Special Lacquers which finishes durably in one coat perfectly well

A FLOOR NEEDS MORE THAN JUST MAINTENANCE

IS THE CHOICE BETWEEN LACQUER AND OIL NOW EASIER DUE TO NEW APPLICATION BENEFITS?

Photo – Blanchon

In opting for a lacquered floor, both your client and you as a professional have made clear choices. One of the main reasons for choosing lacquer is to have a floor with low maintenance (both daily and periodic maintenance), certainly because lacquer as a finish coat does not fade away and is rigid. Unlike with oil, this therefore means that you seal off the wood entirely from any dirt and fluid.

In making this choice, you have intentionally discussed some of the drawbacks of parquet with the client, such as the fact that this finish is vulnerable to wear and scratches and the floor will have to be re-lacquered within a few years. You have also pointed out that wear in high-traffic places will become visible and that it is difficult, if not impossible, to restore a lacquer surface in patches since that would yield differences in gloss. And so, you really need to treat the whole surface again each time. You have to weigh up the reality of much easier maintenance against labour-intensive (and expensive) re-lacquering every so often.

Now, it is simply a fact that it is much more bother to eradicate damage from a parquet floor. This means that, if scratches occur, you first have to sandpaper the floor to resolve this properly. It is impossible to eradicate even minor damage, so you have to re-lacquer the entire floor. Anyone who cannot face that really should choose oil, which, moreover, is often rather cheaper than lacquer.

Best of two worlds We wondered how producers would set about combining the best of both worlds (i.e. oil and lacquer). As we know, lacquers not only mean applying several coats, but also you have to allow a certain drying time. That’s not all! You also have to clean and scour the floor thoroughly in advance, you cannot afford to omit any part of the floor when sandpapering (we don’t want to have an adverse effect on a lacquer’s adhesion process), and you should repair any damage to the wood first.

Discover the market range All this means that anyone who can launch a lacquer on the market to give a finish in one single coat is providing you, the parquet floor fitter, with a very useful ‘weapon’. This will not eliminate the process of lacquering, but it will certainly reduce its time and scope. And so, it seemed perfectly legitimate to put the following question to the market: ‘Who has a parquet lacquer which provides a perfect finish in a single coat and is durable?’

Actually, we followed up that question with a number of subsidiary questions, such as: Is it better to opt for the durability, chip resistance, and scratch resistance of a dual-component lacquer or isn’t that necessary (any more)? Or: Does the option of a new formulation also result in a considerably shorter drying time? All this has led to a highly interesting article in which we leave it up to you to discover what the market has in store for parquet professionals. Three specialists

Blanchon

The ‘one-coat’ varnish enjoyed a certain popularity in the 1980s, but that fad didn’t last long. That was because the need for a rapid and therefore affordable finish had to face up to reality. Wood is a carrier which reacts if moistened by a fluid, be it water, a solvent, or a greasy substance. We believe a varnish in a single coat is certainly possible, but only as a coat of varnish applied to a primer, usually with a rapid drying time. The varnish itself should aim primarily for high-quality protection from wear and perfectly easy application. If you apply just one single coat, all

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the shortcomings become visible and adversely affect the end result. And so, generally speaking, we tend to recommend three coats (or two on a hard surface). That takes nothing away from the fact that a finish in a single coat is certainly possible! Let’s further clarify the above. If you want a visually perfect finish which is exceptionally resistant to high traffic, it’s best to opt for two or three coats. If you prefer a lower cost price or a faster finish, you can opt for a finish on a hard surface. The main point is that it all depends on how we define ‘resistance to wear’. For instance, one coat is not advisable for high-traffic places, such as catering establishments. However, if the floor is designed for modest ‘family and domestic’ use, a single-coat finish can certainly be considered. Although we advise specialist parquet floor fitters to use three coats, we are launching our ‘Renovation Glazer’ on the market. As the name suggests, this product has been developed for renovating most parquet floors (e.g. glazed, oiled, etc.), either on site or in the factory. This product is applied in a single coat to a carrier which is prepared without sandpapering.

Chimiver

ECØ V is a singlecomponent water-based lacquer for wooden floors with reduced content of volatile organic compounds. ECØ V has high abrasion resistance and to heavy traffik. CERTIFIED EC1 PLUS. ECØ V can contribute to the achievement of QI CREDIT 4.1 according to the parameters of the GEV dated 03 March 2009, because it meets the certification LEED protocol (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The product has ECOLABEL certification (www.ecolabel.eu): european mark of ecological quality that confirms the Company's commitment towards the environment. ECØ V is a ready to use lacquer, it has to be applied on wooden floors that have been filled, sanded with 180 paper grit ad carefully vacuumed. It is possible to apply after 2/4 hours from the first application, without sanding or after 24 hours (after sanding with 220 paper grit) a second coat of ECØ V. If a third coat has to be done following the procedure listed above. It is recommended to sand after each coat of lacquer applied in order to have a soft and smooth effect. The maintenance of floors treated with ECØ V must be done with neutral pH water-based products.

Bona

Bona Mega ONE – waterborne mono-component polyurethane lacquer An all-in-one partner for treating wooden floors. It dries rapidly, is easy to sandpaper, and has excellent filling power. Bona Mega ONE is designed to make life easier for professionals as they can work faster, easier, and with great reliability. It gives an attractive and warm wood colouring and at the same time provides durable protection for wooden floors in living rooms and low-traffic commercial settings. A crystal clear and non-yellowing formula. Features: - Primer and finish in one – parquet primer is usually not necessary -

Bona Mega ONE can be applied directly to bare wood. - Mixing not necessary –no waste and it saves time. - Dries rapidly – intermediate sanding is often possible after one hour. - Abrasive doesn’t seal up during polishing. - Ideal for light wood - A nice warm colour, even for tropical wood sorts. - Good coverage, good filling power. - A durable parquet lacquer. - For use in homes and for low-traffic commercial floors. - Non-yellowing.

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