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e-mail this article | American Hardwoods for High-Traffic Areas
A natural material brings durability, cost-effectiveness and charm to busy venues
Hardwood Finishes
Manufacturers offer a wide selection of finishes designed to enhance and protect the wood floor, each with its own distinct benefits and appearances.
Surface Finishing
Surfaces finishes involve applying a stain to achieve a particular color,
followed by a top coat of polyurethane or varnish to give a protective coat. Surface finishes are durable, they resist moisture, and are easy to maintain. There are four options for the top coat, and each has its own benefits:
Oil-based Urethane is a commonly used floor finish. Available in gloss, semi-gloss, and satin sheens, oil-based urethane is generally applied in two or three coats, with drying time of up to eight hours for each coat. This type of finish dries by evaporation of petroleum-based solvents, so adequate ventilation is important. The finish will also amber as it ages.
Water-based Urethane, another commonly used finish, provides a clear, non-yellowing finish and produces fewer odors than other choices. This product dries quickly. There are a number of choices of water-based finishes, which include different blends of acrylic and urethane resins and one component, or those requiring different additives.
Moisture-cured Urethane is a solvent-based polyurethane that is more durable and more moisture-resistant than other surface finishes, and is ideal in commercial, high-traffic settings. This finish is available in a satin or gloss non-yellowing formula, as well as one that will take on an amber hue with age. The finish relies on humidity to cure and is generally unsuitable for use in very dry areas. It should only be used by a professional familiar with the product.
Conversion Varnish is a product which resists yellowing. It produces a “rich” pleasing patina. It is flammable, and like moisture-cured urethane produces a very strong odor and should only be applied by a skilled wood flooring professional.
Knowing the species is a prerequisite to choosing the surface finish.
“Cherry will actually deepen in color over time and its natural state has many variations, so we actually stained it to get a more uniform initial color. Then it will deepen with a similar darkness as opposed to letting it change naturally,” says Katrina Barnett, AIA, Radelet McCarthy Architects and Interior Designers in Pittsburgh, which has used hardwoods in several local hospitals, reflecting a growing trend to incorporate natural materials in health care settings.
Penetrating Finishes
These finishes actually penetrate the wood to form a protective seal. The stains soak in to provide color, and a wax coating gives a low-gloss satin sheen that can be maintained with additional thin applications. These finishes require special care—water-based products should
never be used to clean or maintain the floor, only solvent-based waxes,
buffing pastes, or cleaning liquids specifically made for wax-finished wood floors.
Particularly in high-traffic settings, the latest trends in finishes include products designed to further extend the life of hardwood floors.
Factory-finished and site-finished floors can be equally durable in high-traffic areas. Some factory-applied finishes contain aluminum oxide to enhance the abrasion-resistance qualities of the floor.
Acrylic finishes provide an extremely hard, durable barrier to dirt, moisture, and wear and tear because the finish is actually forced into the pores of the wood at the factory. Acrylic-impregnated floors, in which acrylic and color are forced into the pores throughout the wood through a high pressure treatment, are extremely resistant to abrasion and moisture. They are among the most expensive and are used in very high-traffic commercial settings. Scott McFadden, Vice President and Director of Design at Maregatti Interiors, reserves acrylic impregnated products for ultra-high-use settings in hospitals and corporate environments. To demonstrate its durability to a client, McFadden had samples of various flooring materials put to a “wear” test. “The acrylic-impregnated floor held up slightly better than even the terrazzo floor,” he says.
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