Can I Apply a Coloured Lacquer to a Hardwood Floor Without Sanding it ?

Hello and Welcome to another WFR Blog post.


Today's post is a question i don't hear too often, but without the correct knowledge and proper techniques it would be very easy indeed to make a complete hash of your floor.


The question is:- "Can I Apply Coloured Lacquer to a Hardwood Floor Without Sanding it ? "  


You will almost certainly need to lightly Sand the floor prior to applying the Coloured Lacquer......read on as to why....


I know for a fact this topic has caught out many people who have tried to do just this, but have  had a very poor finish on their project, in fact I did a job for a lady last week who did exactly this and had a near disastrous finish.....Hence her phone call to us....


There are a number of things that anyone who is contemplating applying coloured lacquer needs to bear in mind before starting their project. Firstly and most importantly it needs to be determined whether or not the wood surface you are applying the coloured lacquer to is a Lacquered Finish.....or an Oiled Finish....


If you know the Finish on your floor is an oiled finish then its project over before it's begun, you cannot apply Coloured Lacquer on top of an Oiled Finished Floor, it will just reject and peel off, usually within a day or two, Lacquer and Oil are literally like Oil and Water, they DON'T mix......However if you happen to know that the finish on your project is Lacquer, then you should be ok......famous last words.


I would strongly recommend that you thoroughly clean your project floor before you start applying any lacquer using a good proprietary wood floor cleaning product, I would also advocate doing a small test area first, say a small board or two in a corner of your room so you can basically test whether or not the Coloured Lacquer will properly adhere to and cover your wood floor, this will also allow you to see how the coloured lacquer will look on a small area before you coat the entire floor.


If the test area is successful then its time to move onto doing the whole floor. Clean the surface with a proper wood floor cleaning product as I mentioned before and wait for that to dry. Now you need to lightly sand the whole area with say a 120 grit level sandpaper, this is so that the whole area has a good 'key' so the following coats of coloured lacquer will adhere properly.


After you have finished lightly sanding your floor then vacuum the area thoroughly, and also tack cloth the area as well so the floor is as clean as possible before you start applying any coloured lacquer.


Check to see if your Coloured lacquer product can be applied with a roller or a brush and use the correct application tools, read and correctly follow the manufacturers instructions. 


Hope that helps......Good Luck.