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• Wood Floor Sanding
• Wood Floor Finishing & Staining
• Stairs & Banisters Restoration
• Parquet Flooring Restoration
• Wood Floor Installation
• Wood Floor Repairs

• S Thornton

  Barnet, 2019

  Question

  Is Lacquer Finish better than Hardwax-Oil for My Pine Floorboards?

  I have pine floorboards in my house, which I want to restore. Would you recommend sealing floorbaords with varnsih or oil? 

  • 

    Mr Sanders

    Answer

    Thank you for your question regarding floorboards sanding and sealing.

    First of all, application of floor sealant is done only after the floorboards have been properly sanded to a very smooth finish. It is often the case that once carpets are lifted, some of the floorboards may be badly damaged and may need replacement.

    Choosing which type of floor sealant would be best for your floors requires careful consideration. The two types of wood floor sealants are floor oils and wood floor lacquers. They both have different advantages and disadvantages, however, if you are looking for a more durable and hardwearing finish, then we would strongly recommend that you choose varnish rather than oil. Having said that, there are now some hardwearing wood floor oils available on the market, such as Osmo Oils which we regularly use for our wood floor re-oiling service. Nevertheless, for pine floorboards we would always recommend the application of varnish, rather than oil as pine is a softer wood compared to oak and oils tend to soak into the timber, leaving a thinner and less durable protective layer on top. Also, bear in mind that oiled floors are recommended for areas with less traffic as they require more frequent maintenance, such as buffing and re-oiling. For the majority of our floorboards restoration projects we use hardwearing water based floor varnishes, which come in different sheens - satin, matt or ultra matt. We rely on some of the leaders in the market today, such as Loba Varnishes, Bona Laquers and Junckers sealants, which we strongly recommend as they provide the ultimate level of protection and durability.
    The disadvantage of lacquered floors is that they are more vulnerable to scratches and do not allow for local repairs. Once scratched, varnished floors need to be sanded and re-sealed. Nevertheless, there are things that you can do to maintain the floor sealant and prolong its life before another sanding is required. This can be done through occasional cleaning and polishing before the varnish has worn out.

    We hope this information was helpful and don't hesitate to contact us if you need any further assistance or if you would like to book our floorboards restoration service.