Wooden Flooring
Wooden Floor Polish
Sealing Wooden Floor –
Prior to sealing application, it is important to turn off all artificial airflow from the work area. Check all doors, windows, overhead fans, and any other possible source of air flow. The ideal condition to apply water bond finishing and sealers is 18-26 degree Celsius along with 40-60% relative humidity. For countries like Singapore it is difficult to get this ideal temperature during the day, hence we recommend it to apply it mainly during the late evening. If possible, we try to acclimate the job site to these parameters before applying sealer/finish applications. We recommend placing walk-off towels at all entrances and exits to prevent unwanted debris being tracked down to the floor. Vacuum and dry track the stained floor to remove any carpet fibers and debris from stain application process. Work the edges first to create a clean zone around the surface area then move to the field maintaining a leading edge of the mop instead of pulling and pushing.
Planning for Sealing Wooden Floor –
Coming up with the plan of the best idea for sealer and finish application is crucially important on big complex jobs. But any job or any site will benefit we have a proper plan of executing this application on the work area. Walk the entire floor to identify areas that can be finished and cut off as the transition points, such as at the bedroom and bathroom doorways and anywhere else along the flooring direction in the room layout it will allow. We also need to determine the best places to start and end the finishing pass keeping in mind that we don’t necessarily want to end at the front or any other focal point in the house. It’s always best to finish at the garage, back or side doorways if possible. It is recommended to finish small bedrooms first pulling dry lines at the doorways, then look after the small areas such as kitchen pulling dry lines in line with cabinets and in the flooring direction. Next may be master bedroom and hallway pulling the dry line next to the family/living room. Finally, one can consider the application in family/living room starting from the entry way finishing off with the kitchen and bedroom dry lines working out away from family room existing out of the back door or another related exit point. The game plan or the application directions all depend on the floor layout and the number of rooms been covered by wooden flooring for the application. Thus, it is important to understand the areas of dry lines and plan to cover them along with the exit point of the application area.
To start and prepare for an application of sealing, vacuum and then rinse roller cover with water. Use a clean terry cloth rag to dry it to just damp. Attach the roller to roller handle and mount it on an extension pole. Keep damp rags handy for cleaning up finish drips or picking debris out of puddles.
The sealer can always give an added depth and pop to look at the stain and provides a nice build coat. Make sure to shake the sealer thoroughly before use. Next, insert the supplied medium filter into the jug by cutting of excess material as needed. It is always advisable to let the sealer settle for 5-10 minutes to deform. This is important post shaking up the sealer as the first step. We must ensure to repeat this process for any additional gallons needed for the current coat over application area. Stage the prepared gallons of sealer around the job site for quick accessibility.
Execution of Sealing
To start sealing application on the wooden floor, pour 4-6 inches wide line of sealer along the starting section which could be a smaller set or whole wall depending on our sealing plan. Cut in against the starting wall in 3-4 feet down the sides using cut-in/sealing pads. Pour up more sealer into a starting puddle and saturate your roller. In terms of application rate, it is important to understand that roller applies material heavier than the sealing/cutting pads. Cutting/sealing pads used for the edges of the floor area where the application with the roller may be difficult. If we are not careful in understanding the application rates between the cutting/sealing pad and the roller, the difference will show up in the final finishing or final product. Hence it is important to make sure that we don’t cut-in too thin and be sure that we roll back over cut-in areas. It is also important to understand that we don’t go over any dry lines and touch it up with the cutting pad if we do go over the dry lines.
Start with the roller behind the puddle and pull it towards you rolling with the grains which then will be pushed back in the same path but in the reverse direction. While operating the roller it is important to pass your starting point and making sure to use a feathering motion off the floor. Start the next pass using the same method overlapping our last run overlapping by over 25%. We must continue this method across the section. We need to gauge and add more sealer as needed to the next section.
Cut-in 4-5 more feet using cutting/sealing pads by the sides and roll the middle area just we did in the previous run. We must ensure to repeat this method for entire job carefully applying the recommended amount of sealer and keeping an eye out on any area that we may have missed out.
Exiting the Work Area
While completing the final section of the work area or the floor, it may be necessary to roll across the grain. Remember all the time during the main implementation we are been rolling along the grains of the wood. Although we prefer to roll with the grains all the time, a well-practiced professional can roll directly across the grains without leaving visible marks which are a huge benefit to being an expert with roller method. This expertise is most important when we apply the sealer of finishing on the complex wood patterns such as Parquet boards, Inlays, and Border flooring. Finish rolling over larger areas on the field then use your sealing/cutting pads to complete the job around an exit doorway. The small plastic garbage carrier or paint tray near the exit doorway will help to put away roller cover assembly when we are done with it. If we find that we have too much sealer left at the exit door, soak up the extra material with the cutting pad and squeegee into the garbage carrier or paint tray before we finish feathering out. It is recommended to store our applicators in the air tight container until we can properly clean them out.
After completing, make sure to clean your application tools thoroughly with water. After cleaning up we should squeeze them out until they are just slightly damp. We need to store all our applications in air-tight zip lock bags or storage containers. If we are not going to use them for a while, place them in a freezer to prevent mold and mildew.
Post Sealing Application
While completing the final section of the work area or the floor, it may be necessary to roll across the grain. Remember all the time during the main implementation we are been rolling along the grains of the wood. Although we prefer to roll with the grains all the time, a well-practiced professional can roll directly across the grains without leaving visible marks which are a huge benefit to being an expert with roller method. This expertise is most important when we apply the sealer of finishing on the complex wood patterns such as Parquet boards, Inlays, and Border flooring. Finish rolling over larger areas on the field then use your cutting pads to complete the job around an exit doorway. The small plastic garbage container or paint tray near the exit doorway will help to put away roller cover assembly when we are done with it. If we find that we have too much sealer left at the exit door, soak up the extra material with the cutting pad and squeegee into the garbage container or paint tray before we finish feathering out. It is recommended to store our applicators in the air tight container until we can properly clean them out.
After completing, make sure to clean your application tools thoroughly with water. After cleaning up we should squeeze them out until they are just slightly damp. We need to store all our applications in air-tight zip lock bags or storage canisters. If we are not going to use them for a while, place them in a freezer to prevent mold and mildew.
