UNO Single pack 100% polyurethane hard wearing seal. For commercial and Heavy Domestic. Silk or Matt. Very good flow & levelling capacity.

The above text is the Stronghold product information about their wood floor lacquer/finish which we used on one of our projects for the first time recently.

The flooring material we were working on was Columbian Pine Parquet Blocks, [also known as Douglas Fir] the project was an 18m2 entrance hallway to a lovely property in Heswall on the Wirral.

We sanded off and properly prepared the Columbian Pine parquet block floor to our usual high standard, After we had finished the preparation work, the area was vacuumed then tack clothed to remove any fine residual dust and debris.

For the first coat on this pine parquet floor we used Junckers Baseprime to give a lovely natural colourization to the parquet and also to protect the subsequent coats of lacquer from any cross contamination. The lacquer system for this project was 1 coat of Junckers Baseprime followed by 2 x coats of Buzz Uno 'Silk' finish lacquer.

Now most professional floor sanding contractors in the know are aware that 'Buzz Uno' is in fact produced by Blanchon, a French company who have made high quality flooring lacquers and seals for many years, we have used Blanchon products in the past and have alway found them to be high quality and user friendly.

When we first poured out the Buzz Uno [Silk] onto the floor, it was white-ish/creamy in appearance and sat nicely on the floor prior to our cutting in of the parquet floor border.

The Buzz Uno worked quite easily and covered the Columbian Pine parquet floor nicely leaving no lap lines, reworking was minimal, a quick rub over with the foam roller we were using to cut in and any proud areas of lacquer were gone leaving a nice even finish to the parquet flooring.

When we applied the Buzz Uno to the main areas of the floor we used a new 15" medium pile roller, [8mm or just over 1/4"] we poured out an amount of product onto the floor to apply and roll out directly, the lacquer sat nicely on the parquet floor and rolled out easily and evenly to cover the floor nicely, the product levelled out quickly as well, leaving no lap lines, this is a pretty easy product to apply.

When the first coat of lacquer had dried, the product had a nice clear look to it, and the Silk finish we were using had the right level of sheen - Not too shiny nor too Matt -

We found the Lacquer drying times were rather quick as well, well under the 2 hours per coat that the manufacturers say is about normal, we applied the 3 coat lacquer system in under 4 hours overall, which is good for the application of any lacquer system.

In summary Buzz Uno is a good quality wood floor lacquer for the price point, this finish is quite easy to apply to a wooden floor, is pretty quick drying, and looks good when properly applied, any competent person attempting to properly Sand and Refinish their own floors should be able to achieve a good quality result with this product.

The coverage rate we achieved with Buzz Uno was also good, on this project we achieved a coverage rate of around 12 m2 per litre of product, we were happy with the coverage rates achieved with this product.

Buzz Uno came delivered to us in a 5 litre can, and is available in 2 different sheen levels which are:- Matt or Silk.

Both these finishes will look good when properly applied and it would of course depend on the choice of the end user as to what aesthetic sheen level best suits their particular area /room/project that this product is being applied into.

Shamefully I didn't take a direct 'before' picture of the area, so you will have to make do with an image [on the left] of the area after the sanding preparation work was done, and the image on the right is the area after the final coat of lacquer has been applied.

APPLICATION

We are very often asked 'How many coats of lacquer do i need' - the simple answer is as many as you like, but this always relates to cost & the time frame involved in the project. As a general rule of thumb a Professional Floor Sanding company will specify 3 Coats of Lacquer/Seal or 2 coats of Oil as a standard system for a domestic situation, extra coats of lacquer will be at an extra cost, anything between £4 - £6 per coat per m2 eg. For a 20m2 lounge to be given a 4th coat of lacquer should cost between £80 - £120

If in doubt just ask a Floor Sanding Professional.

Buzz Uno can be applied to a wood floor in a number of ways, a floor sanding professional will use a variety of application methods depending on the size of project, but if you are looking to apply lacquer to for example a 20m2 lounge, Oak strip, a 9" roller would be a perfectly acceptable application method, the roller refill you need should be a 'medium pile' with the pile length being approx 8mm, a decent quality roller will have that information on the packet, use an inch and three quarter roller and cage, these are more robust and just better than the cheaper inch and a half alternatives. 

• Look out for a light blue line around the roller refill, this designates that the pile has been thermo fused onto the actual roller sleeve and is highly unlikely to shed hair/pile into the lacquer.

For cutting in we would recommend using a 4" Mini Paint Roller with a foam refill, these products are cheap but do the job extremely well. You don't always have to buy the manufacturers recommended products, which are normally twice the price of perfectly suitable alternatives.

The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of Woodfloor-Renovations through our experiences with the numerous Floor Sanding & Sealing projects that we have undertaken.

** No guarantee whatsoever is offered with this advice **

REMEMBER: ALWAYS follow the manufacturers instructions and read them carefully.

If you are not sure about any aspect of this article consult a Professional.

The links below are Product Technical information sheets from the Manufacturers and should be of use. They are all PDF Files and clicking on the links will open your computers PDF reading program.