How To Finish A Maple Floor

Scott a wednesday 08 april 2015.

How to finish a maple floor.

Start from the center of your piece of maple and follow the direction of the wood grain with your brush strokes. This is only 500 sf. You can dissolve the pigment in a solvent such as lacquer thinner or in the finish you re using but using a gel stain is the easiest option requiring only a paintbrush and rag. Next the dura seal 1000 water based finish is applied and left to dry 3 hours again.

Have 1 person put the stain on and another to spread it and wipe up spills and pools. The sealer is allow to dry 3 hours and buffed with a maroon pad to prepare it. The trick to getting a great finish on maple is a diligent sanding job and the application of thin uniform coats with sufficient dry time on each coat. Paint a thin layer of polyurethane onto your maple.

Also you must apply this type of finish by spraying. The cab stands for cellulose acetate butyrate. First a natural maple floor finished with water based finish is going to look a lot different than a maple floor that is finished with an oil based finish see pics below. To pop the grain a bit first wipe the maple with an ultrapale shellac sealer.

Homeowners are often suspicious when they hear this since they re offered countless options of stained maple cabinetry and prefinished wood flooring and they look quite uniform in color. Contractors are at a disadvantage when refinishing wood floors on site because they cannot replicate the unique processes used in factory finishing in the field. The common rule is never skip more then one grit in sequentially sanding to 120 grit. The best application tool and procedure is the one that the finisher is the most comfortable using.

Sand back all you have done then dye the maple with a water dye i use lockwood new york very cost effective very lightfast. After sanding you must first apply the dura seal 1000 water based sealer this has ph modifier to eliminate a uneven coloring during the first coat. The floor should take on a soft sheen. The finish will be just a touch darker than the aforementioned choice.

Then if you want to stain with a pigment and clear coat over with a floor finish of your choice. If that is an option you will even consider i would recommend this. Use the fine abrasive pads with the floor buffer to buff going with the wood grain. This will give you more wetting out of the cellulose and hence more figure.

There is no magic solution or tool for sanding and finishing a maple floor. Apply a coat of finish and then tone the wood by spraying pigment on the dried finish or wiping on a gel stain. Keep working toward the edges of the piece so the clear coat doesn t drip over the sides. Use clean dry rags to apply the maple stain evenly.

Vacuum the entire floor twice with the shop vac.