Which One Is A Better Polyurethane- Water/solvent?

By Author: david lee
Total Articles: 533
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For years I have admired the timber floors used in other people’s houses. This time I decided why not have a look at my floor and see what lies beneath. When the carpet was removed, what I came across was old Tasmanian oak hardwood timber floor boards.

The next thing I did was to hire a floor sander and remove the paint and clean the floor to get back the original appearance. The timber that came in front of us had diverse shades and grains splattered across the wood. After that the floor had to be sealed to enhance the color and shine of the floor. The one thing where I got stuck was- the kind of polyurethane that had to be used here. In the market there are several solvent based versions of polyurethane available.

I spend the next couple of weeks on just investigating what kind should we use.

The more I started investigating, the more I found out that it is not very safe when it came to one’s health. Undoubtedly, the floors looked great but the price was highly variable.

When I went to the market, a shopkeeper warned me that the toxic flames that are found in the solvent based floor finishes ...
... consist of isocyanates. It affects the respiratory and the central nervous system. This kind of flooring is dangerous for the asthma sufferers, children and the elderly people. Apart from that there were a lot of other side effects too which was enough to put me off the solvent based ones completely.

After that I went up for waterborne polyurethane and waterborne epoxy. The finishes which were given out by them were not very glossy compared to the solvent ones. On the contrary they gave out a very nice glossy finish without any kind of side effects too.

I needed the environment friendly version and started searching for the ones that were manufactured with great care and precision. The waterborne polyurethane consisted of 50% solid content and was 100% environmentally friendly too.

I came across a manufacturer with the name of Incorez that were into manufacturing of the waterborne polyurethane and waterborne epoxy. It was completely green and was very self-sufficient. The product met all the strict criteria of the manufacturing process and was a good option too.

After all the investigation I came to the conclusion that the waterborne had greater solid content compared to the others in the market. It also consisted of the long wet edge, had no smell and was also easy to apply. It was also was very scratch resistant.

After knowing a lot about this product, I applied it on my timber floor and came out with a brilliant result. I would suggest everyone who is looking for options when it comes to applying the coating on the floors, without any doubt go for the water based ones instead of the solvent ones.