Two-Part Water-Based Polyurethane: What Goes on the Floor in a Recoat

What it is

It comes in two parts. Part A is the finish, a urethane acrylic resin carried in water. It comes in the gallon. Part B is the hardener, a small bottle you mix into the gallon on the job, right before you lay the coat.

It is real floor finish. It is not epoxy, it is not a polish and it is not a wax. It is FloorIt Two-Part Finish, a proprietary mix manufactured by ProCoat, a family-owned maker in Cabot, Arkansas, so partners get the same product every job.

It comes in several sheens, from gloss down to ultra matte. Satin is the default, and it is what most homeowners picture when they think of a nice wood floor.

How it cures, in plain words

• The water evaporates. About a third of the gallon is solids. The rest is mostly water, which leaves as the coat dries.
• The resin fuses. As the water leaves, the resin particles join into one clear film across the floor.
• The hardener locks it. The crosslinker in Part B ties that film together into a hard network, which is why it ends up tough instead of just dry.

A one-part finish dries. A two-part finish cures. That difference is the whole reason to use it, and it happens in three steps.

What makes it different

Once the two parts are mixed, the finish hardens chemically and bonds to the floor. It goes on over a screened floor, so it grips the old finish instead of sitting loose on top. The new coat becomes part of what is already there. The result cures a lot tougher than a standard one-part finish.

The numbers back it up. On its data sheet it loses 45 mg in a 1,000-cycle Taber abrasion test and scores 90 on Koenig hardness. It has a 0.87 static coefficient of friction, so it grips underfoot, and it is rated for residential, commercial and sport floors. It stays clear and won't yellow, it has a mild smell, and it cleans up with water.

That toughness is what the homeowner is paying for. A coat that holds up means a floor that still looks good for a long time on a well-kept floor, and a customer who calls you again and sends their neighbors.

Why not just buy it at the store?

• Polish sits on top of the floor and never really cures. It scuffs, softens and eventually peels off, and it has to be stripped before a real finish can go on.
• One-part poly has no hardener, so it stays softer. It dries, but it wears through faster in the busy walkways.
• Neither comes with the prep, the buffer or the training to do the job right.

Big box and hardware stores mostly sell two things for this. One is a polish. The other is a standard one-part poly. Neither is the same product, and pro two-part finishes like this one are sold through flooring suppliers, not on the shelf next to the mop.

• The full spec sheet for the finish

How much one floor takes

Each gallon covers about 500 to 600 square feet. Do not spread it thinner than that, or the coat wears through sooner. An average floor of about 1,000 square feet needs about 1.8 gallons for one coat. Keep a spare on hand for touch-ups.

FloorIt sends partners 12 gallons to start, so the first jobs are covered before you ever reorder. After that, reorders ship to your door, and there is no obligation to reorder from FloorIt.

A recoat takes one or two coats. Our job math uses one coat on an average floor. Factory-prefinished floors often need just one, while a worn site-finished floor can take a second coat the same day once the first is dry. The training covers how to tell which one you have.

• Do you have to buy finish from FloorIt?

How it goes on

• Clean and test. The floor has to be free of wax, polish and oily residue, or the new coat will not stick. If a test shows wax or polish, strip it first.
• Screen. Run a floor buffer with a 120 to 180 grit screen until the old finish is evenly dull. A fine white powder means a cured finish that will bond.
• Vacuum and tack. Get every bit of dust off the floor and the baseboards, then go over it with a slightly damp mop.
• Mix. Pour the hardener into the gallon, shake it for 30 to 45 seconds and let it rest 10 to 15 minutes. Once mixed, it stays usable for about 8 hours, so only mix what the job needs.
• Cut in and roll. Use a trim pad along the walls, then a 9-inch microfiber roller on an extension pole for the open floor. Roll with the grain, keep a wet edge so there are no lap marks, and work toward the door.

On job day, the finish goes on last. Most of the work is the prep that comes before it.

Safety and the room

Part B is the part to respect. Wear gloves and goggles when you mix, and do not breathe the vapor. Open the windows and set fans to pull air out of the room while the coat goes on and dries.

Leftover mixed finish never goes down a drain. Let it harden in an open container outside, then throw it out as solid waste where your local rules allow.

The room should be about 65 to 80 degrees with about 40 to 60% humidity. What matters is the temperature inside the house, so a lived-in, heated home works in winter too. The finish cannot freeze: keep unopened gallons inside, and never leave them in the truck overnight.

Drying, the first days and aftercare

It is ready for another coat in about 2 to 4 hours. Socks and light use are fine at 24 hours. Furniture can go back with felt pads in about 3 days, and the floor is fully cured in about 7, when rugs can go back down.

Aftercare is simple. Felt pads go under the furniture, and rugs on the busiest walkways help. The homeowner cleans with the cleaner you leave with them and skips oils, soaps, steam mops and store shine products. Store polish on top of a fresh coat is exactly the kind of product the polish test looks for at the next estimate.

When you would use something else

Alex is open about this in the video. There is no one finish for every floor. There are water-based and oil-based finishes and many other products, and some floors need a different one. So you will not use FloorIt finish on every job.

It works on solid hardwood, engineered wood and factory-prefinished floors, and on LVP after a test spot. It is not for laminate, sheet vinyl or painted floors.

For the floors that need something else, FloorIt partners with a flooring company that gives you the training and the links to choose the right product. Partners send photos of any floor they are unsure about. Alex says he is a marketer, not a floor person, which is why that guidance comes from people who do the work.

Common questions

Is two-part water-based polyurethane better than one-part? For a floor that gets walked on every day, yes. The hardener cures it into a harder coat, while a one-part poly has no hardener and stays softer.

Is a two-part floor finish the same as epoxy? No. It is a water-based urethane floor finish with a hardener mixed in on the job. It is not epoxy, not a polish and not a wax.

How much two-part finish does a floor need? Each gallon covers about 500 to 600 square feet, so an average 1,000 square foot floor takes about 1.8 gallons a coat.

How long before you can walk on it? Socks and light use at 24 hours. Furniture goes back with felt pads in about 3 days, and the floor is fully cured in about 7 days.