry the best floor urethanes in the area. Warning: the good stuff ain't cheap!
Also, a pro like Verrazano Floors can apply a finish that I've only heard described as "Swedish basketball court poly". It's an epoxy and really, really noxious. But it dries in like six hours and you only need one coat. The downside is that I think it only comes in high gloss. My neighbor used it with her 80 pound boxer and says it's holding up well.
Shellac for color. Poly for wear and tear. If the poly gets scratched you can always wipe a coat of new poly on the scratched area to mask it. I would suggest you put down a large rug (buy one at auction)or make a floor cloth if you feel inspired. The cost of the rug would be less than the cost of time and effort to refinish. Google "Floorcloth" and you will know what I mean.
I think I got your blog confused with another "7th Ave" Brooklyn blog. Doh!
Ignore the local references (g).
No wonder I didn't know what street you were talking about. But thanks for all the input so far guys.
How about a wax finish? Its fairly easy to maintain, easy to refinish, and protects the floors well. Short of that, I'd do an oil poly. A "screen & coat" ever few years isn't that big of a deal and it really is the most durable finish. Shellac wouldn't hold up well to animals - although it nice for color under some other finish. One day I will post photos of my kitchen shellac floor - not a pretty sight and the downside of water & animals on shellac & the wood beneath ;-)
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