Golden Seal (May 20, 2012)

So it took a little longer than expected to finish our kitchen floor (The Joy of Sanding). On Saturday the 12^th, after Kevin finished sanding, the forecast called for four days of rain starting Sunday night, so we put off applying polyurethane so it wouldn’t dry tacky. That Sunday morning, we painted on a protective layer of acrylic sealer, knowing it would dry fast before the downpour started. A week later, the humidity relented and Kevin applied two coats of poly, shown above—and scratched the kitchen floor off his to-do list. 

We wanted a satin finish, but he started with a coat of Minwax oil-based gloss to heighten the glow of the final satin coat. We chose oil-based poly over water-based just because we preferred the look, but Kevin says it’s also more durable and less expensive, if a bit harder to apply.

We sampled various wood stains, compatible with the red and cream F&B paints we’re using (in the far right column above), but we decided to seal the natural pine, which is golden, finely streaked with red tones. The far end of the kitchen faces north, so we’ll keep the wall and floor colors light and warm, to draw on the sunny southwest exposures near the hearth. With the floor finished, we can move on to priming and painting the rest of the room, as we close in on our certificate of occupancy (target move-in date: July 1, 2012).