I wanted to chime in on this since I used matte Glitsa Maxx on my white oak floors about 4-5 years ago and have been thrilled with the finish. Its on my kitchen floor and I don't have a single scratch. I was told the chemistry of Glitsa Maxx is about the same as Bona Traffic so I would expect similar durability between the two. My floor finisher initially put the Glitsa swedish finish on the floors and I hated it because it yellowed the floors. My finisher swore it wouldn't yellow much but it did. I wanted the natural medium brown color of the white oak to come through. I loved the look of the bare wood and wanted to keep that look with the finish applied. So he stripped it and used the Glitsa Maxx with a water-based sealer. Oil based sealers get used as a first coat to prevent the grain of the wood from raising but all oil finishes yellow with time. My water based finish over a water based sealer has held up really well over time and maintained the natural wood color. I liked the matte finish, it has a bit of sheen but looks natural. On my floor there were a couple small spots with a glossier sheen for some reason. Maybe that was where the brush was picked up. Those spots fixed themselves over time and the floor became an even sheen. Someone suggested the infinity 2 finish, that has an amber color to it which I didn't like. I won't use a 1-part water based finish and the pros that do use them do a disservice to their customers in my opinion. The expense is the labor not the finish. Why would you do a lower quality finish to save 5-10% on the total job? Its like painters that buy cheap paint, it makes no sense. Last comments on the Glitsa swedish finish vs the water based finish. There was more depth to the swedish finish. Some people like that. On my living room floor that used wide rift sawn white oak planks the ray flecks in the wood are less prominent with the water finish. Thats what I wanted. If you want more depth an oil based sealer or the glitsa swedish finish might be your preference. The swedish finish would probably maintain its color better than any oil based. The stink of the swedish finish is truly terrible, i would leave for the week if you go that route.

You need to do a little more archeological digging still. You need to know the whole construction of the floor before you can decide how best to install something new. I'd take up that plywood piece in the kitchen and see what's under it. It's higher than the surrounding floor, so needs to go. You should also be able to see from there what subfloor is under the original kitchen hardwood. It's too bad the space under your entryway is finished, but I'd still do some exploring from below to see what's under there, and to figure out the fix to stop it from squeaking. Is it drywall below or a drop ceiling? I know it probably seems like a pain to tear out drywall, but if you cut out a clean patch, like 2' x the width of the joists, it'll be relatively simple to repair. Just make sure to cut it down the center of the joists so that there's room to screw the patch piece to it later. Cut the hole under the area that squeaks the most, if you can. Have someone walk on and watch the floor from below to see what's moving. It might be as simple as pounding in a couple shims from below, or face-nailing a loose board from above. You want to find out what's underneath the hardwood. It might be laid directly on the floor joists, or there might be 10" wide boards that the hardwood is nailed to. Another thought is to take out a board in the hallway, since that's not original and you want to replace it. See what the subfloor is there. I am a bit puzzled at why, when you've stripped the kitchen down to the original hardwood, it's still higher than the hallway floor. Is your current surface perhaps not the original kitchen hardwood? Peeling back the plywood area will help determine that. BTW, I haven't heard of that stop squeaking product you linked to, so can't offer any personal opinion. And don't pour self-leveling compound over top of hardwood. It needs to go over plywood.

From your link describing using the tung oil, I'd go with that. I would stay away from polys at all cost as they are so difficult to repair without redoing the whole thing. I am hoping to do my kitchen floor--don't know what's under the vinyl tiles or the several layers underneath, but the rest of the downstairs is oak--white I presume? I think my trim is red oak--is that possible? My house was built in 1908. I would replace the registers also, but don't go to the expense of the linked site--they seem to only sell ones to fit modern ductwork; check out salvage shops/antique shops...there is one in my town where I've bought a couple registers from their large pile--all the good old cast iron black, some with louvers, some without, but all with varying designs of patterns for the grate. I put in an additional duct to my living room, and absolutely had to have the large register if I ever move furniture to match the one in the open near the dining room doors. Your idea of tung oil has given me another and easier option than sanding insanely and doing smelly chemicals. Thanks!

First some of my experience (as a new hardwood floor owner), and then your questions. Pleasant surprises - much easier to keep clean that I expected. After almost half a year, I still love to look at my floor every single day. I still look to find "favorite boards" and see how they look in different light. And I still love the feel of the floor on my feet. However - some of the downsides I discovered. If I don't wear a padded or soled slipper, I get toe cramps. Weird, huh? We also live in a place where people tend to sand their icy walkways rather than chemical/melt. That's fine, except it requires some caution to keep from sand papering your floor simply by walking in the house. Rugs do the trick for the most part, but there's always those few loose grains. We're looking at installing a whole house humidifier. We need it anyway, but if we didn't we'd still be looking at it for the floors. We have very humid summers, and very cold/dry winters. Our floors have developed expansion/contraction gaps in some places that are nearly 1/8" wide. I haven't run into this yet, but my aunt had hardwood floors put in and sold her house 4 years later. She typically vacuumed rather than shook/beat her rugs. When she pulled them up after their house sold, the hardwood under he rugs was noticeably darker than around, due to surrounding areas having faded. I don't know how prone hardwood normally is to fading, but something to think about. For you rpictures - I think hardwood would look good in there. Is the entry at your front door already hardwood? You have a lot of warm colors & I think you would enjoy the aesthetics (you have a lot of stained wood accessories, and I think I see a fair bit of oak, so I'm assuming you enjoy the look of wood grain). How much distance is there between your couches? You generally want to place the rug so that at least the front feet of the furniture can rest on at least the border of the rug. Are you thinking prefinished, or finished onsite? Mine were finished onsite, so I could see the actual stain on the actual wood - an in larger areas than your average sample board. That helped. Go to a flooring store (or look through pictures here, or both) and get samples and set them on your floor. Move them throughout the day and notice how they look in different light. Usually the floor is more permanent than the furniture, so consider how you rwood looks with your furnishings to the degree you think is right. If the store has multiple samples, see if they'll let you check them all out and you can "pretend" to have one large sample. (I do that with like 10 paint chips at a time!)