Minwax 131020000 Ultimate Floor Finish, Semi-Gloss, 1 gallon

We started out with red wood oak floors but wanted a light brighter look for my home office. After sanding and using lye to get the wood as pale as possible, we used Minwax Ultimate Floor Finish in Satin to complete the look. We love the results! It took us a few tries to figure out how to get this down smoothly. But 3rd time was a charm. You will use less product and get a much smoother look if you pour the topcoat on the floor and use a T-Bar Applicator to spread it. And once you get it applied evenly, you'll be delighted it dries quickly. I've attached two b4 photos (original floor, and after we sanded and applied lye) and lastly the final photo with the Minwax finish.

I am absolutely thrilled with Minwax Ultimate Floor Finish! It gave my hardwood floors a beautiful, high-gloss shine that really enhances the natural wood grain. The application process was incredibly easy, and it dried quickly with no streaks or uneven patches.What I love most is the durability – it's been several months, and the finish still looks as good as the day I applied it, even in high-traffic areas. The protective coating is strong, helping to resist scratches and scuffs, which is exactly what I needed for my home.This product really delivers on its promise of long-lasting protection and an attractive finish. I highly recommend Minwax Ultimate Floor Finish to anyone looking to restore or enhance their floors!

Easy to use and good result. No smell to deal with either.

I can't speak about longevity yet, but I'll share my experience on installation. I applied this to a new white oak floor that I had sanded to 100 grit and then hand scraped (ugh). Applying the finish is pretty easy, but I suspect it would be more difficult at higher temps due to the quicker drying time. You really want to keep moving to avoid drying boundaries that will be visible. I poured it into a tray and used a lambswool applicator from the box store (wooden block that a handle threads into). I dipped it into the finish, squeezed out the excess on the tray and then simply wiped it in the direction of the grain, being careful to leave a consistent, THIN application. I had a number of small pieces of the applicator come off and stick to the floor that I removed as I went. The first coat used a lot more finish than subsequent coats. One gallon let me do 300 sq ft, two coats, so I had to order another $90 (choke) can for the third.After the first coat dried I was horrified to see that it had raised the grain on the oak, leaving a bumpy surface. I applied a second coat anyway and it didn't change the surface much. The next day I lightly hand sanded with 220 simply by feeling the surface. 300 sq ft took just half an hour. I then applied two more coats (I had so much left, why not - especially at this price) and I am quite happy with the the results.I found that I could walk on it with socks after 3 hours (probably sooner) in order to apply the second coat, or go through the room. Was really worried about shutting down the kitchen for 24 hours, but this is just not necessary IMO. I laid down a paper path once the last coat had dried for 3 hours.I wish they sold this in smaller quantities for the final coat(s). I have 3/4 of a can after doing the last two coats. Should I just keep going to use it up? Maybe.

I use this on wooden floors. Excellent product for my use.

This finish in particular left a whitish almost opaque like finish and was not as crystal clear as it claims to be. The main problem and issue I experienced was the vulnerability to extreme weather conditions apparently water-based polyurethane‘s are extremely susceptible to humidity and can affect the finish very easily so I am not 100% sure if I just had a bad batch of finish like I have read on several other reviews were people have had bad products from the beginning or was the humidity The cause of the issue but I experienced a major stair tread finish peeling as well as lack of good adhesion there were many areas that would peel up like big huge flakes strips very easily. I learned a huge lesson on this job and that is not to ever do floor clearcoat/finishing on different days for the same stair set or floor and I need to make sure that it’s always done on the same day because the different days have different humidity levels and this can affect the look and overall performance of the finish and this is more than likely what happened because 1/2 of the stair treads were done on a day where it was extremely rainy and humid outside and the other half were done on a nice normal sunny day and visually you could easily see a difference the treads that were possibly affected by the humidity were whitish and not crystal clear topcoat but even the treads that seemed to have a good finish application had severe wear and breakthrough to the stain layer within several weeks of very minimal traffic . All of the treads and flooring had at least 3 to 4 layers of finish applied and by the time the homeowner had to move in I had to completely redo and refinish all of the treads not only due to the peeling whitish finish on some of them but even the ones that were fine had severe wear and just insane how this Miniwax ultimate flooring finish seem to have very little durability .Overall this product is very popular and everyone’s hyped up about it only because it is a water-based topcoat and there is a huge movement to water-based finishes because the general public thinks that they are better for the environment when in actuality they do have lower VOCs but it all comes down to how the factories are dealing with their waste and if these products and waste by products are introduced into the soil and or water/ocean bodies these chemicals are severely harmful and toxic and not at all as safe as they are made out to be. Sure it’s a little easier to clean up but it’s way harder to apply properly and there’s a lot of factors that play a huge role in to proper application and successful finishing. I have since migrated to Bonas water-based polyurethane which is a two-part mix and is a strength commercial flooring finish. I have to say that it is extremely durable and very forgiving and easy to work with as long as you get the ratios for mixing the two parts together correctly the application and finish process is a breeze and talk about crystal clear finish with superior rock hard durability I am a huge fan of the Bona HD commercial two-part polyurethane

The finish is good quality, but the shipper damaged them and they decided to cancel my order and refund me