Bubinga Deep Cognac from Westhollow – Will Adding More Finish Help?

Q: I have installed the 3″ Bubinga Deep Cognac Westhollow® Wood 3/8″ Engineered. I wanted to know if I could put a coat of wood floor polyurethane on them? I like for them to be real shiny and not to get damaged. I feel if I put the polyurethane on them they will be less likely to damage if something is dropped on them.
Thank you
Mona Clark
A: Adding additional Polyurethane finish (which is your common finish on most wood floors) can add some additional protection and if you use a higher gloss finish, a bit more shine, but keep in mind that with pre-finished floors, once you add more finish, the initial warranty on the floor is usually voided.
Let’s do a bit of background here about floor finish and the pros and cons of refinishing or adding more finish to a floor.
The level of gloss or matte to a floors finish is a key indicator to one thing. Typically, floors which are matter or low gloss carry more aluminum oxide (or similar protective agents) which help prevent scratching and abrasion on your floor. High gloss floors (which have a great shine) have less of these particulates in them, meaning that they are more susceptible to to damage from abrasion (scratches typically). The key lesson to learn here is that by adding higher gloss finish to a floor, you gain minimal protection when compared to the matte finishes which contain higher amounts of aluminum oxide and similar protective additives.
So this might leave you with the question “What is Aluminum Oxide?” Good question! Aluminum oxide is one of the toughest substances on Earth, and it has been added to flooring finishes to give additional protection. If you were to look at a wood floor through a high powered microscope, you would see a jagged surface where the finish containing aluminum oxide is. The jagged portion is the aluminum oxide particulates, which act as a barrier, causing items which run over the floor (such as grit, pet nails, etc) to hit the aluminum oxide and not touch the actual flooring itself. Pretty handy for keeping a floor looking tip-top.
Finish typically protects against abrasion and is not as pivotal in preventing denting (such as dropping a soup can on your floor would cause). A floor will get damaged in this manner over time, no floor is bullet proof so to speak, but certain floors are less likely to dent. Floors which feature a species with a higher Janka hardness rating are less likely to dent. Also, for engineered floors, the more plies and the higher quality the plies are, the more dent resistance you gain from the floor.
Now, with that information about floor finishes in mind, let’s talk pros and cons with adding finish or refinishing a pre-finished floor. The biggest con is that as soon as you alter the finish on a pre-finished floor, its warranty is normally voided. The benefit here is that you can add further layers of protection against scratching based abrasion or add a bit of gloss to your floor.
If you decide you want a higher gloss level on your floor or additional protection, you will have to go through a process. First of all, you will need to lightly rough up (or buff) the current top layer of finish. This will allow the next layer of finish to properly adhere to the previous layer. You will then apply a thin, even coat of finish and allow it to cure. Repeat this process as many times as desired, then give the new finish plenty of time to fully cure before having much traffic over the floor or moving furniture back into the room. Typically it is best to have a professional do this process as it can be painstaking, and small mistakes can cause problems in the finish, which will require removing all of the new finish and re-applying it.
If your primary concern is damage from dropped items or getting dents of some form, adding more finish won’t give you much protection in this area. It will give you some, but not very much; however, you can add some shine if you want a floor with a bit more gloss. One tip I have to prevent denting in your floor, beyond being careful when carrying things, would be to not wear high healed shoes on your floor. An average person weighing 125lbs. wearing stiletto high heels exerts about 2,000lbs. or pressure per square inch which can put a dent in the toughest floors.