What is the best finish to use for a bar counter?
PhilipScheffer
| Posted in Green Products and Materials on
I recently finished my red oak bar counter and am getting ready to seal it. I am used to using oil-based urethane to achieve a quality look and get great durability.
What low VOC alternatives will give me the look and feel of oil-based urethanes but have less of a biological and environmental impact?
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Replies
Hood Everlast is an oil based urethane that has 275 g/l VOC which hits low VOC by NAHB standard but still far from zero.
http://www.hoodfinishing.com/files/Cat_2009_V-1_for_WEB.pdf
I've been using this for years and it is a great product, durable, medium fast drying, a little higher sheen than you might expect from their low gloss product so for the top coat on a floor you might want to add their de-glosser additive. I think it's a bit too slow drying for a floor so that is the only reason I'm continuing to experiment with other finishes. We use it on all our trim and built-ins though with great results and it will do fine for your oak bar top.
At the USGBC conference I was really impressed with the Vermont Natural Coatings "PolyWhey" varnish which is a very nice quick drying "water-based" varnish made with dairy whey protein but is still 180 G/L VOC. I have a can and will be trying it on a future project to see how it goes.
Thanks for tip about the Hood Everlast, Michael.
I actually was at GreenBuild in Boston and got to talk to the guys at VNC. Their product looked really great on the samples they brought, but I was still a little hesitant to make the jump for "PolyWhey." It is certainly cool tech though.
You'll have to let me know how it works on your furniture project.
Hi Philip,
For years we have used AFM Safecoat products; http://www.afmsafecoat.com/Techpdfs/5006%20Polyureseal%20BP%20data.pdf for custom furniture. Good luck!