Bona NordicSeal 128 Oz

I'm like, "Nope! These are red oak floors. I sanded the floors throughout our new mid-century home from 36 grit all the way up to 100 grit. Then I got down on my hands and knees and used artists paint brushes to work oxalic acid into the 40 year old pet stains. I did that step several times, until I was happy with the lift. Once that was done, I saturated the worst areas in Urine Destroyer by Nature's Miracle to eliminate gnarly odors that were reinvigorated during the sanding process. Then I let the floors fully dry for about 72 hours. After that, I did a final sanding up to 120 grit. Next, I hit the floors with 2 coats of Bona NordicSeal and one coat of Bona Traffic HD Satin using a regular microfiber paint roller and a metal extender letting each coat dry in between passes. Once the Bona Traffic was dry, I buffed the floors up to 240, hit it with a final coat of the Bona Traffic HD Satin and called it a day. We moved in about a week later." So yes! I highly recommend this product. I have read that people found it hard to work with - but I didn't experience that. It was easy! there were some moments when it was drying where it looked like it might turn out milky or spotty, but I just waited for those to fully dry before doing the next coat and everything turned out great. If you manage your expectations, you CAN totally do it yourself: just be realistic and understand that you're not going to get a truly professional-level finish from your first attempt. If you ultimate want it to be professional: hire a professional. If you just want some awesome DIY floors for cheap, (or if your floors are so wrecked you have nothing to lose), just go for it! When we closed on our house, I thought our floors would have to be replaced before we could move in. DIYing with NordicSeal bought us time and breathing room to spend our money on other critical areas of the house first, like upgrading our electric and buying a new roof. One day, we may replace our floors, but being able to put it off until later because they look pretty dang good has been a big win for us. Thanks!!

Bona NordicSeal – A Stunning Finish for Wood Floors! I used Bona NordicSeal on my wood floors, and the transformation was absolutely stunning! This sealer gave my floors a beautiful, soft whitewashed effect while enhancing the natural grain of the wood. It created that perfect light, airy, Scandinavian-inspired look I was aiming for without making the wood appear too stark or artificial. Application was smooth and easy—it spreads evenly, dries quickly, and provides great coverage. It also works as an excellent base coat to prevent yellowing when paired with a water-based topcoat. The final result is a durable, modern finish that brightens up my space beautifully. If you’re looking to achieve a fresh, natural, and elegant look for your wood floors, I highly recommend Bona NordicSeal. It’s a high-quality product that delivers professional results!

So I knew I didn't want orange tinted wood. Also did not want a heavily glossy floor. I loved the way the wood looked bare but OMG it's so vulnerable without a coat on. After researching much longer than I had wanted to, all signs pointed to Bona. BUT Bona was hella expensive. There was only one other eligible candidate but it cost 2 or 3 times what Bona did! I bought reclaimed oak wood from an old home, cleaned it, laid it, sanded it, epoxied the cracks (initially with T88 but as soon as I had finished with the epoxy the floor buckled, apparently due to needing to expand and contract, so I purchased flex epoxy to fill in the huge cracks from the buckling incident), sanded some more... then sanded even more, then applied Bona Nordic Seal to prevent darkening of color. After one coat I had the great idea of doing 2 coats (for added protection). After about 1/4 of the 2nd coat was on, I decided I didn't really want the milky look, it was perfect with one thin coat ( if you want a milky look, 2 coats should please you very much). Sanded the 1/4 of the 2nd coat off (couldn't just sand one coat off, it didn't work like that) and recoated with the single coat. Afterwards applied Bona Sealer. My bf thought I was going overboard with the high priced sealer. But when I started putting it on the floor I could already tell the price was worth it. Idk how I knew but I knew it was going to protect the floor and look almost the same as bare wood! Maybe because of the way it soaked into the wood, or the way it felt going on, but this is a remarkable sealant! It did darken very slightly, which is fine.. it's not orange and it's not super glossy. Take your time putting it on. I had excellent results painting it on very thin with a paintbrush (initially started with one of those cheapies from Lowes but it kept dropping hairs in my seal!... so make sure to use one that doesn't shed). I spread it out as thin as possible, painting a section almost til it was dry (or until I could feel parts of it getting sticky on the way to drying). I don't think the pics show it but when the light hits it just right you can see the raised grain. The floor turned out better than I had even imagined! Water does not soak in to the wood anymore:) Sidenote: We bought a pretty scary place (housing prices were unreal last year when we had to get a place, so not many options) that we are remodeling. We don't really have a ton of money to work with. All the floors I liked were way out of my price range. All the floors I could afford would have made me depressed to look at everyday. Found this wood on marketplace for $225, paid $90 for Nordic, $90 for sealer, approx $150 on tools (that we are also using for other things). Less than $600 for entire house flooring that I love! Time and effort were the biggest costs of course. If you want a non yellowing, matte finish, look no further - this is it. You will find that these qualities are hard to come by as far as wood sealers go (for whatever reasons). I did debate - for weeks - if I was really going to spend this much on a floor sealer. Twice I jumped back on the internet, attempting to use other search terms and try to find a cheaper sealer that would not yellow nor make it shiny. All 3 times researching confirmed if this is what I want, Bona was it. Glad I did and I'd do it again too.

