I just finished staining the quarter round for my floors and I want to know if it's necessary to apply polyurethane? I followed someone's advise to condition the wood before staining and I didn't see any difference between the conditioned wood and the wood that wasn't, so I'm trying to figure out if this is another unnecessary step. I was going to poly the t-molding since it gets a lot of traffic, but the quarter round will only have a vacuum occasionally brush against it.
Do I need to apply polyurethane on stained quarter round
floorstaintrim
Related Solutions
Most molding (skirting board) is 3/8" thick. You need a 1/4 inch gap around the floor to allow for expansion due to moisture. So if you're going up right against the drywall, you'll have a problem with getting molding thick enough to cover it (minor variations in the gap WILL show).
One alternative is to buy the stuff they sell as window/door casing which is usually closer to 3/4" thick on one edge. This is a bit pricier, and can look a bit heavy.
An attractive alternative, which can give you a nice look is to use door stop instead of quarter round. This is basically the same as using quarter round, but it's smaller and lighter, and doesn't encroach on the floor as much.
However, if your drywall doesn't come all the way down to the floor (usually a basement scenario) then as long as you have that quarter inch gap under the drywall free and clear, you should be ok with just ordinary skirting board.
For my basement laminate floor install I did not remove the base moulding. Instead i used spacers to place the flooring 1/4 inch away from the moulding. Then I used 1/4 round to cover the gap. It looks great and what a time saver it was.
I would not install laminate floor in a kitchen or bathroom due to water concerns.
Best Answer
Urethane is a sealer and durability layer. It keeps cleaning equipment and shoes from scuffing through the surface of the stained wood and degrading appearance. It also prevents liquids from soaking in and staining. Whether you do it is up to you, but I've never seen un-sealed wood installed as base trim.