We are getting our floors done starting this Wednesday. Anyone out there that can answer kitchenkrazed09 questions, I am interested too. Thanks.

Hi Trailgirl,

Are you also using Bona Traffic? Did you find that the satin is too dull? The web site says the gloss level for satin is 15-20 and 40-45 for the semi-gloss. For the Anti-Slip, it's 25. The only difference I can find between the satin and the Anti-Slip (which only comes in satin) is that the Anti-Slip does not have an ingredient listed as 2,6,8-trimethyl-4- nonypolyethylene glycol ether. Not sure what that does, but it sounds important.

No experience with Anti-Slip, but I have Bona Traffic Satin throughout my house over stained oak. It is definitely less glossy than an oil-based finish. In fact, we saw it after one coat and didn't think there was any finish on the floors at all; the sheen only came with the second coat. Now I think the floor looks great, but I was surprised when I first saw it.

I strongly recommend your floor finisher prepare sample boards for you using your actual flooring material. The prefinished samples I saw were not accurate.

It is, by the way, an extremely durable finish so far.

Thanks for the responses! Mythreesonsnc, we were told to use a water based finish because the oil finish would not work well with the oils in the mahogany. So we didn't look into any of the oil-based products. Bona Traffic seems to have a good reputation for being durable, so we chose that.

Marcolo, my refinishers made a bunch of samples for me. The satin gets a little more sheen with each coat? Did you by any chance mix the satin and semi-gloss or did you go with just the satin? Thanks!

We went with straight satin, because there was no time to experiment before our deadline. I think either mixing in semi (if that's possible) or adding another coat would have increased the sheen. Note you don't want too many coats of waterborne, or the floor might start looking plasticky. Also Bona makes an Amber, if you want more of a traditional oil-based color. I didn't want/need it because my floors are stained.

What makes it "anti-slip?" Does it have a rough surface? I know anti-slip ceramic tiles collect dirt like crazy due to the texture, but maybe that doesn't translate to a wood floor finish.

I'm not sure what makes it anti-slip, but I don't think it has a rough surface. It has one less ingredient than the regular satin, but the coefficient of friction is .8, as opposed to .5 for the regular.

My refinishers suggested 4 coats of the waterborne. Do you think that's too much and will make it look plasticky?

I am following this thread avidly. My floor guy said most people were happy with satin, but I haven't seen any samples yet. We are going with the Traffic water based because it takes less time to cure and it doesn't amber like the oil based finishes. Plus it has an excellent reputation. We have cherry cabinets and I didn't want the yellow tones to develop on the oak.

4 coats seems pretty extreme for Bona Traffic. Why would you need so many? It's designed for commercial applications to begin with. I would start assessing the look after 2 coats. And if you do more than 2, satin itself might be plenty shiny.

Again, I would get samples of exactly and precisely what you intend to do, including the exact sheen, the exact number of coats, the exact amount of sanding, etc.

Thank you both for the responses. Good advice Marcolo, thanks!

Marcolo, did your refinishers first apply a Bona sealer before the satin finish? Thanks again!

The stain was the sealer, in my case.

Thanks Marcolo. I'm not sure my guys are using sealer and we're not using any stain. Hmm. Does anyone know if the sealer is necessary?