Wooden Polished Floors

Whats a better option for polished floors?

Matte or Shiny?

Also if I've already got polished floors, is it better to get the person to
1. Sand them back completely and apply 2 coats or
2. Sand off a top layer then get then to 2 coats on top the existing

Hi,
The gloss looks great but the marks are more obvious.

Both sanders I got to quote said Matt for that reason.

I've only polished floors in one IP so far. Did the 6 week inspection last week and it looks great. They are meticulous tenants though (lucked out with these ones). I love the look. Will do the same in the next one.

I'll be interested to see how it looks in a few years.

when we did ours, we went for the matte finish, mainly because I don't like the very glossy look... prefer a more natural look, and the scratches dont show up as much, although we still have plenty of scratches in the polish!
if I was selling the house, I'd consider repolishing and do it in a more glossy finish.
cheers Pen

Sand them back completely. For the trouble you are going to go to in sanding, do the job correctly, imo.

As for the finish, personal preference really. I like high gloss, but the two times that I have done floor boards they have been in Edwardian homes, and I like high gloss on the trim and boards.

Did a recent inspection at one of those, which was done in 2008. Scratches sure, but still looks good.

We put Hyne Flooring - Sydney Blue Gum boards down in our PPOR here in Hervey Bay.

Everyone said go matte, so I went gloss. They look sensational, we don't look after them, they get smashed by our two boys, they show a scuff here and there, but they are the warmest, natural feel (even bare feet in winter) and make the place look a million bucks. An occasional wipe over with a drop of metho in water and they are stunning.

Matte???....no way!! Go the gloss!!

Now speaking of looking sensational and absolutely stunning, what about that picture of JASA? OMG, what a beautiful woman!

Ian.

Just about to get my ppor floors sanded and polished again after 15 years.
All the tradies that gave me quotes all said go the gloss and all the customers they have had that went with matt were sorry they didnt do gloss
Go the gloss
cheers

I usually hate polished floors and it just so happened the flats I recently refurbished had beautiful cypress pine floors under the carpet,

I wanted to put Commercial vinyl planking on them,

My first cousin is a floor sander in the same town and suggested to apply two pac acrylic matt,

Nice and hard and it doesn't smell,

So far so good,

Apparently the gloss is usually used underneath as an undercoat,then matt applied after.

That is correct Gloss undercoat matt on top. Gloss looks to glassy for me. Have an old semi and the matt is the go, doesn't show scratches or imperfections in the timber.

If it's for an IP I'd do gloss. It partly depends on your area but I've done a few & the market prefers gloss (i prefer matt or satin but that doesn't matter). It looks new & shiny, plus I've been told more than once that gloss is more hard wearing. It loses its high shine after 4-5 years anyway.

matt will hide flaws in your floor better

gloss will brighten a room more than matt, by reflecting the available light.

as for sanding v recoating, it depends on the integrity of the current surface and also what it was, some 2-pac mixes with extra hardeners (3-pac?) will not take another coat of anything over the top

gloss. looks fantastic. i've lived in a place with gloss hardwood floor for 5 years, and they are surprisingly hard wearing.

I think it very much depends on the type of house. I live in a country style house which matte suits very well but have gloss in a couple of IP's that are more modern in fittings. I must say that when inspecting, gloss floors do stand out and attract that WOW factor.

neK said:

Whats a better option for polished floors?

Matte or Shiny?

Click to expand...

mostly its personal preference but as stated matte does not show up scratches, dust and imperfections/variations in the floor as much as a gloss finish. Most brands of coatings also produce a semi-gloss finish as well. Water-based is excellent for a matte finish and polyurethane is great for high gloss, expect a price difference between the two with water-based being more expensive.

neK said:

Also if I've already got polished floors, is it better to get the person to
1. Sand them back completely and apply 2 coats

Click to expand...

This will be a more expensive option but will give you the best finish, basically you will have a brand new floor. Having to re-sand the whole floor will generally take a couple of days longer than re-coating which should only take a day and will dry overnight. Three coats of polish is the norm as well not two, you should expect a coat of fast drying sealer and two top coats or three top coats depending on the brand of product used by the floor sander.

neK said:

2. Sand off a top layer then get then to 2 coats on top the existing

Click to expand...

generally a re-coat will only require a single coat of polish. Be aware though that some coatings are not compatible with each other i.e a floor with oil-based coatings cannot be re-coated with solvent based. Even compatible coatings have a chance of rejecting if the floor has been cleaned with any chemicals in the past or even if it is just really dirty. A lot of floor sanders wont guarantee the new coat will be flawless as they have no way of knowing whats been on the floor in the past unless you can tell them. Having said that in my experience a lot of water-based coatings go well over polyurethane with very little chance of rejection.

Generally there are three levels of sheen.

Matt, Satin and Gloss. The preferred choice at the moment with clients has been Satin. The feeling is that Gloss is too unforgiving under downlights and Matt is - too flat.

'Evening All,

I'm glad i'm a non conformist tadpole (5%) swimming against the tide of lemmings (95%) and went all out gloss.....and buckets of it.

Mate I'm sitting here at my computer with half a chubby, getting all hot & sweaty looking at our rich dark red, brown & honey Sydney Blue Gum flooring just glowing scintillatingly under banks of down lights. It just doesn't get any better.......I wasn't a tree hugger until our fllorboards went down.....now I just want to molest eucalypts!!

Satin or matt.....forget it!! Not even in the same league.

Cheers,

Ian