# Forum Home Renovation Flooring  Help! How to treat cypress flooring for more contemporary look

## Shelley01

The floor sander & polisher is coming on Wednesday to update our cypress floorboards. Just bought the house and previous owners seem to have stained boards a reddish colour then high gloss applied. Very 80's. Result is patchy, really gold-ish colour in some places, reddish tones in others...yes, not good. The look we are after is definitely flat (satin?) and as little gold as possible, which I know is hard with this yellow wood. Knots don't bother me. Professional who is doing the job, suggests 2 coats x water based satin finish after sanding. Can a stain be added to one of those coatings to give a darker and slightly reddish brown colour.  Has anyone done this? Any advice or pics of possibilities greatly appreciated. Also, really keen to see cypress floorboards treated by just by sanding and  2x water based satin coats applied.  Hope I'm on the right track for the look we are after? Thanks!

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## Dusty

Firstly up, no. Stain cannot be added to the water based finish. Unlike solvent based polyurethanes, which do allow the use of stain to tint the finish to a red or brownish colour, the water based products, when tinting is attempted, tends to look like mud rather than a nice tinge of colour. 
Secondly, two coats of a water based Satin is not an ideal amount of finish to offer any real protection or durability. You will need at _least_ three coats of a water based product. In Europe and the States four coats is used in most cases to give the floors some degree of depth, and maybe, hold up to the rigors of household traffic. 
Cypress Pine, when sanded _properly_ can look sensational, and even more so with a Satin finish that allows you to see the grain in each individual stick of timber. 
However, if done poorly, it can be a nightmare with the coatings wearing quickly and becoming very dirty and scratched in no time at all. Thus, ruining the look you're striving for.

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## Shelley01

Thanks Dusty, appreciate your reply.
A)  why aren't you in Sydney?
B)  thanks for the tip on number of coats required for water based finish to be effective.
C)  would you know of any website where I could see how a sanded and water based satin finish looks on a cypress floor.....and other options for that darker satin look?
D)  why does it have to be so complicated?
Cheers

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## commodorenut

> C)  would you know of any website where I could see how a sanded and water based satin finish looks on a cypress floor.....and other options for that darker satin look?

  Check out this website: Cyprus Pine Floors   

> D)  why does it have to be so complicated?
> Cheers

  I know what you mean.   
2.5 years ago I went through the pain of trying to choose a finish!
We'd had stained cypress in our place for over 10 years, which was nice & dark, and then bought another place that had radiata under the carpets. 
I pulled up all the carpets, and got the pros in to do 4 bedrooms & a loungeroom
I used the above website to help me choose the finish.  Ours are a golden yellow colour, and despite our initial worries, we're happy with the light colour. 
Choosing a floor finishing mob was the next hardest step!  
It took me a while to twist his arm, as they usually stick to Wollongong/Illawarra, but the guys from Timber Floor Sanding and Refinishing by Get a Gleam  did mine (I'm in Sydney's south west). 
I was very impressed with their work, and highly recommend them to anyone.

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## namtrak

Try whittlewax Treatex Satin - hardwax oil on the floor,  I have done a few Cypress floors with this and it looks a million dollars.  Only 2 coats as well!

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## Shelley01

Thanks for the ideas. Greatly appreciated. The Whittlewax Treatex satin does look great. I had a look at he website...now to find out if the tradesman we ask to do the job knows of it and can use it. Thanks for the links to the Cyprus Pine website and Get a Gleam, gave me lots of different looks to compare, mind you every board and so every floor out there is different to the next. I gather that cypress can vary from being a very light shade of yellow to a deep gold with reddish highlights (I sound like a hairdresser!). Any way I am still on the case. I think that I am looking for a walnut shade with a just touch of warmth (red). Heard that Prooftint is the go for colouring.

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## mikm

Treatex will give the timber a wet look of what ever natural colours are there, traditional urethane will tend to cause yellowing and water based urethane will yellow or give the timber a sickly green tinge on some timbers such as Tas oak.  Dunno about cypress. 
I've use satin treatex extensively at my place and have been generally happy with it.  There were a couple of problems with the formulation of the stuff a few years ago when I did my floors, but my sister has used it since with no problems, so I'd have no hesitation in recommending it now.  A MUCH kinder product on your health than urethanes. 
The idea that the sander applying the product needs to be familiar with it is not as big an issue as you might imagine.  Treatex goes off quicker than urethane, so sanders who are used to pouring a puddle on the floor and working that around can get into trouble if they pour too much or don't work fast enough.  I've seen the guys at whittlewaxes put the stuff down with the standard puddle technique quite successfully, so just letting a sander using it for the first time know that it cures a bit quicker should be all you need to do. 
Works great on kitchen bench tops, too.  Urethane sits on the surface of the timber, so any cracks allow water to get under and cause the dreaded grey bubbling.  Treatex has the hardwax component to form a mechanical barrier on the surface, while the oil component soaks into the timber fibres so you can have the patches of the surface layer worn off and it still looks good and retains some water repellency.

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## shanetorque

Make sure your floor sanders uses a stain that is made for the coating you'll be using.
Prooftint is alcohol based.
Polycure have a waterbased dye system.
Bona have an oil based stain system.
If you mix and match brands and something goes wrong, i.e. the coating doesn't stick, you won't have a leg to stand on.
Don't rush the contractor as staining properly will take time and may need an extra day or so before the coating is applied.

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