There is a time and a place for everything, including waterbased wood sealers.
In some cases, you may prefer to use more coats of finish instead of using a sealer. There are, however, plenty of reasons to use waterbased wood floor sealers on raw wood flooring, whether the floor is going to be stained or not. Reasons include cost,
color, tannin blocking, proper adhesion, and preventing side-bonding.
Cost: Waterbased sealers are less expensive than waterbased finishes. When applying your first coat, the “thirsty” raw wood will generally absorb a lot of product. Filling those pores with less expensive product is just
more economical. Additionally, if you screen to knockdown grain raise, you are screening off product and throwing it away. Again, it’s simply more cost-effective to use a less expensive product in that process.
Color: You can choose sealers based upon color as well. Some sealers are clear, some have a slight or heavy ambering tone, and some have a color pigment added that creates a certain look or effect prior to applying a finish and/or
after applying a stain.
Tannin: At times, you may have concerns about pulling tannin with waterbased sealers/finishes. That can happen with exotic species, but it is definitely a concern when coating white oak. If you have concerns about tannin, then definitely
make sure your sealer is designed to resist pulling tannin. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
Adhesion: Waterbased sealers are designed to penetrate and offer an excellent bond to the surface of the wood flooring or to stains. In turn, they create an excellent substrate for the finishes to bond to.
Side-bonding: Waterbased sealers aren’t as strong as waterbased finishes by design, partly to help with application, but also to reduce concerns with side-bonding. Because sealers aren’t as strong, their tendency for side-bonding
is dramatically reduced.
As with any aspect of bringing a vision of wood flooring to life, there are circumstances that might warrant doing things differently. If you have any questions about this subject, please reach out to your local Basic Coatings® Regional Manager
for a customized solution.