Bona Traffic HD Wood Floor Lacquer Review

 Hello and welcome to another Woodfloor-renovations blog post.

Todays subject matter is a review of a new product from the mighty Bona stable of world class flooring lacquers.

We are proud to have been asked to test and evaluate the latest version of the rather superb Bona Traffic, the new product is called 'Bona Traffic HD' and is an updated and harder wearing version of the best selling Bona Traffic.

We have written a comprehensive review and evaluation of Bona Traffic HD, which is available for viewing on our website.

We also used Traffic HD on a relatively small entrance hallway which had a very nice Douglas Fir parquet floor which we restored, checkout the video clip below of the completed project.

Hope you enjoy the review...Regards Gary.

My Wood Floor Looks Orange.....Why ?????

Hello and welcome to another Woodfloor-Renovations blog post.


Today we'll talk about another question i've been asked many times, the [full] question is:- "I've got a Maple Strip Wood Floor and it looks almost Orange ? It was only sanded and finished 3 years ago...Do you know why my floor has gone that colour ?? "


I've seen countless wood floors that have turned orange in colour, usually only a couple of years after the floor has been refinished, the culprit is merciless in that it doesn't care what the species is, or whether the floor is Parquet Block or Strip Flooring, the end result will always be the same...in that the floor turns Orange in colour.


The guilty party is almost certainly a floor seal called 'Bourneseal' this product was used very widely in the floor sanding industry for many years as a flooring lacquer, and is still available today, but is no-where near as popular with flooring contractors as it once was.


I don't know the technical details as to why Bourneseal turns wooden floors an orangey colour, the lady who sent in the question mentioned that the floor seal had looked clear for at least two years and then started to slowly turn orange during the third year.


If you want the floor to look clear again i'm afraid the only thing you can do is to have it fully Sanded off and Re-Sealed, as far as i know there is no other way, but if you do have the floor fully sanded make sure your contractor uses a modern non yellowing seal from a reputable manufacturer such as Bona, Junckers or Lobadur...


There are many other Lacquers out there from excellent manufacturers, which will do the job very well, but as I use lacquers very regularly from Junckers, Lobadur [lecol here in the UK] and Bona, I know these products work extremely well and WILL NOT even go yellow, never mind orange.


Hope that helps, thanks for reading.


Regards Gary

Lacquer Sheen Level....Can I Change Between Coats?

Hello and Welcome to another WFR Blog Post.


Today's question isn't something that I get asked too often, but its a fairly straightforward answer so we'll go with the flow.

The question is "Can I Change the Sheen level of the Lacquer Between Coats ?"

Short answer is YES, but there are of course some proviso's.....In this instance our DIYer has applied 2 coats of Junckers Strong Gloss lacquer onto his Maple Strip flooring and has decided its too shiny.

What I have recommended he do is as follows.....The floor surface in the room will need to be 'Cut Back' which in layman's terms is a light abrading of the lacquer surface, with say a 120 or 150 grit level sanding screen or abrasive, this 'Keys' the surface of the lacquer in readiness to accept the following coats of seal. Then obviously vacuum the surface thoroughly and then tack cloth to remove any fine particles of dust and debris.


You are now ready to apply the next coat of lacquer, in our friends case he was going to use Junckers Strong Matt finish, You really must use products from the same manufacturer when you are applying a different sheen level, they are basically the same products with different levels of matting agents in them, so the chances of the intercoat adhesion failing is remote if the correct procedures are carried out.

Its also not a bad idea to use a new roller to apply the next coat of seal, either that or make sure that the roller or applicator you used to apply the previous coats has been properly washed out.

Hope that helps....Thanks for Reading.

How Clean does my floor need to be before applying floor lacquer

Hello and Welcome to another WFR Blog Post.

Today we'll touch on a general cleanliness question of when a floor has been sanded and properly prepared in readiness for the first coat of seal.

The question I've recently received from a DIYer who has sanded his own floor is "How clean does the floor need to be before I apply the lacquer ?"

Pretty straightforward answer this one, 'As clean as possible'.....the cleaner your floor the better overall it will look, its a very simple equation really, as a general rule of thumb on a standard parquet block floor of say 20m2 we would vacuum the floor probably 5 times over the course of the day.

With floor sanding you really can't vacuum enough, but on occasions no matter how carefully the floor has been hoovered there ALWAYS seems to be the odd bit of debris that is in the way just as you are starting to apply the first coat of seal.

