Shellac OVER Polyurethane (not under) - aka a flooring refinishing issue

I am restoring a 1920's Craftsman home and am having an issue with my flooring refinishers. Here's the scoop...

The upstairs floors are pine, 75% of the flooring was in great shape and 25% had to be replaced with new planks. After the planks were replaced we had the entire area sanded. We asked the flooring refinishers to try to match the natural ambering in the original wood - theoretically with Shellac - as the original floors had no stain and just Shellac on them. Instead, they have put 2 coats of polyurethane on them and are coming back to do a third coat Friday.

What we have ended up with is a room that has a bit of ambering in the old sanded wood, light blonde new pine and a plasticky gloss polyurethane finish. In short, it looks awful.

The flooring company is saying that they told us they were putting on poly and no stain so will only offer a 10 cent a foot discount for re-sanding and re-finishing.

I've been searching online to see if anyone has used Shellac over polyurethane and can't find any info. I am hoping we can just put on a couple coats of Shellac without sanding, let it cure and then wax the floors--any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Reply to
spud
Loading thread data ...

What makes you think that the ambering is from shellac and not from age or a different species of wood? Shellac doesn't penetrate deeply, if it's still "ambered" after sanding then the cause is not shellac. Putting clear shellac over polyurethane isn't going to change anything, putting orange shellac over polyurethane isn't going to change anything except that the whole floor will be darker. I'd be very surprised if it held up for any length of time.

Basically at this point you need to either sand the entire floor down and stain the mismatched boards something close to the right color or pull them and replace them with the correct species and grade, possibly recycled, then refinish with what you want to use--personally I'd go with polyurethane on a floor.

Next time read the contract and be sure that what is says is supposed to happen is what you want to happen.

Reply to
J. Clarke

You might chalk it up to a learning experience. And ... shellac on top of poly? Unless the poly is properly sanded, you just might be able to pull a sheet of resin (shellac) off the flooring.

Me- I'd get used to it, and learn from it. With luck, new wood may darken. Especially if exposed to sunlight.

J
Reply to
barry

I don't know if there's any issues with shellac being on top of polyurethane, someone else with more finishing experience might be able to answer that. When I have used shellac as a finish, my experience has shown it's softer than polyurethane. So my inclination would be that even if there's no issues with it being on top, it would damage too easily to be used for flooring.

Maybe it would be possible to put on a few coats of shellac, and then more polyurethane on top of that to fully protect it. But someone else with more finishing experience would have to answer that one.

Reply to
Michael Faurot

I suggest you post your question in the forums at homesteadfinishing.com The folks there really know what they're talking about.

Reply to
eag111

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.