I'm in the same boat here as far as having to choose between the two (oil/acid or water based). As part of a gut to the walls remodel, I'm having about 650 sq ft. of CVG fir floors installed. I've talked to my flooring installer at length about the relative pros/cons of the various finishes. The conclusion I've come to is that yes, durability can be equal or better with a water based finish, but depending on the wood, the look may or may not be what you want. The guy doing my floors is a one man operation, hard to get because he is so much in demand for the quality of work that he does. He told me that, at least for the fir that I'm doing, although the durability would probably be the same, I most likely would not be happy with the water based finish, even Bona Traffic. He said that for some woods it's great, but does not bring out the color like Glitza does, at least for the fir. We are going to do the first 2 coats with Glitza acid cure, then the top coat with Glitza's new water based finish. According to him, the new water based finish from Glitza is truly state of the art, the best there is at the moment. So, I'm going to sacrifice & find a place to stay for couple of days (with my two cats) while the initial two coates of Glitza acid cure is applied. We are then going to cover the floor with a felt cloth and masonite, finish the rest of the work on the house, then at the end, do the final finish coat with the new Glitza water based finish. I really want to bring out the best in this flooring. It is old growth, 200+ probably year old Doug fir, sold in a hazardous tree sale by the forest service. It was rough milled and stored for about the last 6 years. The material for my floor was hand picked, then sent the the mill and milled into flooring for my project. My interior doors, entrance door, and all of my base, case and window trim has all been custom milled from the same batch of wood, so I'm really excited to see it come together.

urbanbird - hi there. I had a friend who is a hobbiest woodworker take a look and she was able to identify it for me. so, alas, I don't know any pros in the area that I could recommend. I will say this, the amount of work that we have been putting into stripping, sanding and staining the wood in this house is unreal. frankly, it's probably not worth it. I've agreed to it because it matters to my husband, but for me I would have preferred to paint the trim white and call it a day. It would be much brighter and cheerier too. So far we have only been uncovering and treating the wood and walls that had been previously painted over (with an awful glossy cream-color). We also pulled up some old rugs and flooring and found the original wood floors underneath had been painted brown and treated as if they were sub floorboards. current budget does not allow us to renovate those floors. we have to put down temporary flooring over them, and we are refraining from pulling up any other old tiles or rugs until when we can afford to do those floors properly. We also haven't begun treating the stained wood yet either. Like I said, it takes an inordinate amount of time and energy to do this stuff. I will put up some pics though once we make some more progress.

Tony, nothing matches FPoE That paint is spectacular . and no, no chip brush will do it for this paint. It's not a beginner paint. (meaning, painting a door with it your first time is prob not the best idea to brush) The Hollandlac Brilliant is oil base and has the best pigments of any paint. They are also the only company to guarantee their white will not yellow. The have a hybrid line called Eco. Goes on like oil, cleans up w/water. I've used that a few times and the finish is equally beautiful. Jane, if you are buying a mahogany door, then just do a natural spar varnish/UV protectant finish. you must get the UV varnish or oil. and yes, it will need to be done yearly if it gets full sun. Door companies will not honor warranties on wood doors unless there is a certain measure of overhead protection.

Depends on the style of the house is my answer. I disagree with the idea that all the trim should match, instead my belief is that all trim of a particular grouping should be treated the same, but the grouping criteria can vary. All interior doors are stained is valid or everything in the basement is painted is valid but flip a coin categorizing just won't work. The house I am selling is from 1931 and has stained wood in the public spaces with white trim in the kitchen, baths, and bedrooms. We did have the center hall crown stripped of a previous owner's paint as it was originally stained and we felt it fit better in the grouping of stained wood. In my 1933 Tudor next house, I chose to paint all the new trim in the basement and finished attic white and not change the existing stained trim. I added crown in the main floor and worked quite diligently over many hours to match the color and finish of the original woodwork. Purchasing, finishing and installing stained trim is very expensive, in time, money or both, and I don't consider it to be worth the expense in a newly built space. I occasionally see new stain woodwork of fantastic quality and design but so much of it either looks cheap or pretentious to my eye, although I know it was an expensive item