In years gone by, one of the mainstays of traditional floor finishes was sanding and then an application of Tung oil. Tung oil was not a permanent finish in itself, but relied on the weekly (or more frequent) wax and polish, originally by hand, on knees.
The advent of mechanical polishers improved the task of waxing and polishing, as did the introduction of water bound metalized polish which was mopped over the floor, then polished off. Tung Oil itself, whilst not experiencing edge bonding or cracking, is a short lived product wearing off in six months of normal use and needs to be reapplied to protect the timber flooring.
Other finishes include moisture cured one part polyurethanes which have some advantages, and water based clear finishes. The water based finishes have the advantage that they are odourless, however the trade-off for this benefit is a greatly increased expense due to the research and development involved in the creation of this water based product. True water based products also do not have the same wearability as polyurethane products. The only way this issue is improved is by adding more and more of the polyurethane product which defeats the purpose of a full water based finish.
Two Pack Polyurethane varnishes involve a Part A of plastic mixed equally with a Part B of Hardener. This is then applied to the perfectly sanded floor for a coating that will always look spectacular and sophisticated. There is a massive improvement in the wearability of these floors over other finishes and this product remains a warm clear honey colour without the milky and strong yellow aging characteristics of some other finishes.
Not all Two Pack Polyurethanes are created equal, that is why Quicksand & Polish always use Wattyl Estapol® 7008, the original Estapol®. Factors impinging on the efficacy of the finish include the purity of the raw materials, the cleanliness of those materials, the clarity and how easy the product is to work with. This product has proven to be harder, stronger and more scratch resistant. A cleaner, clearer Stronger coating. The only one that has stood the test of time.
Whilst every flooring system and environment is different, the Two Pack Polyurethane finish has demonstrably the best capabilities of looking superb for longer. A floor in a busy office may need a buff and wear-coat reapplication in 3-5 years, this involves only a couple of hours work and the floor being out of action for only a day.
A frantic home filled with children, dogs and cats may need a new coating more frequently, or conversely a quiet retired person with no animals could go 10, 15 or even 20 years without needing any recoating at all.
Whilst by far the most common work that timber floor sanders and polishers such as Quicksand & Polish do is to solid timber floors, increasingly there is a need for sanding and polishing of laminated timber, engineered flooring.
All timber floors need to have a wear layer thickness of greater than 4mm to be able to be sanded sufficiently to allow excellent application of a reputable two pack polyurethane, or other finish. Therefore, if the flooring wear layer is 4mm or greater, it is possible to do a quality sand and polish whether it be traditional solid hardwood timber flooring or engineered timber flooring.
“The Perfect Process will transform your timber floor.
Quicksand & Polish @ Qsand - The difference is clear.”
- Mark Jolley, Vanguard
