Okay, the holidays are over. It is cold outside and I am getting ready to work on this indoor project, but guess what? I have ran behind schedule and I need to work quickly. I need to pick up the pace. This is a nice wood desk that I have built for an office space and I need to finish it. What am I going to do to make up the time that I have lost? I am going to use a water-based urethane product. I am going to use some wood filler and a few simple tools and believe it or not I can finish this job in about six hours’ time.

Why do I want to use water-based urethane? It dries quickly and guess what? It has a low odor. Here is what you need to get started. Go ahead and take a regular sanding block with aluminum oxide sand paper. Lightly sand the wood, remove the dust and you are just about ready to go. If you do have any imperfections on the wood or nail holes that need to be filled do that beforehand and just use regular water-based wood filler. They are easy to apply. Use a putty knife. It only takes about 30 minutes for this part to dry and you are ready to sand. Once the wood is dust-free, get now the urethane. Use a regular brush. Make sure you stir it before you apply it. Do not shake urethane, you will put tiny air bubbles into the finish. That is a big mistake. Urethane dries about an hour’s time; maybe an hour and a half and you are ready to apply your next coat. I would like to put three or four coats on it if it is all possible. Another thing that I like about water-based urethane, is that easy clean up. You would just use soapy, warm water. Water-based urethanes are great in my opinion.

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