Stain or Urethane ("Varathane" ) over ply?

[Vinko]

Maybe you can settle a debate:

I've got a mezzanine with 3/4 ply flooring. It's lasted a good while (10 years) of moving around cargo on pallets with pallet jacks. I replaced several of the 4 x 8 sheets recently.

One guy asserts that stain is the best way to "strengthen" the wood (so that it doesn't get chewed up as quickly), and another guy claims that this does nothing, and then the Varathane is the way to go. I'm thinking I'll do both, but it occurs to me that I really don't know nothing about treating wood.

So stain or urethane? What do both treatments essentially do to wood?

I'm sticking with ply even though there are other alternatives I could be using. It's not ideal, but it's what I've chosen. Not the best thing for moving pallets with up to 1,500 lbs on them, but it'll have to do for right now.

 

[nissan_crawler]

Maybe you can settle a debate:

I've got a mezzanine with 3/4 ply flooring. It's lasted a good while (10 years) of moving around cargo on pallets with pallet jacks. I replaced several of the 4 x 8 sheets recently.

One guy asserts that stain is the best way to "strengthen" the wood (so that it doesn't get chewed up as quickly), and another guy claims that this does nothing, and then the Varathane is the way to go. I'm thinking I'll do both, but it occurs to me that I really don't know nothing about treating wood.

So stain or urethane? What do both treatments essentially do to wood?

I'm sticking with ply even though there are other alternatives I could be using. It's not ideal, but it's what I've chosen. Not the best thing for moving pallets with up to 1,500 lbs on them, but it'll have to do for right now.

I don't see where stain will do anything. I'm not sure anything will do much for being chewed up. I would look into Spar Varnish, or a quality floor varnish, or try just regular floor paint/epoxy. Maybe do test patches. I use the valspar (now quikrete) floor epoxy on my wood shelving with excellent results.

 

[Vinko]

I don't see where stain will do anything.

This guy's reasoning was that because wood was "porous," that the stain filled up those holes and "strengthened" the ply. Sounded sort of dubious to me, but again, what do I know?

Varathane makes a urethane varnish for the floor that I've used for the top of a wood work table with pretty good results. So I was going to start with what I had left of that.

I thought stain was a "treatment" of wood -- but it occurs to me that some stains might be just cosmetic but others have "waterproofing" qualities. But then again, I'm completely at loss here for what's what

 

['the epoxy floor guy']

Boiled down your problem is you want something that will make the plywood more Abrasion resistant.

I would agree with Nissan, an EPOXY coating is one that is designed for abrasion resistance.

As long as you mix the quikrete stuff right you should be able to just 'clean' your floor with a quick sweep. Sand any uneven joints or damage. Use a floor patch like "Rock Hard" to fill any voids or damage.

As long as the floor is clean and dust/debris free there is NO need to do ANYTHING else. No "acid", sanding, or ?

IF you are looking for a little better product than the quikrete, go to a commercial paint store, ask them for a "CRU" or Chemical Resistant Urethane. This will be a step up on quality. It may cost you $10-30 per gallon more BUT it will give you better "specs".

IMHO, the BEST option is our Super Single. In lab tests it is 10x more abrasion resistant than Quikrete types of epoxy, 6x more than CRU.

our Super Single will cost you about the same as Quikrete. NO odor and VERY user friendly NO MIXING.

I too agree that 'stain' would be a waste of time and MONEY.

Regardless of what you choose. Remember if you have any equipment that 'gouges' the floor ie. forklift forks, NO coating will be a Complete solution.

Hope this helps.

 

[Vinko]

Thanks again to Nissan and EFG:

Boiled down your problem is you want something that will make the plywood more Abrasion resistant.

I would agree with Nissan, an EPOXY coating is one that is designed for abrasion resistance.

As long as you mix the quikrete stuff right you should be able to just 'clean' your floor with a quick sweep. Sand any uneven joints or damage. Use a floor patch like "Rock Hard" to fill any voids or damage.

As long as the floor is clean and dust/debris free there is NO need to do ANYTHING else. No "acid", sanding, or ?

IF you are looking for a little better product than the quikrete, go to a commercial paint store, ask them for a "CRU" or Chemical Resistant Urethane. This will be a step up on quality. It may cost you $10-30 per gallon more BUT it will give you better "specs".

IMHO, the BEST option is our Super Single. In lab tests it is 10x more abrasion resistant than Quikrete types of epoxy, 6x more than CRU.

our Super Single will cost you about the same as Quikrete. NO odor and VERY user friendly NO MIXING.

I too agree that 'stain' would be a waste of time and MONEY.

Regardless of what you choose. Remember if you have any equipment that 'gouges' the floor ie. forklift forks, NO coating will be a Complete solution.

Hope this helps.

When I laid the floor, I made sure that there were no gaps at all. The 4 x 8 sheets fit perfect with almost no tolerance. The floor is even. So the hard work is done. What little tolerance (gaps) there is, I've used "liquid nails." Don't know if this is the right stuff or not. I also used screws to fasten ply down to ceiling beams. Recessed screws and filled with liquid nails there as well.

I was going to do a light sand but I'm not looking forward to it. It's probably 500-800 sq ft. of area total that was replaced and I've got a palm sander

I'll look into this CRU-spec'd stuff. Isn't most oil-based urethane flooring product like varathane brand have chemical resistance? Spar as well?

Do you have copies of those lab tests? What kind of chemical spills?

Thanks again,

 

[Dreamindiesel]

FWIW, From my experience, they dry fast and dont scratch as easy as 100% epoxy.