Well, they've lasted since 1949 with no refinishing (although they definitely need it), so that's certainly true! We don't wear shoes in the house, but we do have a toddler, so hopefully we won't be too hard on them. How are the looks different, in a nutshell? If I use the same color stain, will the Duraseal be more amber?

Well a todler wont help. Lol.

No shoes are good. In reality your sutuation doesnt sound like you would be helped too much with the bona traffic.

The difference between the oil vs water is small. If you are going natural color have who ever is refinishing show you a sample. Oil tends to be a bit darker in tone. More gold.

But if you are going a different color then natural it doesnt make much of a difference if you use oil or water for the coats. The difference lessens over stain.

Obviously there are different advantages with water over oil. Short dry time. Low vocs , etc.

If you keep up with regular cleanings your floors can last years before you need a buff and coat to bring back life. And you can do multiple buff and coats before a total sand is needed.

Are Dura Seal and Bona both water-based?

My flooring guy uses Bona Traffic regularly and he likes it. Then again, we just ran into a little "situation" when we finished American Cherry with natural tone in matte finish. The client was not happy with the flatness nor lack of amber richness they thought they were expecting....but that's another story (yes, it was remedied).

I'd like to hear a description of the OP's existing floor, in terms of sheen and color. Imparting that amber/honey tone (oil-based poly does that) is an important consideration. If the floors are ambered now, it might be shocking how much lighter white oak can become.

The existing floor is reddish and medium in tone. One of the flooring guys sanded a patch, and I definitely am not going for natural - it's a little light for my taste. I do like the ambered look, so sounds like going with Duraseal will be just fine. Thank you very, very much for your help :)

BTW - both of these gentlemen are well-respected in their field. I know that is the most important thing in the long run!

In our current house the previous owner had the floors refinished with a water based urethane. I personally do not like it. It is more of a satin/matte finish. I prefer the glossy/wet look. I do not know how many coats were put on.

We installed new wood flooring in the sunroom/back door entrance (was tiled) and finished it ourselves and used Duraseal- poly based. We put quite a few coats on it as that room is the backdoor entry that is used by 2 adults and 4 kids and lots of friends.

The floor is just gorgeous. I absolutely love it and when we put hardwood on the kitchen floor and rent the machines again, I am going to hit the other floors and refinish them with Duraseal.

I am finding that the water based is not as tough as the Duraseal. We have twin toddlers who spill things, drop toys and it just seems like the finish isn't as tough as a poly finish. It looks like it is wearing in high traffic areas, not down to wood, but the finish is even more matte in the main traffic pattern.

I will warn you though that the poly based does have a strong smell. I closed off and actually taped heavy duty plastic up over openings to try to keep the smell isolated to that part of the house.

Thanks, LauraNJ. I'm going with the Duraseal. Fortunately, we don't live in the house yet, so should be able to survive the smell. And hopefully we won't be doing this again any time soon!

Thanks Greg, going with the Bona Seal. I'm willing to drop an extra $1,500 for that seal in my kitchen. I'm in there A LOT.