putting poly on floor, finish the last room w/o being in a corner

[masraum]

Greg and everyone else

How do I finish the upstairs using the squeegee method (or any other method) when the door to the stairs is in the middle of a wall (8' to the corner on one side and 9' on the other)?

We've got 4 closets, 2 rooms and a "large" central room at the top of the stairs. All of the flooring in the diagram runs the direction of the red arrow.

The blue box is the door to the stairs. Normally, I think I'd want to finish near a corner, but I can't finish near a corner without then having to nail myself to the wall and wait for the poly to dry. There's got to be a way, I'm just not sure what the best way to keep from ending up with obvious evidence once the floors are dry?



And with the room on the left of the drawing. Would I 1) do the closet, and then 2) do the room?



Or since that would leave a "seam" in the doorway, would I start at the far left end of the room working my way towards the door until I got to the closet and then include the closet with the rest of the room so I don't have a seam at the door?

[rwest]

Spiked shoes like they use on garage floors? Do a test on a scrap piece of wood and see if the marks flow out.

Maybe do the floor in a sunburst pattern ending at the door?

[gregpark]

Work your way from the back to the exit stairs. No stopping and re starting at any doorway. Always pull with the grain. And remember, you're doing more than 1 coat. At the exit stairs the last course gets pulled from both ends stopping at the top stair. Pick up the excess with a flat trowel and fine tune your pull line with the squeegee.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by gregpark

Work your way from the back to the exit stairs. No stopping and re starting at any doorway. Always pull with the grain. And remember, you're doing more than 1 coat. At the exit stairs the last course gets pulled from both ends stopping at the top stair. Pick up the excess with a flat trowel and fine tune your pull line with the squeegee.

Awesome, thanks tons!

[masraum]

I tried the squeegee in the closets. It was too long. I went with a short nap microfiber roller in the closets and that did an "ok" (for closets) job.

I used the squeegee in the rooms, and that seems to put a much nicer coat of poly down.

I think, in some spots, I didn't pour enough poly on the floor to spread not wanting to end up with a big mess. So when I pull to the end and it goes on smoothly, but I end up with a little extra at one wall or the other, I then need to pull down again, but a lot of what I just went over is already 95% dry, so the squeegee starts to chatter. So I figure pour a little more down just to lube the path of the squeegee.

Looking into the first room that I finish from the door towards the windows so I got a good view of the floor, it looked like there were some spots where it was thinner than others. I'm assuming/hoping that a subsequent coat will even out the appearance.

So far, trying to watch what I'd put down and what I was in the process of putting down, it seemed that it's going to look good. Finger crossed!

[Bill Douglas]

I'm sure it will look amazing Steve.

I've done a few floors with Polyurethane and used a roller and a paintbrush for the edges. I used to be very correct keeping a wet edge and working evenly backwards. But I found it didn't make any difference if I did it this way or just painted the stuff on where it best suited my escape route. I love that glistening lake look with the wooden floor boards almost highlighted.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

I'm sure it will look amazing Steve.

I've done a few floors with Polyurethane and used a roller and a paintbrush for the edges. I used to be very correct keeping a wet edge and working evenly backwards. But I found it didn't make any difference if I did it this way or just painted the stuff on where it best suited my escape route. I love that glistening lake look with the wooden floor boards almost highlighted.

I don't know about "amazing" but it looks good so far. I went up and checked things out. The roller in the closets seem to put on a more consistent coat. The squeegee in the rooms put a nicer, smoother, but less consistent coating down. I think I may do 3 coat with the squeegee in the rooms and 2 with the roller in the closets.

Yes, I'm doing the closets separately. 2 of the 4 have a board that's a threeshold (standing proud of the floors, top half of a 2x4). The wife wants me to put something similar on the other 2 closets so there is continuity.

Still, the 2 doors where the 2 styles meet come together nicely.

[Bill Douglas]

The last one I did was with oil based poly. The instructions said to wait 24 hours between coats. So I did. The second coat made the first coat curdle, kind of all wrinkled up and turned into a mess. A friend who works for company that is in opposition to Dulux Cabot's said it's a great product but wait four days then deglaze the surface with sandpaper. Then do the next coat. This worked. It was over 100 year old hard wood flooring and still looks beautiful.

I was concerned about small bubbles of air from the roller in the poly, but they disappeared as it cured/dried.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

The last one I did was with oil based poly. The instructions said to wait 24 hours between coats. So I did. The second coat made the first coat curdle, kind of all wrinkled up and turned into a mess. A friend who works for company that is in opposition to Dulux Cabot's said it's a great product but wait four days then deglaze the surface with sandpaper. Then do the next coat. This worked. It was over 100 year old hard wood flooring and still looks beautiful.

That would SUCK! If I put a second coat down and the first coat turned to crap, I'd be ready to burn the house down.

[Bill Douglas]

Haha, I was not too happy. But I carried on...

Now I get $6500 per month in rent from the place - yay!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Haha, I was not too happy. But I carried on...

Now I get $6500 per month in rent from the place - yay!

Nice, so worth the hassle in the end.

Wow, $6500/mo!

[gregpark]

We use telescoping squeegee handls for small spaces. At the wall at the end of a pull, you pull material sideways for the next pull and smooth your sideways lines out with the grain. The gallon bottles make it easy to pour a line for your next pull. Pouring a little too much of actually better than not having enough to work with. The second coat evens any light spots out so don't worry about it not looking even after the first coat. It's important to have straight with the grain pulls because any across the grain pulling will show later. When you put furniture back and area rugs and start living in the space again you won't notice any imperfections your worried about now. It'll look great and your wife will be happy and you won't ever have to do it again!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by gregpark

We use telescoping squeegee handls for small spaces. At the wall at the end of a pull, you pull material sideways for the next pull and smooth your sideways lines out with the grain. The gallon bottles make it easy to pour a line for your next pull. Pouring a little too much of actually better than not having enough to work with. The second coat evens any light spots out so don't worry about it not looking even after the first coat. It's important to have straight with the grain pulls because any across the grain pulling will show later. When you put furniture back and area rugs and start living in the space again you won't notice any imperfections your worried about now. It'll look great and your wife will be happy and you won't ever have to do it again!

Yes, I see that pouring extra seems better than pouring too little.

Thank you for confirming that the second coat will even out thin spots. I was hoping/assuming that would be the case.

I do think that we're going to be happy with the results. So far everything looks great.

[gregpark]

In the end it's just a nice cleanable floor with some character which will look correct in your old house. Perfect!

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by masraum

Wow, $6500/mo!

5 bedroom, beachfront, easy going landlord...

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

5 bedroom, beachfront, easy going landlord...

I'm sure that last bit is the main driver, but the first two probably contribute.

[gregpark]

Is that like $4300 US dollars? If so it sounds fairly comparable, even cheap for beach front

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by gregpark

Is that like $4300 US dollars? If so it sounds fairly comparable, even cheap for beach front

Even more in your favour than that

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Even more in your favour than that

No wonder the hobbits settled in NZ!

[gregpark]

Oh yeah just looked it up. 6500 NZ dollars is $3900 and change US.
Beach front with 5 bedrooms sounds cheap! Got any pics?