Replies

1. 
   peter28 | Jun 23, 2008 04:25am | #1

   Alex,

   I poked around through some of my books but couldn't put my hand on one that specifically addressed shellacking floors. If I do find one I'll send the name along.

   Shellac was used because of it's fast drying and reasonably hard properties. I've done shellac finishes on a couple of small floors for a good client. I normally won't finish floors. They did look beautiful. They were wide board pine and in older homes.

   The oil based varnishes were the next step in the evolution of floor coatings. They were more durable to heavy traffic and wet shoes.

   I refinished the floors in a prior house with McCloskey Gym Seal, a high quality medium oil varnish. Seven years later we sold the house and everyone was impressed that we "just refinished the floors"

   Sadly this varnish was discontinued recently. There are a great number of finishes available that are specifically designed for floors today that are just about bullet proof.

   When using shellac as a floor finish you may consider using button shellac. It has a bit more of a carmel color as opposed to the greenish cast of garnet. It is also a bit harder.

   The real beauty of the shellac finish is the glow it has as compared to the modern coatings. It's very easy to tint with a dye concentrate like TransTints. You can get all sorts of fire in the coating using these.

    You just have to be aware that it will require some maintenance in a high traffic area. The good news it's a snap to recoat.

   A great book on finishing that is an older manual but by far one of the very best ever written is;

   Wood Finishing, Plain and Decorative by F.N. Vanderwalker (1940 I think)

   I don't have the publisher and I know it's out of print, but if you can find one it's an invaluable resource.

   It may not be up to date on the new coatings like pre-cat lacquers or conversion coatings but you will be amazed at what you learn from it.

   Good luck.

   Peter

1. 
   alex_comes | Jun 24, 2008 02:14pm | #2

   peter,thanks for replying. i'm seeing about getting hold of a copy of Wood Finishing, Plain and Decorative. i found a library/museum called the Athenaeum of Philadelphia in, well, philadelphia. they deal with archiving architectural related stuff. apparently, they have a dozen or so books on wood finishing and several specifically to floors. a lot of it dates to the early 1900's. some of it to the late 1800's.as far as using some of the modern finishes, because of the government regulating the vocs, water-borne polys seemed to be the future of floor finishing (in general.) i've tried a hybriding shellac and water-borne poly--two coats shellac, two coats water-borne. i was excited at first; it looked a whole lot better than water-borne poly alone. but all though the two floors aren't side-by-side, the all shellac floor i did makes it look washed-out, dull, and boring.i was wondering about the techniques you used on the floor you had finished. what was your general plan of attack giving the surface area is so large? did you use the button shellac? what was the cut? what method of sanding did you use--sand in between coats with 280 or progressively finer and finer or maybe no sanding at all? did you finish the finish: steel wool, wax and a buffing? or did you just leave it alone?thanks again,
   alex

1. 
   peter28 | Jun 25, 2008 05:10am | #3

   Alex,

   If you are looking up manuals, another to try and find;

   Coloring, Painting and Finishing Wood, by A.C. Newell (1940)

   Again, it's a little dated for the new technology but is absolutely invaluable as a resource.

   The shellac and waterborne finish was washed out to your eye. Waterborne finishes read that way to me too. This like any subject under the sun is up for argument though. I've heard good things about some of them from people who's opinions as professionals that I respect. I guess I just haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet.

   The floor I spoke of was wide pine. It was sanded to about 220 (I think) I used straight SealCoat, brushed on two or three applications right in a row. I started on one side of the room, and went down each board. By the time I got to the other side of the room , I just started over again.

   This was a fairly small dining room maybe 12 x 14 or so. The next day we gave it a quick sanding with 220, cleaned it and did the same thing. We had a nice coating down after this.

   The brushing went very quickly. I used a four inch brush called L' Dispensable. I bought it at Kremer Pigments in New York. This brush has bristles that are about four inches long and just works very nicely for this. I'm sure you can be creative and get something bigger  for a bigger floor. I actually used this brush to put the shellac finish on the interior of the mahogany bookcase I finished for an article I did in the April 08 issue #197. Unfortunately the picture of this did not make the cut.

   At the end the owner did a little waxing with a grey scotch pad in some areas, but I think he lost interest and stopped.

   The nice thing at the end, the floor looked "right" in this mid nineteenth century house.

   Concerning the button shellac; if I were to use it for a floor I would use it at minimum a two pound cut. Anything less and you're just wasting time.

   Remember, it's not for every job like an entrance way for instance. But it does have a great fire to it in the right location.

   Let me know if you have luck finding those books. You'll see what I mean. There is so much in them your head will spin.

   Have fun.

   Peter