Advantages for having your flooring coated at Excelsior:

• No messy sanding on site.
• No unpleasant smells off-gassing in your home.
• You can start living on it faster without the dry time.
• The varying colors of individual boards can be woven together thoughtfully so you don’t have a light board right next to a dark board creating a harsh contrast.

Advantages of applying coatings onsite:

• An eased or beveled edge is not required.
• You can make adjustments as you go. For example. if it’s not reading dark enough you can apply another coat of stain.

Stains:

• loads of colors are available: shades of brown, white, grey, black, red, etc.
• feel free to skip the stain if you like the natural color of the wood and head straight to the top coats

Top Coats:

• Water-based polyurethanes are the most popular currently. They amber or yellow the wood less than the oil polyurethanes. We offer a matte sheen for a low luster option.
• Oil-based polyurethanes are more durable than water-based polyurethanes. They are great for bringing the warm colors out in wood. We offer a satin sheen, which is slightly shinier than the matte water-based poly option.
• There are also some new formulas that are nearly invisible with an extremely low sheen.  It’s the closest look to an unfinished floor while still offering protection.
• VOC free oil finishes are natural and beautiful. They do require maintenance with specific products. They spot and scratch more easily but you can easily perform spot repairs.

Down the road… when you need to refinish your flooring, polyurethane needs to be sanded off before applying a fresh finish, while VOC free oil does not.

Of course, we explain your finish options and guide you along the process of choosing what’s best for your home and lifestyle.

Samples:

When Excelsior is creating a custom floor for a customer, we often create a sample for your approval. This sample is used during production as a target, so we will need it back. Excelsior will refer to the sample and produce a product that is reasonably close. Samples are not intended to be a specific representation of every possible characteristic of any given wood type.

Important
Proper acclimation of the flooring is necessary for a successful installation.