We just redid our red oak hardwood floors and this product is worth every penny! After much research I decided to go with Bona due to the high quality and durability! I only wanted to do this once! It went on so easily, it’s water based so it dried super fast to allow for 2 coats in a day and it doesn’t smell at all! My floors look amazing. I used the satin finish for a less gloss look! Perfect!!

Do NOT get this product unless you are a professional. The product dries within 30 seconds of applying and if you do not move the product around quickly enough… it looks terrible. In an attempt to get rid of the terrible streaky look, we attempted to buff it, to no avail. Then, we tried to sand the surface, which did not touch it. We will have to rent a belt sander and start all over again. Hours of prep work are out the window. Yes, we watched the hour long instructional video and still failed miserably. This is not our first rodeo with staining/refinishing floors, but this is our first time with the product. This is a nightmare product to work with. Do not waste your money if you are not a professional

I posted a picture of the floor color before and after. Just a warning if you are DIY. This takes a lot of work and time if done right: following Bona’s instructions to the letter. I’ll explain, but I wanted to be upfront about the con of getting these floors to look right, especially if you are doing them yourself. The picture is before I even but the finish on. Which will be another day. First I sanded the floor up to 120 grit. Then I used Bona’s Red Out step 1 and 2. Then I applied the sealer. That sounds simple enough, but this product requires a pretty smooth floor to avoid product pooling and inconsistent color. The sanding to smooth floor took me about week because after sanding, you have to seal any cracks between the boards with wood filler. That required another fine sanding afterwards. Then after you apply the red out, you have to wait 24 hours, (I waited 48 hours). Then you have sand and clean the floor again with 120 to smooth out the popped up grain. This took me another day. Next I applied the sealer here. It took three coats to soak into the wood completely. The second coat can be applied after a couple of hours, but the third you have to wait another day. So in all this technique took me around 2 weeks of total work: two weekends and a couple of random after work sessions. On top of that, this dries incredibly fast. You have to be super quick about it. This is also partly the reason it needs multiple coats. Honest review: it looks good if done right and adds a unique look to the floor, but is very time consuming if you have anything but a white oak floor. Even then, expect to put three coats on because of the pigment variation when applied.

Bona Nordic Seal is a game-changer! We used it on our hardwood floors, and the results are stunning. It gives the wood a beautiful, light, Scandinavian-style finish that brightens up the whole space. The application was smooth and easy, with minimal odor. It dried quickly and left our floors looking refreshed and modern. Highly recommend for anyone looking to achieve that chic, Nordic look!"

BONA Nordic Seal - I recently did my floors with exceptional care and consideration. Professional or DIYer on applying seal: watch others apply this sealer. BONA makes videos on how to apply their finishes. I used a roller. It was my first time and they came out great. There were spots in my kitchen that came out blotchy due to a rushed process. To avoid this, try to set up the house so that you can work room to room without any time between application. This stuff dries so quick and if you have a puddle sitting for 30 seconds it will sit in the wood til the end of time! It is an art to apply this evenly and quickly. Read the directions thoroughly. Use the filter that comes with the bottle. If you have a wood floor running from room to room: Tape off each room running along the seams of the board so that you can cut off application. Leaving the product on the ground will cause errors that last. You need a sharp line to finish against, and the seam of a board is not noticeable. SANDING and how it relates to the final product: It was very tedious. A dark finish will be more forgiving of your mistakes, but this light finish is going to highlight your floors imperfections. Your guests won't know the difference as long as you take extra special care and time into making a decent job. It is meticulous work. Any unevenness in your floor will let old lacquer sit in depths that don't soak up this sealer. If you went from an old dark finish to a light, those deep spots that you didn't sand because you got tired of sanding? They will show. My advice? If you love the way this floor looks then do it yourself, but be warned! If you are going to spend a couple days on this project, do a couple weeks of research. Write down what you find and use the absolute best method for results. Going into this project I was misled on truly how deep of a grit I needed on my floor, this caused me to go back to the store more than I would like. It caused me to go back over floors again and again. Buy all the grits, and if your floor doesn't look completely raw or has leftover finish caused by unevenness, there are videos and blogs out there that will help you understand how to do it better. If you notice the drum sander is not removing ALL of the finish, go deeper. Don't waste your time with baby grit. Be gentle lowering the drum in a forward passing motion to avoid marking the floor. Take a couple test drives with a shallow grit to get used to how the machine feels. I am not a professional but if I had to guess, this is the hardest type of finish to get perfect. If you are a perfectionist, you might have better luck getting a professional to do it.