Need help choosing a coating for my wood floor

Kharstin

I have a pine floor that was installed in the 1950’s. It has been under carpeting almost since it was installed. There are stains in a few spots and pitting from carpet staple and nails. I plan to fill in the larger holes and sand (any recommendations on the grit?) the wood before recoating. Here is where I need advice.

We have two dogs (1 large and one medium) and two cats. What coating do you recommend I put on the floor that will protect the wood from the animal’s nails as well as average wear and tear? The room is in the middle of our home so you must go though it to go anywhere in the house so it sees lots of foot traffic as well. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am no expert so easy application would be a definite plus.

Thank you!

Fred Ji

You will probably have pet damage no matter what. Polyurethane is the standard. Sand per directions on the poly. Don't paint yourself into a corner.

Just Bill

But get a poly specifically designed for floors, not the stuf you use on furniture.

ccarlisle

You have a relatively soft wood and you're looking for a hard-as-nails coat to put on top...hmmm tall order, but not uncommon.

Polyurethane it is - but, uh, which one? A tough scratch-resistant top coat will have to not only be hard, but sit on something hard too since it may be hard but it is brittle. So now we're looking at 'layers'...

I think it safe to say that the $8 quart of consumer-friendly, multi-purpose, water-based polyurethane is not going to be capable of withstanding the traffic (wasn't designed to) but polyurethane technology is wider than that...I do know that cataysed polyurethanes are available that would fit the bill, but theyr equire a certain preparation of the subfloor and existing surface to work. And they're not DIY products. More expensive for sure but worth it in your high-end requirements.

Since you are making the transition carpet-to-wood and that on top of that you are asking the wood to do something more than just be underneath the carpet, something it wasn't perhaps meant to do, I'd have a pro come in and given their opinions on what process to use to meet those challenges and then decide.

But it's that eternal 'triangle': you can: have have it cheap, have it good, or have it fast. In this world, you get two out of three choices but the third will have to compensate.