FLOOR FINISHES, SEALANTS & VARNISHES
Treat floors with the right finishing products and they’ll look good as new for years. Graham Hickman explains how to achieve a durable finish on residential and commercial floors
ANYONE who knows about wooden floors will tell you it’s no good opting for a high-quality wood floor unless it’s teamed with a professional floor finish. Choosing the right product for the intended use will make all the difference to the performance, maintenance, durability and look of the floor.
The most popular finish for wooden floors is lacquer, normally polyurethane. Choose the right lacquer for the expected level of foot traffic – Junckers MT 500 Floor Lacquer is a one-component lacquer ideal for floors that are exposed to medium wear, including residential use and light-traffic office buildings, for example. It’s easy to apply with outstanding flow characteristics and fast-drying.
For wooden floors exposed to high traffic, and this includes busy thoroughfares such as airports, shopping centres, restaurants, museums, schools and village halls, you get what you pay for. The perfect option is Junckers HT700. Well-known as the go-to lacquer for commercial installations, this water-based, two-part lacquer offers unmatched durability. It can be used on untreated, machine sanded as well as previously sealed floors and comes in three sheen levels – silk matt, matt and ultra matt. Choosing a high quality, very durable seal can actually mean value for money considering the level of protection a good seal offers along with overall maintenance costs.
For untreated floors or floors that have been sanded back to bare wood, what goes underneath is equally important. If a water-based seal will be used for the top coats you need to use a primer first. One of the main purposes of a primer is to stop the lacquer top coats from bonding the floorboards together. That way the floor can move naturally with the seasons and large gaps can be avoided. Water-based primers like Junckers WB Primer will bring out lighter colours in the wood. Choose from clear, white or the popular Nordic colour. Oily, tropical timbers on the other hand require a solvent-based primer like Junckers SB Primer which will deepen the natural colouring and prevent discolouration and adhesion problems.
If a client is looking to add colour to the floor Junckers’ Eco 2K Floor Oil is a great option. It comes in ten natural-looking colours that enhance the grain structure and can be used with or without a hardener. It can also be overcoated with one of Junckers’ water-based lacquers for extra durability – the best of both worlds!
Always choose woodcare products from the same manufacturer to ensure the result is compatible, hard-wearing, and looks good. Junckers’ woodcare products hold the Indoor Climate label.
www.junckers.co.uk
Graham Hickman is national woodcare manager at Junckers