Not much can be
found on the subject of refinishing wood floors
with aluminum oxide finishes. Having some
questions asked on our message board, we thought
it was about time to confront the subject.
Today, many but not all prefinished hardwood
floors
today, come in a variety of finishes with aluminum oxide. Not all
are applied on the surface during the
manufacturing process, as many are sandwiched in
between several layers on the bottom and top.
How To Refinish or Rejuvenate These Finishes?
Over
recent years we received many calls with an
increasing frequency about failures regarding
buff/screen and re-coating floors with aluminum
oxide finishes. Some people in hardwood flooring
industry like to use the same methods and
techniques that have been tried and tested true.
Over time, as with all things, change comes.
Today's finishes are the result of the
laboratory sciences, evolving into quite amazing
products.
So What’s The Real Problem?
One word - Bonding. By just buffing/screening,
vacuuming, tack-ragging the floors, and coating;
In many cases the finishes are not bonding to
the aluminum oxide finish. The result is that
the new finish peels off, either in patches or
large sheets. As you might imagine, having this
happen as a flooring contractor is not going to
result in getting paid for all of your hard
work. As a homeowner, you are going to be left
in a bad spot at best.
Getting To The Point - Bona Kemi Prep and
Recoat Adhesion System
The Bona Kemi prep and recoat adhesion system is
used for recoating all types of polyurethane and
Aluminum oxide finishes. The process is actually
very similar to the methods that have been used
for decades to recoat hardwood floors. The key
to their system is the Bona Tech Prep spray,
which provides a chemical bonding agent. Bona
Kemi outlines the steps that should be followed
as:
1. Check for contamination of the existing
finish. We fully realize you probably won't be
sending samples out to a lab for a full chemical
analysis, or have a spectrometer laying around
in your basement. We recommend you
find some out of the way place which would
receive the same treatment as the rest of your
flooring and scrape some of the old finish to
see if there is any noticeable build up of wax,
oil, or other contaminants. You can scrape with
the edge of a coin, or what not. If there is any
indication of contamination, the floors will
have to be fully sanded, and refinished. Another
method of checking for contamination would be to
use a terry cloth rag with some mineral spirits,
and rub a small area vigorously. If there is a
visible residue left on the rag. Sanding and
refinishing will be required. If you decide to
do otherwise, you are likely wasting your time
and money.
2.
Clean the floors the best you can. Sweep and
vacuum.
3. Apply The Bona Spray over about a 36 square
foot area, and buff with 2 layers of Bona prep
pads under a standard 175 rpm floor buffer.
4. Promptly tack-rag- the floors with a rag,
micro-fiber / terry-cloth mop head soaked, and
wrung out with the BONA spray.
5. Buff the floor again (second time) with
before mentioned 175 rpm buffer and Bona prep
pads just to make sure the floors will be truly
clean and well abraded. AREAS THE BUFFER MACHINE
WON'T REACH MUST BE DONE BY HAND.
6. Repeat Step 4. This will help insure full
coverage of the prep spray, therefore a good
bonding surface for your new finish.
7. When the liquid is dry - apply Bona Sport,
Bona Traffic, or Pacific Strong floor finish as
directed.
We recommend visiting the Bona Kemi site and
watching the video or calling their tech support
line, as we have
only covered the basic information here. The
tech support people @ BK are wonderful, as they
fully realize their
most satisfied customers are the well informed
customers. They are happy to provide you with
any information you may need.
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