Oil Based Polyurethane or Water Based?
Forum > oil based or water based polyurethane? oil based or water based polyurethane? 8:54 AM 04/29/2013
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odyssey After a bad leak, my living room and den floors were refinished last year (red oak parquet tiles circa 1964). Being a bit old school and in a hurry to get the job done, I elected to use 3 coats of an oil based polyurethane and am happy with the outcome. I recently lifted the old, ugly carpet in my master bedroom and some of the parquet tiles will have to be replaced and the floor refinished. I have more time to consider my options this time around. I am sure this question has been asked before, but I would appreciate feedback on personal experiences with oil based vs waterbased polyurethane in terms of appearance, durability, etc.
odyssey
in Construction 12 years ago
11
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11 replies
theflooringgirl | 11 years and 8 months ago
Personally, I’m a big fan of oil based poly. I wrote a post (see link below) which explains the pros and cons on oil and water based poly. I hope this is useful. http://theflooringgirl.com/featured/oil-vs-water-based-polyurethane-which-is-bes-for-refinishing-hardwood-floors.html Debbie Gartner aka The Flooring Girl.
odyssey | 12 years ago
I have to agree that I like the look of oil stained floors. There is a certain richness to them so I think that I am headed in that direction. However, I certainly appreciate how much friendlier water based polyurethane is to the home owner (fast drying time) and for the environment. Thank you all for your imput and advice.
jeanmarine2 | 12 years ago
Oil vs. water comes down in part to personal taste, part to tolerance for smell and time to let it dry, part to desire to use less toxic finishes (water is better there), cost (our flooring guy said water technically costs more than oil, but he charges the same for both since he can do more water jobs in the same time period, which is smart of him). I was told that oil is more durable than water, at least a little, and just the look of water is more matte and oil is shinier and seems to coat better. But I like the shiny floor look personally. I used oil last month on our top floor wood (which had been covered in wall to wall carpet for at least a decade). I did the same 6 years ago with the other floors. Each time our flooring person did an oil vs. water test for us on a piece of the floor after sanding it, and each time I liked the warm color and richness of the oil. In the past 6 years I’ve gotten much more into organic food and green living and green cleaning products (and lower VOC paints etc.), so I was hoping this year I’d opt for water-based urethane. But our oil-based floors from 6 years ago have held up so well and still look so good, that I just went for the oil again despite my preference for non-toxic finishes. The stairs were finished with stain, not urethane, and didn’t come out that well (color-wise), so I wish I’d done oil OR water and not stain on them – but our flooring people didn’t seem to “get” the stair finishing process, so I don’t even know if oil vs. water is an appropriate discussion for the stairs part. That said, I do think that the oil based finish added to the toxic stew of our renovation – sheetrock, paint, plaster, stain, urethane etc. -it’s been a few weeks and the top floor still smells toxic and bad to me and I keep windows open as much as possible to air it out – and the oil is probably not helping.
odyssey | 12 years ago
Although I have read that water based polyurethane is a safer product, I have never had a problem with oil based polyurethane. I followed the above suggestions. However, some people are especially sensitive to certain products. While having wood floors replaced some years back, one member of my family suffered an adverse reaction to the glue being used even though windows were open, etc. and actually had to be rushed to the hospital.
brokelin | 12 years ago
People talk about odor, as if that’s all it is. It isn’t, really, it’s about what the toxic stuff that smells does to your brain and body…it’s not the smell, it’s what the smell indicates that you are doing to your body. Not saying that’s a reason not to consider oil, but think honestly about what the factors are that you are weighing.
odyssey | 12 years ago
Thank you, nalusrf.
odyssey | 12 years ago
Thank you for your answers. I am still confused but I am beginning to think that at least I won’t go wrong with whatever I decide. Nalusurf, a review and the name of your contact would be great.
nalusurf | 12 years ago
We just had our parquet floors on the entire third floor and half of the second floor done in our brownstone. After discussions with our flooring contracor we decided on the oil and are so happy that we did. As mentioned above there are a lot of water based products out there that can be very good, but it is my experience that nothing really beats oil. Overall, I think the oil holds up better in the long run and if you can stand the stronger oder for a few days I think you will be happier with the finished product. I also feel the overall fisnished look of oil is much richer. I am going to post a review with the name and contact info of our contractor as we feel he was wonderful (we actully found him thorugh older posts here).
stevecym | 12 years ago
listen, I can now put down poly (I am not offering to get involved in this) that someone can look at and not tell the difference (I did a staircase for a family member this past winter and it looks like an oil finish) as to whether it is oil or water. overall, appearance will not be your deciding factor because the results will be too close. wear? that is now negligible. so what it will come down to is drying times and hands down it is water. even water with a two part. Also, the product I mention basic coatings – if you read their label – it says no heavy traffic for two weeks. that is BS too, to their credit, I rolled a piano across a floor finished with their Street Shoe only 3 or 4 days after finishing and it left not one mark anywhere (we were stunned that it did not damage the finish). Keep something in mind with floors – and flooring people do not tell you this because they make no money doing it – you can maintain a floor. if your floor wears a little or the gloss is wrong – you can screen the floor off real fast and lay another coat of finish – so if you go water base, you can recoat to fix any damage or wear or change the gloss in one day as simple as it used to be to wax a kitchen floor when homeowners (women, i hate to say it but they got stuck with that drudgery) scrubbed the lino (some with a small machine) and put a coat wax on themselves – that is what screening a floor and adding a coat to it reminds me of. Honestly, my bias, as a traditionalist, is oil. When the question is put to me as to what is all around better – especially when all of the hassle with oil – dry times, odor, concern about fire – is considered, I have to say water.
odyssey | 12 years ago
Thanks, Steve. The floor will have to be stained anyway because the parquet I will have to use to replace my old parquet tiles will be unfinished. I have read so many pros and cons about oil vs water based polyurethane and it is very confusing. Since refinishing floors is very inconvenient, I want to make the best decision I can because it is not something that can easily be corrected if I am unhappy with the results.
stevecym | 12 years ago
you can now get water base polys that are more durable than the oil. A lot of people come on here and talk about Bona two part mix. I use a product called Streetshoe by Basic Coatings. In so far as color, the water base coatings do not amber like the oil so what I do it put a tad of tint into the finish to color it. the person doing the tinting has to be pretty good at it or they will go too dark. Steve