Question:
I am thinking of using yellow pine floors in my new home. I know this wood is softer than the hardwoods, but I love the look of the pine. I will be using the gel stain as recommended on your site. Could you please recommend a manufacturer’s finish and gel stain. I believe I will need a polyurethane finish for durability and easy care. I would like to use the best available on the market.
Thank you very much.
Answer:
Dear Nina
I rarely if ever stain pine floors, but if you, must try the Old Masters Gel Stain available from Lee Valley, my favorite tool supplier at http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?SID=&ccurrency=1&page=45091&category=1,190,42942. This will get you right to the page you want. This is a good, reliable mail order company that I have dealt with for more than 15 years.
Oh, and if you can afford it, the Southern Yellow Pine cut from old growth timber is very tough stuff, but does dent easily. We have Eastern White Pine here as original floor in the Victorian House I live in, and while it dents really easily, it has made a fine back bedroom floor, finished with 4 coats of poly.
Now that all said, the best finish for pine, and particularly over a stain is the Oil Modified Polyurethane, and the Fabulon brand heavy duty satin finish is the best I’ve ever used. I use it for almost all my floor finishing these days. But like anything there is a real knack to applying this stuff without the bubbles and pits people normally seem to get even with this fine finish. I have written an article on just how best to apply this finish. Use the search box at the top of the web page and type in ‘bubbles and pits’ to find the article on this topic.