Jarrah Floorboards

[synegy22]

We have beautiful recycled jarrah floorboards which have been finished in a satin sheen/gloss around 12 mths ago. They are now horribly scratched (mainly due to our toddler pushing hard plastic toys around). Can anyone tell me if having a high-gloss finish is more scratch resistant than the satin finish? Thanks for your help

[Gaza]

Use a water based polyutheran, u will have to buy this from a floor sanding supplies if you are planning to DIY, or if getting a pro ring around as not all floor sanders know how this stuff works.

You can get gloss or matt in this stuff, there is a number of differnt brands eg Synetco, Feastwaston make one, Bona Kem, Enviro Pro, Poly Cure.

When selecting the product ask for a commerical finsh we use Bona Kem Traffic for Westfields shopping centers and it holds up good.

The two part water based are better than the single part.

IWe only uses water based for commerical products like cafes, bars, shopping centers, lobys, it has great wearing but still needs to be looked after by applying a scarifical wax.

[Ashore]

don't you hate it when the web page goes down after answering a thread still

about 10 years ago when i retired i did the floors in the house and after asking around went with 2 pac first & 1 pac on top , apperently 2 pac being as hard as it is can crazy crack it heavy objects dropped on it and the 1 pac will protect it and re-coating is easy

after the last of the daughters left home thought about re-coating but as you do never got around to it. Now have two grandsons so re-coating a waste of time

have found mild rub with metho smothes it out some and a mop over once a week with 1 cup metho to 1 bucket of water helps but when all is said and done it's just a floor and kids will be kids re-surface today re-surface tomorrow and you will still see scratches .


The trouble with life is there's no background music.

[synegy22]

Thanks so much for your responses - really appreciated!

Gaza - another question - we did have the professionals do it and I'm pretty sure it was the two part water based poly but I don't know if they put a sacrificial wax on top of it. Do you think if we just applied one of the products like the Cabots Hi-Gloss Floor Polish (which their website says basically just mop on) over the top of the existing scratched flooring would help? I'm thinking this would reduce further scratching but am worried that it might intensify the scratches underneath?
Ashore - I do know what you mean by saying it's just a floor at the end of the day ... but it's still disappointing having it look really crappy less than 12 mths after having it done Thanks for the tip on rubbing them with metho so it doesn't look so obvious - I shall try that.

[Gaza]

If the floor has no major dings or scratces (ie down to bear wood) you can give the floor a light buff then apply a series of new coats over the top. u will need more than one coat. i would suggets the water based poly as it is able to be applied over most finshes, (do a test first to ensure that the coat is not re-jected)

Once the new coats are done you can apply a wax product like Gemmi (match wax to floor finsh) at regular intervals, this protective wax is then worn away not you floor polish.

[synegy22]

There are no major scratches ... so the buffing back sounds like a viable option. Thanks heaps for sharing your knowledge.

[Dan_574]

If there are no major scratches why waste your money just leave it until the kids grow up a bit, seeing as though its only 12 months old. I layed karri natural grade with a 1 pak poly in satin and with a 4 and 5 year old, Im just going to leave it for another 4 or 5 years(hopefully) until they grow up and stop throwing there toys. Theres scratches but who cares. By the way I wouldnt even consider high gloss especially with a kid it shows up every pice of dirt, dust etc.