Junckers Lacquer?

[Ascot]

Hello,

I have spent a very long time refurbishing my douglas fir herring bone parquet floor throughout the house. Its all patched, filled and sanded. I put on Juncker Pro Seal to emphasise the natural colours (solvent based) and then followed that with HP Sport Lacquer semi gloss (water based).

My problem is that the laquer is not taking very well to the now sealed wood. At a glance it looks fantastic but on closer inspection you can see patches where the lacquer has sort of beaded and is not provided a continuous cover. A lot of it has a dimpled texture like an orange peel and some of it just seems to have parted to reveall small areas of bare wood again. I'm guessing this is because i've put a water based product over a solvent based product, however, this is what the local specialist recommended (and some websites).

So, the question is what do i do?!

I can't sand i back again because i would be sanding off all the tongues & grooves! Do i just keep applying coats? I'm still awaiting a reply from my local specialist.

Any bright ideas would be very welcome!

Thanks.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Whit what grit did you do the last sanding?

 

[Ascot]

hi Woody.

120 grit, again, as recomended by the specialist. I think on the Pro Seal it said 120-180.

Suppose it should have been done with 180 then?!

 

[WoodYouLike]

120 for oil finishes, 150 for varnish/lacquer.

 

[Ascot]

Ive read that before (from your good self i'm sure) but wood that really make so much difference so as not to make the lacquer adhere to the wood?

 

[mattysupra]

did you sand between the two coats and leave plenty of time for the solvents to evapourate before using the waterbased?

 

[Ascot]

Hi Matty. Thanks for taking the time.

The sealant had loads of time to dry out because i went on a holiday! (maybe too long?)

I didn't sand after the sealant or between the 2 coats of lacquer, i was going to do that between the 2nd and 3rd coat of lacquer.

I looked at it again last night, after the 2nd coat of lacquer went on, and i have to say it is an improvement, just not as good as i thought it should be.

Could it be the case that this is just the nature of this water based lacquer and thats why it requires 3 coats (ie to get full coverage)?

BTW i checked the Junkers data sheets and the two products are definately compatable. They even recommend using them together!

 

[WoodYouLike]

Besides following Mattysupra's advice, 120 grit leaves the grain in a more 'open' structure which suits oil because it has to penetrate deep into the wood, lacquer works best on a 'closer' grain - hence the 150 grit

 

[Ascot]

I see.

So if thats the problem then it was a duff bit of advice from my local "specialist". I guess i would just have to live with it in that case.

If the wood is well protected then i can put up with the look of it (as i said, you have to look very closely and im probably the only one who notices!) Do you think there would be a good bond there despite not using the 150 grit or is there a chance it might start coming off in a year or two? If it starts coming off i think im screwed!

 

[WoodYouLike]

Time will tell I think.

 

[Ascot]

Fingers crossed then!

Thanks.

 

[chappers]

woodyoulike has more experience of this sort of thing than me but IMHO finishing to 120 rather than 150 isn't your problem here. I would think it is more likely down to not cleaning all the dust off prior to applying the finish and more importantly not denibbing between coats of finish.

 

[Ascot]

Just to put an end on the story..........

The guy who supplied the lacquer came out and looked at the floor and basically told me i was worrying about it too much. He gave me half a tub of the lacquer and hardener and told me just to sand over the dodgey areas and touch them in.

But i decided this wasn't worth while, so i talked the hire people into half price hiring of a finishing sander and gave the whole lot a sand with 180 grit (they didn't have any 240 grit but turned out the 180 was spot on). This took out all the high parts of the orange peel effect and keyed all the areas the lacquer didn't take to. I then bought a GOOD fine roller and gave it all a nice thin even layer with the free laquer i had been given.

One long evenings work and today it looks great! Well worth the hassel, and the floor benifits from a 3rd coat for minimal cost!

Everyone is happy!

Thanks everyone.