# Massaranduba (Brazilian Redwood) flooring - finish question



## renfarm (Aug 2, 2012)

I am getting ready to have unfinished Massaranduba flooring installed in our house (kitchen & living room). I read on County Flooring's website that it is best to apply de-waxed shellac first in order to maintain the deep red color of the wood before applying another finish. Would de-waxed shellac work well under tung oil? If so, are there brands of tung oil that work better than others for a flooring application?

Thanks in advance for the advice - have tried combing the web, but there seems to be very few resouces available with regards to finishing this kind of wood. :-(


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

It will work, but an oil finish on a floor sounds kinda questionable when it comes to wear.
Bill


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## renners (Apr 9, 2010)

I can't see it working under an oil finish - doesn't the shellac act as a sealer?
Maybe under a lacquer or polyurethane.
I might be wrong, please correct me if I am.

As for oil finishes on a floor, they do exist, are hard wearing and easy to repair.

This is the link to Woca (formerly Trip-Trap) who are market leaders in my neck of the woods.

http://www.woca.info/woodcare/floor/wood-floor-oil.php


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## renfarm (Aug 2, 2012)

Thanks for the link - will read that next.

The samples of the flooring that I have are pre-finished with an aluminum oxide finish. Didn't care for the way the finish would leave white marks when scratched. Given that I have two dogs (one a decent-sized Doberman) and three kids, it seemed that the floor would look awful within a matter of months if I had gone with the pre-finished garden variety. Using tung oil seemed like the most user-friendly in terms of ongoing maintenance. However, one flooring site (County Floors in NY) had recommended using a de-waxed shellac seal coat first before applying the tung oil in order to enhance and maintain the deep red color of the wood. Given that I can't seem to find any other references for this kind of wood, I figured I'd better double-check and do more research prior to moving forward with the finishing.


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## Sawkerf (Dec 31, 2009)

You should do some more research on the aluminum oxide finish. It's one of the toughest floor finishes you can find and it's not something you can do yourself. It takes special equipment in a controlled environment.

I've seen pre-finished floors that look almost new after years of kid and pet traffic.


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## renfarm (Aug 2, 2012)

Well, the unfinished flooring has already been ordered and is arriving this afternoon. It will be in the house for almost three weeks before it's installed so that it can adapt to our home's ambient interior climate. So, the only question now is to how to finish it so that it looks its best for the longest period of time, while still providing relative ease of future on-the-fly touch-ups.


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## Sawkerf (Dec 31, 2009)

Are you installing, sanding and finishing yourself?


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

Our hand-scraped flooring is prefinished with the al/ox. Wouldn't trade it for a year's supply of an oil finish.
I'm big into low home maintainance. More shop time that way.
Bill


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## renfarm (Aug 2, 2012)

I have a hardwood flooring installer signed on to put in the flooring (I had read that it can be tricky to work with due to how hard it is), but so far plan on finishing it myself.


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## renfarm (Aug 2, 2012)

Bill, that's good to know, but we still have to deal with the reality of what's already been purchased and arriving shortly - unfinished product. ;-)

Any thoughts on tung oil going over de-waxed shellac?


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

NO NO NO NO NO, tung oil over shellac will give you more regrets that you can imagine, its a soft, slow drying product, I just did a heart pine floor in Vermont, I did shellac, its will seal any wood, oily , sappy , what ever, then using a lambs wool applicator, I did 3 coats of General Finishes, Arm R Seal, its a urethane oil, and I have it on my personal floors, steps, etc, and have for years, looks like the day I did it, afer the shellac, apply a coat, of Arm R Seal, let it dry over night, then do a light scuff sand ( yep hands and knees), to defuzz, ( try that with tung oil) then vacume well, then apply a second coat, and then a 3rd, between the 2nd and third use some 600 grit, just to make sure its slick, when using a lambs wool applicator, think of it as a big brush, dont press hard, just pull it, lifing off and on should be like a air plane landing, you want to leave a a nice wet coat, no puddles or "dry areas", then again, basically let the weight of the applicator do the work, Arm R Seal is not cheap, but geez does it do a nice job and hold up, its also a oil so touch up is pretty easy, I personally have a house full of it from bath room counters, to floors, and its my go to for any hand applied finish, for my clients as well, I prefer a satin sheen, done this procedure many times, never had a complaint or issue, Just my .02


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## Sawkerf (Dec 31, 2009)

Do yourself a HUGE favor and talk to a pro floor finisher before you do something you'll regret.

At the risk of annoying some of the LJ brethern, take everything you get here with a grain of salt. Finishing floors ain't the same as finishing cabs or furniture.


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## ClintSearl (Dec 8, 2011)

Check out the Bona line of floor finishes.


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## renfarm (Aug 2, 2012)

I don't particularly mind the 24 hrs between each coat (at least that's the recommended drying time for the Waterlox product I was looking at). The main reason I decided to post here is because the various flooring guys I've spoken with all seem to have conflicting opinions. The most important consideration for me is ease of spot refinishing. Given our situation and lifestyle, we're just not going to be in a position to have the floors professionally redone every few years when the scuffs get to be too unsightly. It was my understanding that a tung oil product would provide that flexibility. I don't mind a bit of up-front inconvenience (in terms of longer drying times) if it will provide greater long-term satisfaction.

The only reason I had a question about the de-waxed shellac is that I had read that using tung oil alone on Massaranduba would cause it to age to a brownish color, rather than the deep red that it is known for. It was suggested that a de-waxed shellac would preserve the color, and that Tung oil (in addition to other products) would go over the de-waxed version just fine. Seeing as how I've never worked with either, I felt it important to get other opinions on this before moving forward.


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