The heartache you felt could have certainly been avoided by using a Basic Coatings® Sand Dragon Orbital Sander. With a weight package to increase the head pressure, the Sand Dragon makes it easy to apply level abrasion to the floor for proper smoothness and eliminate those pesky sander or swirl marks. As dark stained floors are again becoming popular, using the correct machine and proper grit abrasives will ensure that you should not have to complete your job twice to be paid once.

The Basic Coatings Sand Dragon Orbital Sander is available in 20” and 28” widths, making it the ideal choice for both small residential areas and large open areas, like gymnasiums. Having 3,400 rpm orbit speed and 1.5 horsepower make this the perfect combination for final sanding of hardwood or inter-coat abrading of even the toughest finishes. Top it all off with having an optional dust containment attachment and you have all the machine you will ever need to complete that flawless flooring project that your clients deserve.

Our friends at The Philadelphia Floor Store, Inc., thought that testing floor finishes on maple wood would be a great opportunity to separate the good finishes from the great finishes. The Philadelphia Floor Store has a room filled with a variety of wood floor samples for the sole purpose of testing products. They decided to put Basic Coatings® EasyStreet™ to the test against the notoriously difficult maple wood floor.

Before we tell you how it went, we are going to let you in on a little secret. EasyStreet, a one-component waterbased floor finish, provides outstanding clarity and durability without an outside catalyst. It is ideal for commercial, residential, and sports floors, including those that are maple!

Now, back to EasyStreet. The Philadelphia Floor Store chose to test the Satin finish (EasyStreet comes in four different sheens: Gloss, Semi-Gloss, Super Matte and Satin). The reasoning for choosing Satin was that Satin is more likely to highlight finishing flaws that have to do with flow and leveling. What they found was that EasyStreet’s Satin finish responded flawlessly. Mike Glavin from the Philadelphia Floor Store commented on EasyStreet, saying, “It’s forgiving and easy to use for a single-component water based product; it’s a great overall product, and we would recommend it to any of our customers!” The company saw no blemishes, streaks, or bubbles. They also found that EasyStreet is one of the easiest finishes to use that is available in the market.  It is compatible with A, B, and C mechanics.  Since it is a single component finish, you do not have to worry about mixing a catalyst to get your desirable outcome. Another added benefit of EasyStreet is that unlike most floor finishes, EasyStreet can be applied with two different methods, rolling and pulling.

Basic Coatings strives to stay current in the hardwood floor finish industry, providing you with the most technically advanced products. Visit Basic Coatings® today!

If you are a contractor, it is good to know that a waterbased finish is a smart option when refinishing hardwood floors. Not only do they provide you with a beautiful, clear, and odorless finish, but they also good for the environment since they do no omit high levels of VOCs into the air. The 2–3 hours of drying time is also an added perk of using a waterbased finish. So, the question is, are you a master of waterbased finishes? Read below to find out!

Mixing: Read your labels. Some are shaken; some are stirred, and most have a rest period before use. The label will tell you what application tools are recommended, proper spread rates, and the proper method of applying your next coat of finish.

Airflow: Two hours of aggressive ventilation during the drying process is a good rule of thumb to follow. Remember: never blow directly on the floor as it will cause skimming.

Sunlight: Do not coat your finish in direct sunlight or during that portion of the day. Too much sunlight can cause premature drying, skimming, and streaking.

Temperature: Acclimate your finish to your job sites. Do not leave it in your truck until you are ready to coat.

Expectations: Keep your customer involved in all aspects of the job: kids, pets, dry times,noise, odors, maintenance issues, cleaning kits, soft bottoms on furniture where it will come in contact with floor surface, and most importantly, how the floor is going to feel and look.

Recoats: The life of the floor and the finish depend on maintenance and recoats.

Sales: Sell yourself; then sell your services, degrees, awards, special jobs portfolios, testimonials, and time in the business. Your qualifications should put the customer at ease.

Please contact your Basic Coatings Regional Manager and/or Basic Coatings for more training and information on the benefits of waterbased wood floor finishes.

