Wood Floor Finishing with Biopoly and NanoTech. Questions for Finishing our Wood Floors Ourselves. We have kids, dogs and cats!

Hello,
We are very interested in using your natural products on a floor we intend to strip carpet off and sand down wood flooring in a new house, hoping to begin in just about a week.

We had several questions:

1.   For a natural finish, would you recommend biopoly and then 3-4 coats of clear nanotech?   We have a child who plays with toys like train sets on the floor and would want to protect floors from accidental spills.    The floors will be hardwood and sanded.   Also our old cat has some vomiting accidents- would the combination of bio poly and nanotech provide adequate protection?   Could biopoly by itself offer adequate protection?

2.   What is the dry time of bio poly before we apply nanotech?

3.   It said something about buffing the biopoly before applying the nanotech.   What does that mean exactly?

4.  What do you recommend to clean up after the floor is sanded before applying biopoly as the first coat?

5 .  How quickly can you ship to Pennsylvania?   We are hoping to start our project on November 15.

6.  Any other tips?   Or other product recommendations?   Recommended tools?   Our goal is to have a non toxic floor that we can touch up as time goes by.  I read that biopoly can be touched up but not sure if nanotech can.   Can you advise?

We are very excited but also a little bit feeling unexperienced at the idea of doing our own floor.   Any tips would be most appreciated.  We are hoping to have a seamless application without evident strokes of paint, which highlights the natural beauty and warm luster of healthy, glowing wood.

Thank you,

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Hi, 

Sure. It sounds like you are on the right track. It's pretty easy to diy but If it's the first time doing a floor, I would take a day to play with the finishes and practice to see how it all goes. Yes. Bio Poly is strong enough for kids and pets and spills. Shipping to PA is about 2-3 day zone and we need a day to get the order packed. Sample pints are a great way to start. If someone is in a hurry and never did a floor before the easiest thing to do is buy a Floor Finish Mop and NanoTech Clear 00 from our website and just apply that. Two coats can be applied in a day and by the time you get to the 3-4th coat you'll be a pro!

So to answer the questions:

1. Yes. Yes Bio Poly itself is strong enough for pets but it's not a polyurethane, it's a natural penetrating oil (a Bio Polymer made from trees, plants and beeswax). NanoTech is waterproof and better for overnight spills and higher traffic. 
2. Dry time? A day or two usually depending on atmospheric conditions and if any fans, windows and heat are used to assist. It'll feel dry when ready but to be clear, we are able to walk on a floor buffed with Bio Poly because it saturates the wood fiber cell. It doesn't lay wet on the surface. So, we can get on it lightly if needed before fully dry. 
3.  Bio Poly application with a Floor Machine and Buffing pads. Like waxing a floor with a floor machine. Detailed instructions below and on web page.
4. There are instructions for finishing a wood floor on the bottom of the Bio Poly page on our website. I follow that protocol. We vacuum, use a wide dry floor mop and then put a lightly moist tack cloth on the bottom of mop as the final dust removal step. 
5. Both can be touched up. NanoTech needs 3-4 coats so that future touch ups don't show up as much. Test first in a small area because lighting and skill in application affect how it will look when touched up. When in doubt we tape off just the problem boards and touch up those. Bio Poly touches up easy and blends in well. We wash with Earth Clean and polish it up as needed. It keeps looking better and better when done this way. 

The wood type, color and sheen desired is what we typically base the product decision on. 

Bio Poly is gorgeous. It deepens the wood hue's and illuminates the wood grain in a special, endearing way. If something spills and is caught shortly thereafter it wipes right up. But if left overnight it can eventually work down through the cracks in the wood and such. We do our bedrooms in Bio Poly and even with the kids, cats and dogs it's great. I touched my last bedroom up once in 8 years and even then it was really just in the area that needed it. Bio Poly Natural is a penetrating oil. It saturates the wood. There is a lot of information about it and how to use on this Bio Poly page.

There are instructions for buffing a floor on the bottom of that page. Essentially, we use a floor machine to apply the first coat since it's fast and easy (if you're used to the machine). It takes about 20-30 minutes to get used to the machine. I can buff an 800 sft floor in less than an hour with a guy applying it in front of me for the buffer to spread out. So it's fast. But takes some getting used to for a DIY'er. For smaller floors it's fine to apply by hand and just make sure it all soaks in by the end of the day. On larger floors, there is almost always a floor machine on the jobsite already since they are used for the final sanding and to sand between coats, so it just makes sense to use it in those cases.

NanoTech is a tough and resilient coating. It will fill in crevices and cracks and build up to a very tough, perfectly clear hard film. It's waterproof and scuff resistant. It will provide a sacrificial barrier above the wood floor. We use it on it's own when a lighter tone of the wood is desired or we use it over Bio Poly Natural when a deeper, "oiled" floor look is desired. 

NanoTech is a great stain for achieving light colors and some very dark colors. It's water based and dries fast so we add water when staining with it. We stain wood floors and hands and knees when using NanoTech and work a few boards across the room being careful for lap marks not form. It can be stained and clear coated in a day which is nice and there is very little if any odor noticeable shortly after coating. The product itself is about the safest floor finish I know of and it's one of the few I can personally use due to a long career of toxic overexposure to toxic conventional finishes. 

From what I've seen people who want a rustic, natural look are very happy with Bio Poly Natural. There are massive log homes with wood everywhere and 100 lb dogs and it just keeps working great. It's a product that is washed and maintained as needed, where needed, so there isn't really a "sand the whole floor down" kind of maintenance as long as it's kept up. 

The NanoTech is perfect for those who want the durability of a professional floor finish (not a cheap big box poly- not the same products). It's fast, easy, safe and easy to maintain when washed with Earth Clean, lightly sanded and recoated. I've touched up floors with NanoTech in the morning and let the dogs on it later that afternoon. So it is practical in that sense. 

Check out the product pages at www.earthpaint.net for more details and buy now links. 

Hope this helps. 
Best wishes,
Tom