Don't forget that it also depends on the type of wood you have...some take stain better than others...I have red oak... I decided to do English Chestnut. In theory I love a dark floor but I worried about dust and maintenance and scratches showing. Another BIG factor was that I always do very dark funiture...so I wanted some contrast....The color did come out a little lighter than I thought, but I definitely don't think it's red bc I hate reddish floors...I'd say it's a nice medium, neutral tone...the dark tones really work well with the dark furniture. Here are some pix: This is when we first moved in...with our temporary old loveseat and rug, etc..it looks pathetic LOL..but it shows the floor with natural light which is how it usually looks...oh, it's a satin finish top coat

Yes, it's an 18" applicator that looks like a paint roller, but the thing doesn't roll. Some of us roll our finish onto the floor with a paint roller and one manufacturer specifies a particular finish be applied only with a roller. In waterborne finishes look for those by BonaKemi, Basic Coatings, Vermeister, Duraseal, Poloplaz...and many others. They are available through flooring supply dealers. The two-part products are usually the best (most durable), although I have used one-part waterborne and got great results which my customers are still satisfied with many years later. Read the MSDS sheets for the products and follow instructions and cautions...these are named professional use products for good reason. A good floor finisher will vacuum a floor AND the perimeter several times to remove any debris that might wind up in the finish. A crevice tool is used to get into those spaces between baseboard and floor and other nooks and crannies to suck out any debris that one good puff of wind could blow out and onto the floor.

Ok....here's the *issues with matte poly - they are SUPER HARD to live with!!!!! They are even HARDER TO LIVE WITH if you choose a DARK FLOOR! Ohhhh dear. As handsome as the Pompeii Lipari is, it will be HELL to live with. And here's why: dark floors NATURALLY show dust (human skin cells make up 90% of all indoor dust; and most skin sluffs of LIGHT GRAY....). And your colour choice is dark. It is not a mid tone. It will read as "dark" in any space other than a box with windows on all 4 sides. So the DARK wood you have chosen will show dust (light gray film over everything) on a DAILY basis. Yes. Daily. Now for the matte finish. Matte finish is duller than SKIN OILS. Which means bare feet AND stocking feet will leave behind visible OIL MARKS. So will hand prints. And knee prints (even through blue jeans). And elbow prints (even through t-shirt material). And if animals are in the picture, dog's pads have plenty of oil on them....which will show up on the matte finish. Your beautiful floors will be a constant source of frustration. These are things a sale's person will not tell you. The dark floors are hard to live with. Period. Matte finished floors are hard to live with. Period. A dark floor finished in a matte will be HELL to live with. End of story. Personally I would look at a lighter floor (two steps lighter) with a satin finish. Satin is a close cousin to matte. It gives the same appearance as matte but without the oily prints. Splashed cooking oil will show up....but that is a GOOD thing! You want to be able to see the oil so that you can clean it up - it is a hazard on the floor. The skin oils will BLEND IN with satin. They are the same sheen level. The extreme colours (white or almost white; black or dark) are very hard to live with. The extreme gloss levels (matte or super matte; gloss or super gloss) are hard to live with. That's why MOST PEOPLE compromise and work with a mid-tone floor (two steps lighter than your choice) and satin or semi-gloss finishes. These compromises suit 90% of homeowners better than the extreme options. The extreme options SHOULD COME with their own LIVE-IN house keeper! Good luck. I would keep looking.

The stain pen IS the fix. It is literally some guy with a pen on his hands and knees putting blobs of colour over top the 'white' dots and then wiping away the stain to make it blend in. That's it. Nothing more. A stain pen can be purchased at any home depot. It can be matched to the stain you have on your floor. It is always nice to have one ready should a chip come out of a floor or some little accident happen that causes some discolouration. A stain pen (for the homeowner) is a great way to DIY a colour issue....like little drips of paint. Again, there is nothing 'wrong' with the floors. They are full protected and fully functional. The issue is little bubbles (issue #1) and they left in little paint spots that didn't come out when they did a quick buff and final coat of finish (issue #2). You can DIY your own stain pen touch up for $15 (for the pen) and 2 hours of your personal time on hands and knees ($0). I would NOT let these guys back on my floors. I would take the money and put it in the bank. It should be a nice chunk of change (much more than $15 + 2 hours of labour).