Adding catalyst is a great choice when using a hardwood finish. While you may not “need” a catalyst, it is recommended to avoid excessive scuffing and scratching. If done correctly, your floor finish in conjunction with a catalyst will leave your floors aesthetically appealing and tough as nails.

We recommend using catalyst in Basic Coatings StreetShoe® NX and PureMatte™. Catalyst is optional in Emulsion PRO™, and you can read about the benefits of catalyst in Emulsion PRO on its Technical Data Sheet.   Once catalyzed, wood floor finishes have a pot-life of 24 hours. After that, the catalyst slowly becomes less effective, because it reacts with the water in the system. Re-dosing or re-catalyzing unused portions of finish after 24 hours restores the mar and chemical resistance properties of the dried film.

When working with unused portions of catalyzed finish, it is important to keep in mind that the un-reacted catalyst remains in the film and tends to act as a plasticizer, thus resulting in a slightly softer film. Therefore, we recommend that catalyzed products only be re-catalyzed one time and that re-catalyzed finish be reserved for lower coats, rather than finish topcoats.

General Reminders When Using Catalyst:

• Add catalyst slowly while stirring the finish with a clean stir-stick
• Never add catalyst to hot finish; allow finish to come to room temperature
• Never store catalyzed finish in hot temperatures, as it will solidify
• Wear proper protection; catalyst can irritate skin and eyes upon contact

Recommended Paint Rollers for Basic Coatings Waterbased Finishes

• 5/16” Sherwin Williams® Microfiber
• 5/16” Wooster® Microfiber
  • Note:  Best results were found using rollers labeled for “Smooth Surfaces”.

For bare wood, apply two coats of a Basic Coatings Waterbased Sealer with a T-bar, roller, and/or paint pad per label instructions, abrade, and tack floor with Basic Coatings Squeaky™ Cleaner before applying a Basic Coatings Waterbased Finish. For screen and recoats, use a 120 grit screen or higher for final screen, for best results use a maroon pad (3M spp) with 240 grit Gold Strips, then tack floor with Basic Coatings Squeaky Cleaner before you apply the top coat.

To begin, use a paint pad to trim along the starting wall, pour a line across the floor boards about five to six inches wide, and condition the roller with finish.  Place the roller past the line of finish and roll back through the finish in three to four foot sweeps, roll forward through the finish again feathering up at the end.  Repeat this process in six to seven inch increments until the floor is completed.  Rollers sliding or skipping is an indication of too much finish, roll excess finish out before continuing.  Allow finish to dry 30 to 45 minutes before adding any airflow to prevent debris from collecting or skinning to occur. Finish will be ready for recoat in 3 to 4 hours depending on environmental conditions.

Basic Coatings recommendations have been fully tested at our application laboratory and shown to work under proper environmental conditions and sound application techniques.  Recommendations are not to be considered warranty for misuse or improper application methods and should not be considered the only way to apply Basic Coatings Waterbased Finishes.  For many years, Basic Coatings products have been applied with a variety of methods from T-bars and paint pads to spray, brushing and wipe-on application.  Please contact a Basic Coatings Representative or consult basiccoatings.com for more information on application methods.

Basic Coatings has unique one-on-one training seminars for distributors and contractors across the country. Basic Coating’s training center features and impressive 700 sq. ft. sports floor area and a 900 sq. ft. mock apartment floor area, allowing our customers to train in a realistic environment and ensure optimal learning.

“I would say this was the best residential class I’ve ever attended, and I’m very heavily into residential and have been for 20 years; therefore, I’ve attended many training programs. This class was paced well, very informative, and had great hands on training. I walked away feeling very confident that I could implement this in my business to the point that I walked into the convention center, went right to the counter and purchased everything needed and related to wood floor care.” —Mike Vitti, Superior Cleaning.

Mike recently took part in our residential wood floor maintenance class. Our floor care experts worked with him in a hands-on training session to show him how to correctly take care of residential flooring.

Basic Coatings works daily to stay current with advancements in floor care technology to provide you with the most accurate information. Mike Vitti is one of many successful training stories at Basic Coatings. Visit our training page to learn more about our variety of training programs designed for you and your business.