Who has lacquers which apply a finish in one coat?

MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE IN ADVANCE

FINISHING IN ONE COAT IS POSSIBLE, BUT ONLY UNDER SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES

If you opt for a lacquer finish, you opt for a floor which is easy to maintain, both daily and periodically. The benefit of lacquer is that it is a rigid finish layer which does not deteriorate. And so, various things mean that, unlike with oil, you create a complete enclosure of the wood to counter the penetration of dirt and damp.

If you were to ask 100 parquet floor fitters the question, a lot of them would say that they always finish with more than one coat of lacquer. However, under specific circumstances it is possible to finish in one coat, as long as you consider a number of factors. As a side issue, this lacquering in one coat is certainly not as new as is often supposed. We saw it emerge several decades ago, and it was fairly popular in the early 1980s. However, that popularity did not last because the desire to work with a fast and economical finish was confronted by a reality check.

The varnished wood did not react well to just one coat of lacquer. Why not? As we all know, wood does not take kindly to damp at all. Moreover, lacquer, too, is a fluid. The pores start to swell because they absorb moisture, certainly with the application of a first coat. Logically, the single-coat lacquer story soon came to an end because the necessary preparation slowed down what was a speedy and economical operation.

Substrate preparation

How do you set about finishing in a single coat? Don’t forget that you need to prepare the substrate properly. And so, this means that first of all you apply a covering coat of ‘primer’, preferably a fast-drying one. The reason for the rapid drying is obvious and relates directly to what we’ve outlined above: Time is money, so the slower the work, the less benefit of a finish in one coat.

Can you just apply any lacquer? No, certainly not! Don’t forget that you need to use a lacquer with a hollow filling factor. Furthermore, you also need to ensure that you are in a comfortable working position because applying just a single coat inevitably means that you see every shortcoming and application error. You must avoid all the things which no client wants to see in the finished article.

When just one coat?

When do you opt for just one coat and when do you avoid it? Both questions need to be considered and you need to decide in advance the final purpose of the floor. If it has to look absolutely perfect, yet at the same time it will be used quite a lot, you can best take the safe option of two or even three coats of lacquer as a finish. The latter option, three coats, is clearly preferable. Do you want just one coat? If so, you must do so on a hard base and the choice has to be justified by both a cost/ benefits analysis and/or speed of application.

Possible under specific circumstances

There is still the question as to whether it is possible to have a perfectly durable finish in just one coat. Here you need to define first exactly what you mean by durable. If we are talking about a high-traffic room such as an office or a shop, you can best forget about a finish in just one coat. You will never achieve adequate durability in just one coat.

It is still possible, however, under different circumstances. It is possible to justify it for a residential application, especially if you use a lacquer with a high dry extract which is produced specially for a finish in one coat, and certainly if the traffic in that setting is fairly limited. These lacquers must always contain resins which can guarantee good to excellent performances, and there we think almost automatically of 2-component polyurethane lacquers.

Bona

Bona Mega ONE – waterborne and 1-component polyurethane lacquer An all-in-1-Partner for the treatment of wooden floors. Fast-drying, easy to sand, and excellent filling power. Bona Mega ONE is designed to simplify the working day for professionals, for faster and easier works and highly reliable. It gives a warm and attractive wood colouring and at the same time gives wooden floors a durable protection in living rooms and in commercial areas with minimal traffic. A crystal clear and non-yellowing formula. Features: - Primer and finish in 1 – parquet primer is usually not required - Bona

Mega ONE can be applied directly to bare wood.* - No need to mix – no spillage and it saves time. - Dries rapidly – intermediate sanding is often possible after 1 hour - Sanding material does not slide closed during polishing. - Ideal for light wood - Also on tropical wood a warm and attractive colouring - Good layer structure, good filling strength - A durable parquet lacquer - For use in homes and for low-traffic commercial floors - Non-yellowing *IMPORTANT - Bona always advises you to apply a minimum of 3 coats (8-10m²/litre = 120-100g/m² per coat). This determines the final strength and durability of the top coat.