Personally I advocate the use of 'Tack Clothing' the floor just after the final vacuuming has taken place, it never ceases to amaze how much dust and crud the tack clothing process picks up, for a 20m2 room I'd advise using 2 cloths, tack cloths are very cheap and the process is ridiculously easy to do and will take less than 5 minutes for a 20m2 wood floor, it will make a tangible difference.

If there are any Pro's who are reading this thinking 'yeah right'..... just try it once and see what a difference tack clothing makes......I was converted many many moons ago and now make sure we tack cloth EVERY floor we do.....Remember the cleaner the floor the better the finish will be....its that simple.


The proof is in the pudding....well the pudding in this case is the two pictures below, the first is our brand new tack cloth just before we used it on a 10m2 Mahogany Parquet Block Floor, the second picture is just after it had been used on the said 10m2 floor.....PS....The floor had been thoroughly vacuumed with a very powerful vacuum just prior to being tack clothed....Don't they say a picture speaks a thousand words.....I shall say no more....

The Tack Cloth Before Being Used

Tack Cloth after being used......

Thanks for Reading. 

Floor Lacquer Sheen level....Which one should I choose ?

Hello and Welcome to another WFR Blog Post.


Today's wise words are all about one of the fundamental choices clients need to make at the initial contractor site visit stage of the Wood Floor Sanding and Sealing process.


The question being "What lacquer sheen level should I choose ?"  


There really is no textbook answer here, every client has slightly different needs and their project is a little different to everyone else's project....Some people like a very flat Matt finish to their wood floors, some people like a satin or semi gloss finish, and a few people like a high gloss finish, bear in mind all the finishes will look great but its about choosing the look which will best suit the individual clients needs.


Semi Gloss or Satin [they are virtually both the same]  is the finish we apply most of, in percentage terms we will use approx 80% semi gloss, 10% matt or ultra matt and around 10% gloss on our projects, semi gloss is not too shiny nor too flat and is the ideal finish for many clients.


Ultra Matt is becoming increasingly popular, the sheen level of this product is around 9% so it is very matt in appearance and if you didn't know any better you would think it's an oiled finish...but you have the ease of maintainance of a lacquer and the aesthetic appearance of Oil, it's win-win for many clients these days.


Gloss finishes aren't for everyone here in the UK, but in the US gloss finishes are huge and most refinished wood floors will have a Gloss finish. Up until a couple of years ago I didn't really like Gloss, but I did a project where the client specified a high gloss finish and the finished article looked absolutely tremendous....so I changed my mind.


In summary I would advise doing your homework before you specify a lacquered finish with your contractor, ask to see some of your contractors finished projects via a portfolio or on their website, or ask them to do a small test area for you so you can see for yourself how a particular sheen level will work in your particular environment, don't be afraid to ask.....if they want your business chances are they will do it for you without any problem.


hope this helps......Thanks for reading.


We have multiple wood floor sanding galleries on our website with many different species of wood and lacquer finishes available for you to peruse.....check us out :-)

Floor Lacquer Sheen Levels....Whats the Difference ??

Hello and welcome to another WFR Blogpost.


Today I'll enlighten you on a question that confuses most of my clients who just don't understand the difference....


The direct question I was asked is:-"What's the difference between Bona Mega Matt & Bona Mega Silk Matt ?? "


The trade terminology for this is "Sheen Level" ie. the difference between Matt & Silk Matt products. What this basically means in how much light the product reflects when applied to your wooden floor, typically a Matt product will reflect around 20% of the sunlight that hits it, Silk Matt or Satin reflect between 40-60% depending on the manufacturer, and Gloss reflects about 80%.


Ultra Matt is a finish which is becoming more and more popular these days and just about all the top manufacturers have these products in their ranges, Ultra Matt Lacquers have a very low sheen level which by comparison to Matt/Silk Matt/Gloss, this would be around the 9% mark.


At the end of the day choosing which sheen level to go for is a subjective issue and needs to be made by the home-owner before the project starts, what I will say is around 80% of my clients choose Silk Matt/Semi Gloss [which are the same] most of them say they don't want the finish to be too shiny or too flat/dull, so they plump for the Silk Matt which ALWAYS looks good by the way....All the finishes look good but its all about personal preference....


If you are not sure, ask your contractor to sand off a small area of your floor for you prior to the project starting and apply a quick couple of coats of the lacquer, so you can see for yourself how the sheen level will look on your particular floor, a good contractor won't mind doing this for you as it doesn't take long to do......


Hope that helps.....Thanks for reading.