Use varnish. I like Sherwin Williams, but have used the stuff off the shelf at HD with good results.

Varnish will protect the wood, look better, be much easier to apply, and also easier to repair---runs/puddles/scratches/etc.

And it does not look plastic-icky nor does the odor hang around for days.

I don't mind going somewhere besides the big box stores at all, we have a bunch of independent paint stores, hardware stores, and even a couple high-end woodworking-supply places to choose from. Is the SW stuff you mean "Wood Classics® FastDry Oil Varnish"? (My local SW store is staffed by twits who make Clint's buddy Clyde look intellectual, so if you don't know exactly what you want when you go in you might as well not bother going in at all.) It's confusing because they also have "polyurethane varnish". I thought regular varnish was harder to apply nicely than poly, and less durable - thus the frequent transition over to poly in the first place?

I notice on the SW varnish's data sheet that they say to apply when humidity is below 85%... we're expected to have rain for the next ten days. Is that simply a factor of extended drying time or does it have a more significant effect than that? I don't think I can push my handyman off until the rain stops without waiting for his convenience to restart. We don't have a dehumidifier, and we are going to need windows open for ventilation anyway! If it's just a question of slower drying (say overnight instead of the 4 hours they say) that would be doable.

Any oil-based product is going to stink up the place for a while, regardless of brand or specific type. If that is an issue, I would recommend using either water-borne poly or shellac. Both will dry quickly and give off little to no odor once cured.
If you go oil-based, you can go with just about any varnish or poly. For application simplicity, dilute the finish anywhere from 25-50% with mineral spirits. This way it can simply be wiped on with a rag. No brush strokes. Only disadvantage is it will take a few more coats. Small price to pay for a perfect finish. One of my favorite wipe-on varnishes is made by General Finishes. Its called Arm-R-Seal. Another big favorite amongst woodworkers is Waterlox. But diluting Minwax or Zar poly will work just fine as well. Good luck.

Marc

Wood Classic is what I use. As far as the hardness/durability of the finish, I use it on interior stair treads with little problems. And trim work does not get the traffic or wear of floors/stairs, so does not need as tough a finish as floors.

But, trim work is subject to more dings/scratches/chipping than floors and needs an easily repairable finish. Poly chips and those chips/scratches are not at all easy to repair. A small chip in a poly finish requires sanding the chip to feather the edges and recoating the entire piece.

IMHO, varnish is easier to apply than oil based poly. I use a Purdy man made bristle brush---1&1/2" to 3&1/2"---abouit $12-$20----depending on the area I need to coat.

I have not had any complaints of smell for more than a day. Humidity is not tied to rain, but applying any finishn in high humidity can cause 'whiting'---where moisture causes a whitish tint to the finish.

Shellac is not a good idea, in my experience, as it is quite difficult to apply due to the very fast drying time.

The wipe on idea is good---but as stated, takes about twice as many coats---six or so---and twice the time.

I love the look of hand-rubbed/wiped finishes - I admit I'm in love with Waterlox - but the increased labor time is the stumbling block there. Extra time is fine and dandy if you're DIYing but when you're paying someone else per hour... that's the main reason we had decided against Waterlox. 6 or 7 wiped-on coats with an overnight dry in between each (which they recommend) would have been a hard whack to the budget. :-(

I'll check out the SW varnish tomorrow. Maybe sometime soon the rain will stop - the wet is holding everything up. Or maybe we'll use the varnish on the ark. ;-)

Just wanted to thank you for the recommendation of the SW varnish, Handymac. Finished up last week and it looks very nice - added a touch more warmth and depth to the stain color. We ended up adding a third coat in the bathroom for more water protection but it still feels like the protection sucked into the wood rather than sitting ON the wood's surface, so you can still feel the grain of the wood which is the way I like it. It sure did stink up the joint, whew, but most of it dissipated about 24 hours after the last coat dried. It's very hot today so the bathroom smells a touch solvent-y, I imagine that will be the case for a bit.

Unfortunately, we did find that oil-based varnish eats latex paint, so there's a good bit of retouching to do next to the trimwork where varnish seeped under the masking tape. After a week, has the varnish cured sufficiently to handle tape safely? Should I use the low-tack delicate-surface tape (the purple stuff) or the kraft-paper tape? Neither of us is steady-handed enough to avoid taping entirely.

A better method might be to use a straight edge---painter's straight edges are sold in the paint store or HD/Lowes. It is simply a metal edge with a plastic handle that is set in place to protect the non painted surface as the paint is applied. You usually need to wipe the straight edge after each use, but with water based paints, a rag or paper towel is all that is needed.

But, the purple or blue painters tape will work with latex better than with the oil based varnish---the latex is thicker and wicks under the edges less. I would think a weeks drying should be sufficient for taping with low adhesion tape.