Finally, we’re getting to the end of the floor story. With the floors sanded, it was time to apply finish.

We (or really, I) spent many hours trying to figure out what kind of finish to use. There are many choices, oil-based or water-based, cheap or expensive, etc. Given the amount of work we had put in to getting the floors in shape, I was firmly determined to get the most durable finish possible, regardless of cost. Instead of getting stuff at Home Depot, I looked at what professionals use for commercial applications.

One type I looked at was the Eurolux Varnish from Fine Paints of Europe. But then I read about this product called “Bona”. Funny, I thought, because “bona” is a Swedish verb for finishing floors. It turns out that the word must come from the Swedish company with the same name, which has been making floor finishing products for a long time. They are apparently popular in commercial applications and make a whole line of water- and oil-based floor finishes. Supporting Swedish quality certainly sounded like a good idea!

The problem, as always, was how to get a hold of it. While some of their products are listed at Home Depot’s website, they are not the commercial-quality ones and in any case the Hilo store doesn’t carry them. Since shipping large amounts of finish to Hawaii usually is really expensive, it took some searching to find an online store that carried them and that also would ship to Hawaii for a not completely unreasonable cost.

So in the end we got two gallons of Bonaseal, which is a sealer/primer, and then six gallons of Bona Traffic HD, their most durable two-component polyurethane. This stuff isn’t cheap, the total cost was more or less a grand, but if it’ll keep the floors looking pristine for a decade or two, we figured it was well worth it.

Here’s the office after the coat of BonaSeal. The wood assumed a decidedly reddish hue when wet.

The office with freshly applied Bonaseal.

Applying the stuff was a bit unnerving, given how much work we’d put into it. It took a few tries to get the technique down. The finish spreads like water, and is supposed to go on in quite a thick layer. Getting an even layer was quite tricky, especially near the walls where you have to cut in with a roller. We left the large living room and kitchen area to the end, reasoning that any problems would be more visible there.

Here I’m applying the Bonaseal in the living room. You pour a long puddle out on the floor and then spread it out with the applicator.

Between the coats, we’d run the buffer with a 220 grit metal screen and then go over and hand sand any spots that poked up (usually where lint had fallen). The result was pretty good, though when you’ve done it yourself you of course see all the imperfections. Here’s the finished office:

This is the office with the cured, finished Bona Traffic.

Then it was time for the living room. We had a freak out the day before when we realized that we were using more than the recommended amount of Bonaseal, and it did not seem like we would have enough. (I found several people on the internet who had the same experience, the wood often absorbs it and you don’t get as much coverage as you expect. We overnighted another gallon of Bonaseal for a substantial cost, and we did indeed need to use about 1/3 of a gallon of it. Kind of annoying, but not much to do in that situation.

Here’s the living room with the wet Bonaseal on it:

Here’s a shot (through the lanai window) of the living room and kitchen after the application of Bonaseal.

This is the final coat of Bona Traffic going on the living room floor. The finish goes on very thick, you don’t paint it as much as spread it over the floor and let it self level.

Though you can walk on the floor after 24 hours, it’s not fully cured for a week and they don’t want you to replace furniture until after 3 days. Because Bengt was heading back to Sweden, we pushed the schedule a bit to get the fridge, which had been sitting outside (under shelter) still wrapped in paper from the move, back in. That thing is heavy, so we wanted three people to do it.

There were a few things left to do, the doorsteps had not been finished and we needed to add a cover over the “seam” in the floor where the old house meets the later addition. But now we could at least move in, which was good since I was already overdue setting up my remote office and getting back to work.