Short Story: I need some suggestions on what to use over a shellac finish that has been put down on an old Jarrah floor to add waterproofness and durability. Thanks guys

Long Story: I pulled up the shag pile carpet in our 1940s house and found some Jarrah floor in pretty reasonable condition. I pulled out all the staples and nail strips and decided to put down a quick and simple finish to see if we like the floorboards or if we will recarpet.

The old original finish seemed to be shellac since is it cleaned up and could be removed with Metho. I decided to just quickly refinish it with a few more layers of FeastWatson Shellac as a temporary finish and if we did like it, we were intending to get it sanded and refinished professionally. Over the shellac, I put some FeastWatson Floorshine (waterbased floorpolish) for a bit of extra protection and shine.
Turns out that the shellac looked awesome and we decided not to get it resanded/refinished and leave it as it is. But, as time has gone on, spots of water damage have appeared on the shellac where water has been dripped on it and not wiped up immediately.

So, I am looking for a finish that I can put over the shellac myself to seal it properly. The floorshine floorpolish can be removed first with some FeastWatson Floorclean or Floorstrip and then the Shellac can be wiped with Metho to repair the water spots and prepare it for the final finish.

One additional complication is that I have a huge (immovable) aquarium cabinet that I had to cut the carpet around it and leave it there. If I ever get rid of it in a few years time, I would like to finish the Jarrah under it and blend the finish with surrounding areas (hence why I wrongly though shellac would be a good idea).

So, I am after a repairable finish that I can use over the shellac.
I am open to any ideas as I don’t really know too much about this. I don’t know whether a finish like china oil, or even something as simple as a proper floor wax would work. Is there wax in the shellac that may cause problems?
I don’t think a hard poly would work though as it wouldn’t blend well if ever finishing the section when the aquarium is removed.

Thanks
Simon


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