# LENMAR Polyurethane wood finish



## jack pauhl

Anyone using LENMAR Polyurethane wood finish? Currently doing a review on it and really like it so far. We are finishing oak stair treads and parts but without the recommended sanding sealer. We are doing straight finish to wood. I'll grab photos today before I shoot the second coat. Needs overnight to dry but dries down in a few hours to kind of touch.


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## jack pauhl

One coat over oak



Building film on Spanish Cedar (overhead door opener in reflection) 



Say cheeese!


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## straight_lines

How bad is the first coat raising the grain on the oak?


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## jack pauhl

straight_lines said:


> How bad is the first coat raising the grain on the oak?


Yeah thats hard to get good close up shots. I took 6 and that oak pic was the best. It didnt raise grain any more than 220 couldn't dust off. The stuff is very tough/hard even with just over night drying. I think I'm sold on this stuff. Its not sold anywhere around us.. in fact it came in from out of state.


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## straight_lines

So you were waiting a day to sand? Did it powder up nicely and not gum after a day? There are a lot of clears I like applying but that is a problem with many.


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## jack pauhl

straight_lines said:


> So you were waiting a day to sand? Did it powder up nicely and not gum after a day? There are a lot of clears I like applying but that is a problem with many.


The can says 8-10 hours but suggests overnight drying to sand. We let it dry 18 hours before we sanded it. We are finishing these treads in the basement of the house so I am not sure we had the best in drying. 

We used 220 which did accumulate in the paper rather quick but we kept changing out the paper throughout the 35 treads. It was not a powder like sanding sealer powders but it did get smooth. The can suggest the use of their sanding sealer then at least 2 finish coats.

I'll try to shoot you a video tomorrow sanding a tread and the paper used.


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## TheRogueBristle

FWIW, a good friend who is a floor sander and refinisher uses it exclusively. I'm not sure if its a price point thing, but I am sure that he demands high quality. He also doesn't use their sealer, but thins down the finish a little on the first coat. He orders from a supplier and gets it in quarts.


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## TheRogueBristle

Also, I have borrowed some of it for personal projects and just to check it out and I do really like it. I used their gloss on a set of fir stair treads that still look great here a year later.


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## straight_lines

TheRogueBristle said:


> FWIW, a good friend who is a floor sander and refinisher uses it exclusively. I'm not sure if its a price point thing, but I am sure that he demands high quality. He also doesn't use their sealer, but thins down the finish a little on the first coat. He orders from a supplier and gets it in quarts.


 With just a quick search online it is about half the price of other clears. May order some up for my next floor.


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## NCPaint1

TheRogueBristle said:


> Also, I have borrowed some of it for personal projects and just to check it out and I do really like it. I used their gloss on a set of fir stair treads that still look great here a year later.


Shouldnt it last more than a year?


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## NCPaint1

JP is that "Satin" still wet? It looks pretty shiny for a Satin.


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## jack pauhl

NCPaint1 said:


> JP is that "Satin" still wet? It looks pretty shiny for a Satin.


# 1 dry
# 2 wet
# 3 wet


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## Wolfgang

Nice stuff. Noticed it wasn't WB, what's the smell like?


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## DHlll

I used it on a job that a floor guy ordered some. I wasnt over impressed with its performance. I thought it was a little thin. The over build wasnt great. I too used it on a landing and big extended window sills. To me its not worth the hassel of ordering and shipping.
I have been using Zinnser polyurathane lately and am super impressed. Great brushing with nice build. Hard finish. Buffs out like a dream. Just my opinion..


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## jack pauhl

Wolfgang said:


> Nice stuff. Noticed it wasn't WB, what's the smell like?


Fruity. 

j/k I suppose its not bad, otherwise I might be saying how bad it smelled. I sprayed 35 stair treads again today for couple hours with an HVLP but I dial that in like nobodies business. I had virtually no overspray! I had the best spray pattern ever doing finish work with the LENMAR satin and a #3 projector set with only 2oz reduction per cup and shot with air at 7:15 (thats barely on) on my CapSpray 9100. 

After today, I must say this was absolutely nice to use for finishing. We have 3 coats shot on those threads so far. Beautiful! I shot more pics today before I sanded the 2nd coat but not one of them do it justice. The 2nd coat finish was nice and solid leave little grain not leveled with clear. I suspect tomorrow we should see the entire thread fully cleared so it looks glassy.

I give this product a big thumbs up! :thumbsup: Did I mention how hard the finish is?


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## KEEGS

Speaking of Lenmar....using it on a huge project here in Ct. So, first thing, interesting how it is sold in quarts only (obvious VOC issues), that said, I pay $6.00 a quart, and it is pre-packaged in 6 quart boxes (you can buy however many single quarts you want). We have been using Lenmar on stair treads for years..without fail. Lenmar is sweet for many reasons, however, some of my favorites are the quick dry-down time, workability, durability, leveling and overall performance. I understand that there ceratinly are better polyurethanes out there, but I have to say, it is almost a fool-proof product if you have any application skills. Also, it sands effortlessly and powders up beautiful if you wait overnight. Often when doing staircases, i.e. treads, posts and rails...we run the lenmar from top to bottom. Always use satin, but have heard good things about the other finishes. 


I did notice something odd today while checking out the label on the quarts; at the very bottom it says "a Benjamin Moore Product?" That I had not seen before...so it struck me odd. I will be curious to see if any of the board members have any information about that.


FYI, thanks to Scott (VTPAINTER) we tried some Zar Ultra Max oil-modified waterborne poly on another project. His review was spot-on. We loved using the product...beautiful finish. A bit pricy around 70 a Gallon, but I have no issues, the end result is well worth it. And my customers are pretty fascinated by the idea of "Oil-modified, waterborne Poly". Shout to Scott...gracias.


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## Painter Girl

KEEGS said:


> I did notice something odd today while checking out the label on the quarts; at the very bottom it says "a Benjamin Moore Product?" That I had not seen before...so it struck me odd. I will be curious to see if any of the board members have any information about that.


Benjamin Moore owns Lenmar as part of their Complimentary Coatings Division. (Includes Insl-x, Cornado, Corotech, Lenmar Wood Coatings, Trinity Wood Coatings, and Maxum stains)


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