FloorIt Two-Part Finish: Lock & Bond Explained

Why most floor products fail

Most of what a homeowner can buy just dries on top of the floor. Polish leaves a film. A one-part finish dries into a softer layer. Neither is tied together hard, and neither is gripping the floor below it.

That is why they scuff, build up and peel. A layer that sits on top can come off the top.

Lock & Bond answers both problems. The lock makes the coat hard. The bond makes it part of the floor.

It locks

FloorIt Two-Part Finish comes in two parts. Part A is the finish, a clear urethane acrylic in the gallon. Part B is a small bottle of crosslinker, 1 ounce per gallon, poured in on the job.

Picture the finish as a pile of bricks. With a one-part product, the bricks just stack up. The crosslinker is the mortar. It ties every brick to the ones around it, so the whole coat cures into one solid, hard layer instead of a soft film.

That is the difference between drying and curing. The proof is on the data sheet: 45 mg lost after 1,000 cycles on a Taber abrasion test, 90 on Koenig hardness, and a commercial-grade rating for homes, businesses and sport floors.

It bonds

Before any coat goes down, the floor is screened. A buffer with a fine screen puts thousands of tiny scratches in the old finish until the whole floor is evenly dull.

The new coat flows down into those scratches and grabs on. The crosslinker helps here too: its maker describes it as increasing adhesion, durability and curing speed.

So the new coat does not sit on top like a sticker. It becomes part of the floor. The fine white powder that comes off the screen is your sign it is working: that powder means a cured finish, ready to bond.

Why one finish works on several kinds of floor

• Solid hardwood: yes.
• Engineered hardwood: yes. Often the best fix, since a thin wood layer cannot take much sanding.
• Factory-prefinished: yes, after a thorough screen.
• LVP: yes, after a test spot.
• Waxed or store-polished floors: after stripping.
• Worn to bare gray wood: no. That floor needs a sand.

A recoat does not bond to the wood. It bonds to the finish on top of the wood. That is the key to the whole product.

Every one of these floors has a finish or wear layer on top: site-applied urethane on solid hardwood, a factory coat on prefinished floors, the same kind of top layer on engineered wood, and a wear layer on LVP. Screen that layer, and the coat locks into it.

Same product, same process, different floors. What changes is the prep. Prefinished floors need slower, more thorough screening. Wax and polish must be stripped first. LVP gets a test spot first.

What Lock & Bond gets the homeowner

Because it locks, it is hard and it won't yellow, so light and gray floors stay the color the homeowner picked. On regularly maintained floors, the manufacturer puts it at 20+ years.

Because it bonds, it does not peel like polish. It grips underfoot too, with a 0.87 traction rating against a common 0.5 benchmark.

And because the recoat skips the full sand, the family stays home. They stay out of the room while it dries, and walk on it in socks at 24 hours.

What Lock & Bond gets the operator

One finish in the van for solid hardwood, engineered, prefinished floors and LVP. Fewer callbacks, because a coat that locks hard and bonds in does not scuff and peel the way a film on top does.

A gallon covers 500 to 600 square feet, about 24 cents a square foot per coat at the partner price. That is about 40% less per foot than the big-brand pro finish, and a gallon goes about 50% further.

And something to explain at the estimate besides price. A homeowner cannot compare a mechanism jug to jug.

How to explain it in 20 seconds

'Most of what you can buy just dries on top of the floor, and that's why it scuffs and peels. Ours is two-part. We mix the second part in on the job, and it locks the whole thing into one hard coat. And because we screen the floor first, it bonds into the finish that's already there. Locks and bonds. That's why it holds up, and why it works on hardwood, engineered and prefinished floors, and on LVP.'

That is the whole pitch. The numbers back it up if they ask.

• The full spec sheet for the finish

What it does not do

Lock & Bond renews the clear coat. It does not fix the wood under it.

It does not fill deep gouges or holes. The clear finish will not hide a stain soaked into the wood, though an amber-tinted version can help blend stains. And a floor worn through to gray, bare wood has nothing left to bond to, so it needs a full sand.

Say that at the estimate. A homeowner who knows exactly what to expect is a homeowner who leaves a good review.

Common questions

What is Lock & Bond? How FloorIt Two-Part Finish works. A crosslinker locks the finish into one hard coat as it cures, and screening the floor first lets the new coat bond into the existing finish.

Why does FloorIt finish work on more than one kind of floor? Because it bonds to the finish layer on top, not to the wood. Solid hardwood, engineered, prefinished floors and LVP all have a finish or wear layer to bond into.

Is Lock & Bond a coating that sits on top of the floor? No. The screened floor gives the new coat thousands of tiny scratches to grip, so it becomes part of the existing finish instead of a layer sitting on top.

How long does a Lock & Bond recoat last? On regularly maintained floors, the manufacturer puts it at 20+ years. Care matters: rugs, felt pads, the right cleaner and a maintenance plan.