Dear BCL:

The floor was really easy to finish once I installed it. The Myths About Finishing Pine Flooring:

“You better not even try it”
“Only a professional Can Do It”
“It will never turn out”
“IT IS A TERRIBLE JOB!!!”
“Oh My God You Aren’t Going To Try To Do Pine Floors Are You?

Yep………….I am and I Did It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I never did anything like this before and was told I could not do it without a professional and I could not find a professional in my area to do it.

Here goes:

Day 1: I installed about 500 sq ft of T&G Ponderosa Pine Boards 10 inches by 12 feet in length. I random cut the boards. I nailed down with a floor nailer that puts the nail into the tongue on the board. Rented the nailer from Home-Depot.

Day 2: I rented a floor sander from Home-depot. It took me about 3 hours to sand the floor to desired finish. Then I took a bucket of Mineral Spirits and hand wiped the floor to clean of any dust left from the sander….there wasn’t much.

Day 3. At 7 AM I applied the 1st coat of finish and followed the directions on the can. The first coat too me about 1/2 hour to apply to 500 sq ft. Let stand 24 hours.

Day 4: At 8AM I applied the 2nd coat of the same material. Took about 30 minutes to do 500 sq ft Let stand 24 hours.

Day 5.) At 9AM I applied the 3rd of the same material. Took about 30 minutes to do 500 sq feet and let stand 24 hours.

Day 6: At 10 AM I applied the 4th coat of product. Took 30 minutes to do 500 sq ft. Let stand 7 days.

That’s it, nothing to it!!!!!!!!!!

I had professional painters in after that to do other work for me and they said that the floors were the nicest they had seen and one told me that the finish was “furniture grade”. I see some flaws myself like I didn’t get some of the joints tight enough but I am 61 years old with really bad knees and installing pine boards on the floor was hard for me because of the constant gettin up and down…

To finish it I used : https://www.waterlox.com/default.aspx
Waterlox Original Sealer & Finish

a.. (TB5284) Our best selling product
b.. Produces a “medium ” or semi-gloss sheen (50-55° gloss)
c.. A clear, tung oil based penetrating sealer and finish
d.. Use as an interior sealer and/or as a semi-gloss finish
e.. Also available in VOC Compliant formula (TB 6038)

Sage, they have the same kind of customer support that your company has and I called them a couple of times while putting down the finish and they had the answer really quick… great company, great product.”

Text and photographs by Bob Harding.