The middle path. A penetrating oil modified with polyurethane resin, so the floor keeps the natural, close-to-the-timber look of an oil but stands up to traffic much closer to the way a film coating does.
A modified polyurethane oil is a penetrating oil with polyurethane resin blended into it. The oil still soaks in and wets the grain. The resin still cross-links near the surface and adds abrasion resistance. You end up with a floor that reads as oiled but wears far better than a straight oil.
It sits between the two families on every axis: harder than hard wax oil, softer than a 2-pack polyurethane; more repairable than a film coat, less repairable than a pure oil; more maintenance than polyurethane, less than oil.
Clients who fell in love with an oiled floor in a showroom and then heard about the maintenance. Families who want the matte natural look in a kitchen or hallway. Anyone with a wide-board oak floor who wants it to look soft but survive kids and dogs.
It is also a sensible answer for holiday rentals with a designer brief, where the floor has to look like an oil in the photos and behave like a polyurethane in real life.
Sanded to bare timber the same as any other finish, with the final cut slightly finer than we would use for a film coating, because a penetrating product needs an open surface but an even one. The oil is applied, worked in, and the excess removed before it can dry proud of the boards.
A second coat follows once the first has properly gone off. Timing matters more than with polyurethane: too soon and the second coat cannot penetrate, too late and it will not knit into the first.
Regular vacuuming, damp mop with the matched cleaner, and a maintenance coat over the traffic lanes every couple of years. Considerably less demanding than a pure oil floor, and unlike a polyurethane you never face a full resand just because the hallway wore out.
No, and we will not tell you it is. It is a lot tougher than a straight penetrating oil, which is the comparison that usually matters.
Yes, that is one of the reasons to choose it. A clean, abraded floor takes a refresher coat without going back to bare timber.
Much less than a solvent polyurethane. It does warm the timber slightly on application, which on most hardwoods is exactly the effect people want.
That is what the free in-home estimate is for. We will look at your timber, show you samples on it, and tell you honestly what will work.
Tell us about your floor and we will get back to you fast, usually the same day, to book a free in-home look and an honest price.
Local timber floor sanding, polishing and restoration across 97 suburbs - from the Logan line and the hinterland to the NSW Northern Rivers. View all areas we service
Fine FinishedFloors
Floors worth showing off - cut back, stained and finished by Gold Coast specialists since 2010.
22 Springsure Drive,
Mudgeeraba QLD 4213
Monday to Saturday, 7am to 5pm
Servicing the Gold Coast, Logan fringe and Northern NSW to Ocean Shores. Free, no-obligation in-home estimates.