What the Lacquer Actually Does
Untreated oak is vulnerable to wear, moisture, sunlight and staining. The coating is what stands between the timber and everyday life, and it is the component that determines how the floor looks in year ten as much as the oak underneath it.
We use two systems, for different reasons.
UV cured lacquer
Our standard finish is a UV cured lacquer, applied continuously and mechanically and cured instantly under ultraviolet light as it goes on. Curing under UV hardens each layer before the next is applied, which produces a dense, micro-layered shield rather than a single thick film.
Each group of layers does distinct work. The first layers bond to the timber and resist moisture. The middle layers carry colour and slow UV fading. The top layers provide the hard, abrasion-resistant surface you clean.
The result is high resistance to abrasion, staining and moisture, a smooth surface that cleans easily, and minimal ongoing maintenance. It suits high-traffic areas and busy households, which is most houses.
Water-based lacquer: Clair and Vuitton
Two colours in the range, Clair and Vuitton, use a water-based system instead. This is a deliberate choice rather than a compromise, because water-based lacquer allows a wider colour range and greater depth of tone than UV curing can reach.
The process is different in kind. The timber is hand-coated, then left to develop to the intended colour profile. That patience is what produces the tone, and it cannot be rushed mechanically.
Water-based lacquer offers solid protection against wear, with a more natural look and feel underfoot. It asks for slightly more care than the UV cured system, which is covered in the After Care Guide.
What we have watched the finish handle
Rather than describe protection, here is what we have seen it deal with. Laboratory results for common household substances are published as the KLUMPP Stain Resistance Test, run in 2015. The rest is what we have observed ourselves, informally rather than under test conditions.
Vivid marker and crayon
Drawn directly onto a 20mm board and left ten minutes to dry, which is roughly how long it takes a parent to make a cup of tea and come back.
A general household cleaner lifted the lighter marks and some of the softer crayon wax. A cream cleanser removed the darker ink cleanly and took off the remaining crayon, though the thickest crayon lines needed the wax surface broken first with a fingernail before wiping. Only minimal residue remained in the deepest grain.
The reason it works is that the pigment stays on the surface long enough to be removed rather than absorbing into the timber. That is the entire job of the lacquer.
Nail polish and remover
Both applied directly to a board and deliberately left for an hour and a half, long enough to dry hard. Nail polish is notorious for staining porous or softly coated floors. The lacquer held.
Why the coating matters
Some products in this category use oil finishes, which are beautiful but offer limited protection.
A micro-layered UV cured system behaves as a barrier coating, preventing water reaching the surface fibres of the oak rather than slowing it down. That is why the floor cleans rather than stains.
It also matters at the other end of the floor's life. A finish that resists wear means the 6mm wear layer is still available when a refinish is eventually wanted.
Choosing between them
For most projects, the UV cured system is the default. Where a specific depth of tone is the priority, Clair and Vuitton offer something the UV process cannot reach.
The finish is difficult to assess from a photograph and immediate in the hand. Order samples or see the range at the Christchurch, Auckland or Queenstown studio. Full finish specifications are in the Technical Specifications.
