finishing new hardwood floors

[l-lopez]

I need to finish about 3000 square feet of red oak floors. I also have about 400 square feet of southern yellow pine for a shop floor. I am a wood worker, but floor finishing is new to me.

Thus far, I have read that, for the red oak, I should: sand with 36 and 60 grit, followed by filling with Woodwise full trowel filler, sand to 100 grit and then screen to 120 grit, apply 3 or 4 coats of waterbased poly - screening between coats.

For the SYP shop floor, I follow the above, but start with Woodwise brown knot patch quick filler to fill any holes in the knots.

Seems like a lot of work but, after laying this stuff down, I don't want to screw it up now. Am I on the right track?

For finishes, I though I would use BonaKemi Traffic or EON70. Their representative discouraged me, saying it was for professionals only? After searching this group, the next choice seems to be Fabulon Pro or Street Shoe.

Does anybody have advice on which is better and/or easier for an amateur?

I have looked for a source of floor finishing products and am getting nowhere. Nothing local,(midstate Illinois) and lots of useless pages on the web. I figure my best bet is a good web site, or a place in Indianapolis or Chicago. Anybody got a favorite place that has reasonable price and service.

Thanks, Len

[roger61611]

Wow that's a lot of oak ! I've never done this, I tried once and made a bungled up mess out of it. You're on the right track by asking questions but I don't know the answers. I can say absolutely that floor finishing is part art and part science and is easy to screw up, get lines in it, and dust.

Dust is your enemy.