Hardwood floors look best when they are shin and but the hard fact of life is that hardwood floor finishes can be quite toxic. If you suffer from environmental sensitivities or cannot tolerate e of oil based or polyurethane based hardwood finish fumes then you can opt for water based one. e. In some countries oil based floor finishes are banned because of their off gassing, odors and health issues.
The purpose of any hardwood floor finish should be to enhance the beauty of the wood and seal it. All polyurethane, whether oil or water-based create a seal over the floor that protects it. Polyurethane does not penetrate into the wood. Instead it is builds up on the surface. After all polyurethane is not like water – it is a plastic that dries on top of the wood.
As convenient as polyurethane is the oil finishes tend to ‘feed” the wood of your floor. OI-based hardwood floor finishes have a more familiar, old fashioned look to them than the newer water based hardwood floor finishes. It smoothest out the grain of the wood and develops into an attractive golden to brown color over the passage of time. However once a floor is varnished with an oil-based finish it can take weeks or even months for the odor to totally dissipate which is not good for you, your children or your pets.
An oil-based finish can take at least three days to dry and you may have to wait as long as a week before you can replace your furniture in the treated room. With a water based polyurethane finish, the varnish is dry within one or two days after applying the final coat and the fumes dissipate in just day or two. Another benefit of using water based polyurethane floor finishes is that it dries after only one hour. You can walk on it and put your furniture back in the room right away.
Water based hardwood floor finishes do not age the floor in the same attractive way that oil based finishes do. Your floor will remain its original color for years to come. Water based finish causes the grain to lift a bit from the wood. This gives the floor a bit of a rough feeling. If this does happen after you apply water based polyurethane finish the situation is not hopeless. There are some types of sealants that contain alcohol that you can buy and apply over the water based finish to restore the floor’s smoothness.