Agree with G&S. I've personally worked with many types of Loba and it is TEN TIMES easier to work with than Rubio. I like a satin finish rather than matte. Matte is hard to live with and yes, hazing is a big issue. Some of the best applications (when I sold flooring) was a homeowner DIY application using Loba. Once you learn some of the tricks, it is STUPID-EASY to work with. It works well with a low-nap paint roller. I've always said about Loba, "If you can paint a wall, you can use Loba." There are VERY FEW professional grade products out there that are as easy to work with as Loba. Bona is HELL. Rubio is SUPER PICKY (the SANDING must be METICULOUS or you will pull your hair out for WEEKS trying to get it "right"). Getting your hands on some of the other options can be a nightmare unto itself. I would take Loba 2K Supra AT in the satin in a heartbeat. Beautiful stuff with a lovely velvety feel to it with a low-gloss satin "glow" to it. Really stunning stuff. If you have white oak, remember to use Loba's EasyPrime in lieu of one coat of finish. The 2K Supra AT is SOOOOO tough that two coats over the EasyPrime = amazingly tough/beautiful finish.

Oil based polyurethane = intense odours for up to 30 days (some say more...some a little less). They like to turn orange or "amber" as the industry likes to call it. Those who love the old look of hardwood floors insist the richness of the oil based products are beautiful (and it can be). Whereas others who do NOT like orange (that would be me) hate the orange tones. Lower end polyurethanes are very commonly found around the 'Joe Schmoe' refinishers. It takes a lot more effort to find a higher-end oil based polyurethane. Water-based polyurethane = very low odour. They mean fast cure times. The look of 'raw' wood is preserved (very pale wood without any 'yellow tones'). A high-end polyurethane is more difficult to find because many 'Joe Schmoe' refinishers don't know how to work with them nor do they like the purchase price for them (they are as much as 5x more expensive than the low-end oil based products). The way to find a 'good' refinisher is to work with an NWFA Certified Sanding/Refinishing professional (www.nwfa.org). These guys regularly charge $4-$5/sf (depending on your location. They will offer both a water based and an oil based option in the 'better' or 'best' range for that price tag. Once the floor has been refinished, the maintenance is the same. Be aware that a high-end water based polyurethane will out perform a low end oil based. And vice verse. In other words, you will get what you pay for.

hardwod floors are always and will always be the look. though people seem to not underatand thatbthe reason why these products exist outside of harwood. hardwood is just not practical anymore , yesrs ago youd have certain rooms with different flooring to accommodate the room , now, its all usually open concept and having patchy flooring all over doesnt work. honestly i just dont see hoe you can put hardwood lets say in a kitchen , kitchens take a beating , if you can afford to or want to samf your floors every few years , espec especially if you have a busy household , them go for it , i know of no one that has ever resanded their floors and if so , what a mess. so lvp , laminate etc… all have come along due to the demand for the wood look without the issues of hardwood , so its all a decsion though we have decided on 1400sq ft of coretec lvp, we just love the hardwood though just not practical anymore , i cant have adults and kids tip toeing on our floors. plus in the future if you want a new floor , just pick it up , no demo. just my opinion

Ok...first things first. Janka hardness ratings only apply to solid hardwood. Engineered planks do not work with Janka because the plied layers underneath are often 'soft woods'. Considering Janka measures how much force it takes to imbed a metal ball into the wood, it isn't possible to offer Janka scores for engineered. They just don't compute. The next thing I'm going to point out is the oddity of trying to match the ENTIRE HOUSE to a single room of existing hardwood. You have a small amount of hardwood that is dictating the rest of the house. It's not impossible but it is HIGHLY unusual. In other words, you are trying to put down more than a thousand square feet of flooring by trying to match 150 - 250sf of dining room (I don't know the size of your dining room so I'm only guessing here). That's a little like putting the cart before the horse. Usually we see this the other way around. Usually we have a house full of hardwood (big amount) but the bedrooms have carpet (small amount). The homeowners then agonize over getting a match for the smaller area. That is normal. As for your price range that you are looking at, they are too low and a little thin. The gold standard is 3/4" thickness (solid or engineered). An engineered product with 3mm or more of wear layer is the base level. The thicker the wear layer the more times a floor can be refinished. The Gold standard is 6mm wear layer (usually in the $10/sf range). If you are having a hard time finding floors that you like, you might want to think about replacing the dining room at the same time. This takes away all the pressure to work with low-grade hardwoods just to get a match to a small amount of hardwood. Solid or engineered should be more than what you are looking at for price. Prefinished wood flooring should be in the $7/sf just to start and they go up from there.