Zar Ultra Polyurethane Review

Zar Ultra Polyurethane – Fast Drying

Several years ago when we built our new home we ordered custom Brazilian Cherry stair treads to match the houses Brazilian Cherry floors. We needed to apply our own polyurethane after the stairs were built so we chose Zar Ultra Polyurethane based on a recommendation at the local lumber yard. I remember the guy at the lumber yard bragging about this product saying that he’s never found a better polyurethane.

This week I finally got around to sealing the newel post cap (someone forgot to seal it almost 4 years ago when the rest of the stairs were sealed!) and realized that our stairs, hand rails and newel were all sealed using the Zar Ultra Polyurethane. It quickly dawned on me that the stair treads still look new which is a true testament to the quality of this product.

Our Thoughts on Zar

Zar Ultra Polyurethane works great! First of all this polyurethane dries very quickly in as little time as 1 hour up to 2 hours on subsequent coats. It’s very easy to work with because of it’s self leveling formula which helps reduce brush marks. More importantly we are very impressed with it’s ability to hold up under tough conditions like stairs. Our stairs are almost 4 years old and they still look new, no visible scratches or blemishes in the urethane.

We’ve used lots of different polyurethanes over the years and this one tops our list of most recommended. The best part is you can buy a gallon of this stuff for under $20! It’s available at most hardware stores or you can buy it online here.

Todd Fratzel

I'm full time builder for a large construction company in New Hampshire. I run their design-build division that specializes in custom homes, commercial design-build projects and sub-divisions. I'm also a licensed civil and structural engineer with extensive experience in civil and structural design and home construction. My hope is that I can share my experience in the home construction, home improvement and home renovation profession with other builders and home owners. I'm also the Editor-in-Chief and Founder of Tool Box Buzz. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, suggestions or you'd like to inquire about advertising on this site.

Next DeWALT Worm Drive Circular Saw Review »

Previous « The Company Store Down Comforter Review

View Comments

Coach says:
January 18, 2011 at 4:36 am
I live in the Philippines and we are using this to encapsulate solar cells for a solar panel. As long as you spread it very thin and allow it to cure for about 4 days, it seems to be a good long term and cost effective solution to protecting sensitive solar cells.
If the coat placed on the cell is too thick it will cause the cell to crack, so you'll have to experiment to determine the correct amount. But in general any sealant should be thin since the thicker the coat, the less that sunlight can pass through.