Common Types of Hardwood Floor Finishes

When installing wood floors, builders, installers, and DIYers need to consider the different wood finishes that were previously installed or are going to be installed. Flooring finishes are usually oil, water, alcohol, or urethane-based. Installing wood floors with healthy and durable finishes also means understanding the moisture interactions between both the floor and the finish.

Types of Wood Finishes

Wood floors that were installed prior to the mid-’60s were likely finished with varnish or shellac. It’s fairly simple to check. Find an inconspicuous place on the floor, and scratch the surface with a coin or other sharp object. If the finish flakes, it is probably shellac or varnish which are floor finishes from a bygone era. Natural varnish (made with vegetable oils) made way for vinyl-alkyd, and that made way for urethane.

Here Are Different Types of Wood Floor Finishes Currently Available:

Oil-Modified Urethane

Generally, the most common surface finish and is easy to apply. It is a petroleum base with a blend of synthetic resins, plasticizers and other film-forming ingredients that produce a durable surface that is moisture-resistant. It is a solvent-based finish that dries in about eight hours. This type of finish ambers with age and is available in different sheen levels.

Moisture-Cured Urethane

A solvent-based finish that is more durable and more moisture-resistant than other surface finishes. Moisture-cured urethane comes in non-yellowing and in ambering types and is generally available in satin or gloss. These finishes are extremely difficult to apply, have a strong odor and are best left to the professionals. Curing of this type of finish is done by absorbing minute quantities of moisture vapor from the air, which causes them to harden. The curing process is very dependent on relative humidity.

Water-Based Urethane

A waterborne urethane with a blend of synthetic resins, plasticizers and other film-forming ingredients that produce a durable surface that is moisture-resistant. These finishes are clear and non-yellowing and are different sheen levels. They have a milder odor than oil-modified finishes have, and they dry in about two to three hours. Water-based urethanes are generally more expensive.

Conversion-Varnish Sealers (Swedish Finishes)

Two-component acid-curing, alcohol-based sealers. Because of their origin (country), conversion varnish sealers are often referred to as Swedish finishes.

Penetrating Sealers

Are spread on the floor and allowed to penetrate and are solvent-based. The excess sealer is removed with rags or buffed in with synthetic or steel wool pads. This type of finish often has a color and can be used to stain and seal the wood floor. Penetrating oil sealers are made from tung or linseed oil, with additives to improve drying and hardness.

Paste Wax

The oldest and in some ways the best. Wax is the easiest to apply, least expensive, fastest drying, and easiest to repair, and with proper care, it will survive forever. Wax over a penetrating stain and the system is in the wood so you wear the wood, not the finish. Wax is spread in thin coats for surface protection after the stain and/or sealer is applied, then buffed to the desired sheen.

Varnish

Vinyl-alkyd varnishes have superseded natural varnish made from vegetable oils. This product was commonly used before urethane finishes were introduced.

Lacquer

The flammability and incompatibility of this floor finish are NOT recommended by many manufacturers. This finish should be avoided.

Shellac

This product (natural shellac) contains wax and is not widely used for top coating in today’s wood flooring market. Dewaxed shellac is being used more and more for a wood floor sealer.

What to Remember

Any wood flooring finishing choice involves moisture because a liquid is applied when installing wood flooring finishes (with the exception of the wax finish). In addition, all wood has a certain level of MC, water vapor within every single wood cell. Installers must remember that water, oil, synthetics, and stains all interact with each other when installing wood floors with any finish.

The relative humidity (RH) and temperature of the environment also influence the durability of wood flooring. When RH is low, wood loses MC as it evaporates; when RH is high, wood gains MC from the surrounding air. Wood flooring installers aim to achieve the wood flooring reaching its equilibrium moisture content (EMC) previous to installation by leaving the flooring at the installation site to adjust to ambient conditions. EMC is the balance between the wood’s internal MC levels with that of the surrounding environment. Wood flooring is more likely to fail (and thus, wood finishing with it) when installers or contractors fail to ensure that the wood flooring has reached its EMC before installation and finishing.

Free Download – Wood Flooring Installation: What To Expect

How to Succeed

Recognize the continual need to measure and balance the MC of your wood flooring and you enhance your chance of successfully installing and finishing wood floors. Ensure proper equilibration time for new flooring and use an accurate wood moisture meter to prevent potential MC-related problems.

Drying time is the key. Successful wood flooring installers often keep room temperatures between 60 and 80 degrees with RH between 30 and 50 percent. Outside these parameters, wood finishes may not dry properly: the definition of trouble when finishing wood floors. Remember: wood stain must dry completely before applying wood finishes because the majority of finish failures begin at this stage. Check the manufacturer’s RH specifications before applying wood finishes. Finally, low RH and increased airflow help finished wood flooring dry even though those conditions may not be ideal for the floor’s longevity. But don’t create a long-term disparity between the ambient conditions and the installation conditions of your environment or your floor will suffer for it.

Ron Smith

As Sales Manager for Wagner Meters, Ron has more than 35 years of experience with instrumentation and measurement systems in different industries.  In previous positions, he has served as Regional Sales Manager, Product and Projects Manager, and Sales Manager for manufacturers involved in measurement instrumentation.

Last updated on September 6th, 2023