How much Polyurethane?

[lightsareout]

Finally got two rooms all sanded and prepped for the polyurethane. I decided to use a water based rather than oil. How many gallons should I anticipate using on roughly 600-650 sq feet of floor? I'm expecting I'll use 3-4 coats.

 

[joecaption]

Just read the side of the can, the sq. footage it will cover is right there.

 

[nealtw]

I have a can that without coverage info; I would just buy 1 at a time.

 

[lightsareout]

I found information on the minwax website.

I'm looking at using their Super Fast-Drying Polyurethane for Floors. which covers 600-700 sq feet per gallon.

Right now i have the floors down to bare wood. This weekend I'm going to rent a large orbital sander (the one with 3 pads) and go over it with the 60 and 80 grit before applying the poly. On the Minwax site they recommend applying a sanding sealer on the bare wood before applying the poly.

Does this bring out the grain and allow the poly to sink in better?
Should I apply the sealer before sanding this weekend?
Also will I need to sand between coats of the poly?

thanks in advance!

 

[nealtw]

Any moisture will make loose fibers stand up so you can sand them off. Depending on the wood sometimes you can do this with a wet rag allow to dry and sand. You will still get more after your first coat. Between coats use one of those green dish scrubbers pads.

 

[FiveashRenovations31525]

Its according to how many coats you are going to install and how thick you put it on. I would guess at least a gallon per coat. Most people put three or four coats.

 

[lightsareout]

Thanks for the tips everyone. It went really smooth when i finished the floors. I also really suprised at how easy it was and how good they turned out. The can said 500-600sq feet per gallon, I finished about 500sq feet of flooring with 4 coats and only used a gallon and a half. One of the rooms is maple wood and the other is pine.

I did the first coat on a friday night, gave the finish about 16 hours before the second coat. I used one of those sanding blocks attached to a pole with 220 grit sand paper between the first and second coat and cleaned up the dust. Then did the 3 additional coats on that saturday with 2 hours between each coat. The floors look amazing! If anyone is scared to do their own floors; don't be. Just take your time and you'll be surprised with the results. Really the hardest part of the whole process was removing the old finish.