Oil-Based vs. Waterbased Hardwood Flooring Finish

This video goes over the differences between oil-based Polyurethane. Remember that not one finish is "better" than the other, they just have different pros and cons.

Table of Contents
0:00 | Overview
0:22 | Pros of WB
0:34 | Pros of Oil
1:00 | Cons of WB
1:28 | Cons of Oil
2:26 | Durability
3:09 | Which to Choose

[bwing]

Take it from a DIY’er that does his research.. this is the BEST explanation of the differences on YouTube. So many different names for tools and finishes, very few videos lay out side by side comparisons with working time/color/ durability etc. just fantastic

[falconflooring]

Great basic information in this video. Keyword, "Basic" Oil base has more depth to it. Water base lays flat on a floor. Lesser brand of water base do look plasticy. Higher end waters and sealers do not. He mentioned that water based polys tend to have about 32% solids in them. Where some oils are in the 40% range of solids. There are now waters made that have 40% solids. Oil base needs to be abraded between each coat. Water base need's only one of the coats to be abraded. Water is harder then oil. If a floor is going to have a stain applied first most professionals will opt for water over stain. There is no one poly product out there for every job. Each job is different and needs to be addressed as such when it comes to choosing which finish to apply.

[Swenser]

About to do floors for whole house. After researching it seems to be a no brainer. Water based poly without stain all the way baby. Edit:finished and got a result but if I had my time again would just go with the click together stuff. The only negative it being less hard wearing. The labour, clearing out the house and uncertainty of end result make sanding and poly a daunting option. quality of the click together stuff seems to have improved over the years.

[av.]

Hello, I would like you to help me, if I buffer my floors with 150 grit sandpaper and then wash them with a machine, and put 1-2 coats of base oil (RUST-OLEUM 130031 Varathane Gallon Gloss Oil Base) or some similar product, do you think what would be good? My floors are a bit ugly...

[lisagrieb]

I am having my hardwoods refinished because of the yellow/orange look they have now. (They were refinished years ago with not stain and just poly) My hardwood floor guy only likes to use oil based poly. My hardwoods are red oak. I want just a neutral medium brown. What stain could I used to have them not look orange/yellow again after they are polyed ? I was going to use a mixture of 50% classics grey and 50% special walnut, or just the special walnut alone. My concern is what color will they end up after the poly is applied on top of these stains? Help!

[AdoTrakic]

Great video - thanks so much! We are thorn which way to go: oil or water. In our case, there won't be any stain, but a rather natural finish oak color. Would "yellowing" be true also for this floor over time with oil-based poly or because of light wood color it won't matter? Another area not covered in your video is the frequency of having to redo the floors - will oil-based last much longer - e.g 7-8 years vs 4-5 yrs with water-based? What strikes me is that you used water-based in gyms meaning so much foot traffic - how long do they last? Saw that Bona traffic HD water-based finish is getting god results, but not sure as I am not in the flooring business. Thanks for any advise you may offer.

[gary]

So which is more durable, a single part acrylic or a oil modifed polyurethane?

[HardwoodFloorRefinishing]

What about safe? I always use water based poly because chemicals aren’t harsh like oil based poly. It’s safer for peoples health and safe for pets

[lar]

water base was much more durable on your floors. I like working with varathane water base poly, they have one brand that is very thick and requires only 2 coats . The only thing is it's $72 a gallon but well worth it.

[Chris-silx]

Great video thanks so much for the info. Also I don't know who needs this, but I'd like to bless anyone since you've blessed me. Jesus christ loves you and gave his life on the cross so we could live and have a relationship with god. All we have to do is recognize our sins and ask for forgiveness and believe in jesus christ his son.

[HoaTran-tzdj]

You’re totally wrong about the durability. Unless you work with dirt cheap water base. You don’t like to work with water base finish because it requires a truly professional to handle the finish.

[jasonurban]

Sorry buddy but I think you're wrong when your information you might want to do some research or learn how to do floors you must be a d y i guy