4260  finish for dance floor

Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 16:03:47 -0700
From: "megan pingree" <meganpingree@comcast.net>
Subject: [Tango-L] finish for dance floor

hello esteemed tango construction experts,

I am still trying to figure out the details for my in-home dance floor. I am planning on a solid oak floor (over plywood, over the pads, over sealed concrete) -- oak partly just to keep it consistent with the rest of the house. Otherwise, maple would probably be a good choice. A couple of listeros (in the archives) have stated that aluminum oxide must be in the finish for best results. One of my potential floor guys says that aluminum oxide finishes are generally sprayed on, for industrial type applications, in the shop -- thereby, pre-finished. Can anyone give me any more info about aluminum oxide finishes and their application?

A very good floor here in Portland has a "Swedish" finish by Synteko called Classic 50: Hardwood Finish - Semigloss. It looks and dances great, but was very toxic during application, and seems very persnickety about room temperature especially during the weeks and months immediately after application, but even now -- more than a year later. I would love to avoid the toxicity and the temperature sensitivity. Any wisdom out there?

many thanks in advance, Megan