Engineered wood protectant

[earl84]

Different type of flooring question for you all. We have engineered hardwood floors that need protection from water spills, kitty vomit (I know, yuck), and other wet spills. Anyone have a great product to recommend? UV Protection would be an added bonus. We currently use Bona brand cleaner, but need a sealer of some kind.

 

[duneslider]

Is this prefinished? If yes, there is nothing else you can do. That finish is as good as it gets. Wood (even engineered wood floors) don't like water, moisture, or vomit of any kind. Best care is clean it up quickly.

It sounds like maybe you made the wrong flooring choice...

 

[MovingAlong]

Different type of flooring question for you all. We have engineered hardwood floors that need protection from water spills, kitty vomit (I know, yuck), and other wet spills. Anyone have a great product to recommend? UV Protection would be an added bonus. We currently use Bona brand cleaner, but need a sealer of some kind.

Choices were made causing the spills and vomit - accept them or change them. Guessing it's kids & a cat... (*I'd keep the kids but lose the cat)

Moved into an older "family" owned house once. Mentioned that I'd like to change the flooring/furniture to something a bit more updated and teach the kids to be more careful. Was quickly told "NOPE", that house was built for kids to grow up in. Put in something that could be hurt by kids and that was on me. Went with commercial glue down carpets (over concrete slab). Spill a glass of grape juice? Just dump a gallon of water on it and get the ShopVac, no drama at all... Some of the best advice I'd ever been given.

For me, flooring is now considered a consumable.

 

[TADER]

Engineered hardwood floors are essentially plywood... Layers of wood and sometimes MDF (which doesn't like water) glued together. Clean up any spills quickly or they will delaminate the plys and/or leave stains. The top layer is a thin layer of the species it is mimicking. This layer often can be lightly sanded and have a top coat applied.

 

[earl84]

Bought the house 6 years ago and the flooring was already here. No plans to get rid of the cat, my wife has had it for over 15 years, so... We do clean spills or cat messes up as soon as possible. No kids involved, we're almost 60 and they haven't been living with us for years. It's mostly spills in the kitchen, I really don't know why they installed it in kitchen. I've already committed to replacing that with tile or something in a few years. I was hoping for some suggestions of a great product others have had success with. Anyone?

 

[TADER]

The joints are the main issue for water damage. If there isn't a large bevel a new top coat would be the only way to seal them up (may crack after, especially if it's a floating floor).

 

[dcg9381]

This doesn't help the OP, but I had some engineered hardwoods that took water damage at a threshold as there was a water leak. The laminate layer bubbled.

As others have said, you can't really coat these things. Some come with a protective finish over the laminate.

Next house I built, I bought a different engineered hardwood product, which has a composite core.

https://www.califloors.com/blog/introducing-geowood

I soaked sample of this stuff for weeks in a bucket and it never had a problem.

 

[duneslider]

Are you actually having a problem, or just worried you will have a problem? If you clean up spills the floor should be just fine and last a long time. It is long term, or excess moisture, that causes a problem with this type of flooring. Even if you coat the floor it will most likely just crack at all the joints anyway and let stuff in, its just the nature of the product. The finish already has UV inhibitors in it and wood is wood and will be affected with UV exposure, again it just is the nature of the product.

I have solid wood flooring in my kitchen and it is great but I also like tile in kitchens. Just take care of what you have and it will last a long time and patina with age.