Bona Training: Waterborne Finishes - Finish and Sealer Application: Pre-Preparation

Bona Training's Todd Schutte walks step-by-step through the Best Practices to sand and finish wood floors.
The first thing you need on every job, a game plan.

[@CaptBill69]

While researching for a DIY recoat over a 7 year old two part Bona Traffic hardwood floor; I read there is a one year shelf life for unused Bona floor sealer sitting unused. Can you confirm that? And If True; How can a Bona Customer determine the Manufacturer Date? 🤔

[@BonaProfessional]

Hi @CaptBill69 - First, you're not going to want to use a sealer for recoating (unless you're actually sanding it down to bare wood). While there is typcially a 1-year shelf life listed on all our sealer/finish products, many of them are stable for a longer period of time (kinda of like the "best by" on a lot of food/drink products). The biggest drawback with age is that the leveling, flow, and defoaming package might start to degrade, increasing the chances of having a lot of bubbles in the floor, etc. Best way to check is to shake up the product in question, then let it sit for 10 minutes with the cap loosened. Take a peek inside to see if it's still just a mass of bubbles. If yes, then no good. If just some minor foam sitting on the top, then should be good to go.

[@CaptBill69]

@@BonaProfessional thanks for info for evaluation of aged sealer product. Re recoating my 7 year old Bona Traffic sealed hardwood floor: There are other Bona Professionals that say YES to recoat without sanding job to wood again (with how to videos). ... using Bona Prep product, and 320 grit abrasive pad, possibly followed by 240 grit sandpaper (on an orbital sander / polisher type machine) ... So I disagree, and am planning to recoat wo Sanding to wood