Finishing sheet flooring

[JulietDelta]

I'm about to start sanding a patrticle board floor and I'm wondering how to finish it. What I would like to do is stain it and apply satin finish rather than a high gloss. I saw a kitchen where it had been done years and it was finished with a deep honey colour and I thought it was cork until I dropped something on it. I'd like to do it like that.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

John

[Barry_White]

John

I have a friend who is a builder that has Estapoled particle board flooring and it certainly looks like cork. He used in a kitchen area.

[JulietDelta]

Thanks for that Bazza, could have been your mate that did it - the house I saw it in was just up the road from you in Armidale where I lived about 15 years ago.

I experimented with an Estapol stain on a piece of scrap particle board but ended up with a patchy looking finish so what I need is some idea on how to get an even finish that will show the underlying particles to give that cork effect.

John

[Barry_White]

John

Was that a house that had a swimming pool inside the house.

[JulietDelta]

John

Was that a house that had a swimming pool inside the house.

Bazza

No, it was a small weatherboard house on 5 acres just outside town - no sign of a swimming pool anywhere near let alone inside the house.

Cheers

John

[Barry_White]

John

It was probably one that he built. He was a builder in Armidale for a lot of years and he built a lot of unusual types of homes and did a lot of things out of the ordinary. He is now in up in Queensland.

[journeyman Mick]

John,
I've seen a fair few particleboard floors done in estapol. None of them were stained before hand, I don't know of any stains that are suitable for flooring as they tend to fade unevenly. Estapol over particleboard flooring will go a rich honey colour over time.

Mick

[Dusty]

I've sanded and polished heaps of particle board floors. Some have been stained then coated. Some had some colour in the polyurethane to tint the floor. Most have just been clear coated with Two Pack polyurethane.

What I have found is...

~Firstly, due to the glues used to bond the chips together it can take a day longer for the first coat to dry.

~Secondly, when you cut back the first coat, you'll find it extremly rough but the better the job you do here on this cut back, the better the overall finish will be.

~Thirdly, I always use Wattyl 7008 Two Pack polyurethane and I give particle board four coats, instead of the standard three.

Here's a quick tip...on one floor, I routed small grooves into the boards and created a tiled look. Took a bit of roo...mucking around but the effect was excellent.

Have fun.

[IanA]

I saw one particleboard floor where the owners had sanded the floor, then used stain to stencil a border and central panel, before finishing with clear urethane.

Very effective, and opens up endless possibilities if you are creative.

As for the finish I'd go for 7008 as Dusty says. I've seen water based urethane used, and it just made the floor look thirsty.