So first off - stay away from Minwax. It is a low-end "DIY" grade finish. The well educated floor finishers won't touch the stuff. So that's where I would start.

Secondly, a 2 part (2K) water based finish will have some of the best wear characteristics on the market (Bona Traffic, Streetshoe, Loba 2K Supra AT, to name a few). These 'big boys' should pull in at a hefty $100+ PER GALLON (compared to the lowly $40/gallon of Minwax).

And then the REALLY fun part of this: the FLOORING REFINISHER! These high-end, 2K products are VASTLY different from oil based finishes (Minwax only makes oil modified polyurethane - they do NOT make a proper water based finish). The "floor guy" on a job (he can also help lay a roof and put up sheet rock) is NOT trained well enough to handle the 'big boys'. He will be GUARANTEED to muck up a high-end finish such as the one's I mentioned.

IF you upgrade to a PROFESSIONAL GRADE finish (no the DIY low-end stuff from Minwax) then I suggest you request an UPGRADE in the Professional as well. Get them to hire a REAL hardwood flooring professional and not "Joe the Gofer" who normally hauls around bags of cement.

That's how you get a more durable finish out of a builder. Good luck. Keep us posted.

The hardwood installer used DuraSeal on our job. High end home over 2500 sq feet of hardwood. Sherwin Williams already admitted to the issue and is covering all expenses for us to be out of our house for 7 days.

These floors have had issues since day one and this will be the 4th time they are getting re-finished. They have been fully sanded once and buffed and re-poly'd twice. They are sanding them to the bare wood again and starting from scratch. I'd like to get the best finished I possibly can. Money isn't an issue because they are giving us what we want. The builder mentioned using a Zar product. Any feedback on their products? I'll ask about Bona.

I'm now going to ask about the elephant in the room: what is the builder going to offer you for the "loss of material" for each one of these sand and refinishes? Each time you sand (full sanding down to raw wood) you loose 20 years of life. A hardwood floor has roughly 3-5 sand/refinish applications in it which equates to 60-100 years of service.

If they have already done a full sand and refinish and now need to do another, you could be down to ONE MORE sand and refinish and then you need a new floor. That is a drastic amount of life removed from your solid hardwood. What has the builder offered or DuraSeal?

And DuraSeal is the slightly better version of Minwax (they have a 1 part water based finish in their line-up). I would ask why the same people are allowed to work on this floor as many as 4 times. Usually we allow "first fix" to the original crew and then the homeowner is allowed to seek out new talent (at the expense of the FIRST guy) to remedy the problems that said First Guy couldn't deal with.

I have a sneaking suspicion that you are quickly running out of wood/life on those floors. I would SERIOUSLY discuss full replacement if the longevity of the floor has been compromised as much as I think it might be.

Bring in a wood flooring expert to have a look at what is happening to the actual wood. See if there are concerns other than just a bad batch of finish.

Do you know how much wood is typically taken off then sanding? The builder is telling me they are taking 1/32" each time and that it's not a big deal. I don't think my builder has the same policy as you regarding finding new people to do the work. The first time they had to re-do the floors, it was because there were big swirls everywhere. Then once they were finished a million little bubbles appeared. Then after they were buffed and re coated, the poly began to flake and pit. So including the original stain/poly, these floors have been worked on 3 separate times. They were about to do the poly again when they discovered the flaking and pitting and called Sherwin Williams. They said they have been having issues and now we are going to have them totally re-done. Before this came about, the builder did mention seeking out another flooring contractor.

Does anyone have an opinion about Bona Traffic HD vs. Loba 2-component?

Bona Traffic HD and Loba Supra AT is a draw. The solid count is similar @ 34% with the hardener added. Loba is infused with ceramic nano technology. HD uses Silica nano technology. Silica is used in ceramics. HD cures in 3 days, AT in 5 days. Both products use the same type of isocyanate hardener. So, both will stick to just about anything with very little adhesion issues. Bona has less coverage per gallon (350-400) and Supra is 500-600 sq. ft. Finisher should be aware that HD needs to be applied heavy for proper performance and appearance. Cost is the same. Bona is widely available. Loba is available at selected distributors. Both are high quality finishes, you can't go wrong with either, when applied properly.

question somewhat related, if it takes days for the finish to cure, how do you refinish stairs that are the primary access to a house?

Dry time and cure time are two different things. Dry time is the time the finish needs to be dried enough for an abrasion and next coat. The finish isn't cured during this time. It is still soft and under performs during this period.

Cure time is the amount of time it needs to fully harden in order to perform properly.

.Minwax owns Duraseal, Duraseal is easier to apply so we ususally use it unless we can't get it, I cannot say that (if done properly) there has been much difference other than the ease of applying duraseal (and you can thank the EPA for these finishes becoming harder to apply over the years...and more expensive). I'm 60, over the years I really don't recall much of a difference other than that. I did talk to their chemistry department years and years ago,..(to find out the difference between their duraseal vs. minwax), after that call I realized that in the end, there was probably a minimal difference ..other than duraseal is much easier to use.

As far as duraseal being a lot more expensive than minwax ...My cost on Duraseal is really not much more than minwax (actually, I haven't used minwax for a long time,..so I cannot say that is still the case today). Waterborne finishes are quite expensive, and in my opinion,..not better in most cases. They rarely yellow much, if at all. The only times we have gone with waterborne is because the wood is bleached, whitewashed, or otherwise very light and we do not want to darken or amber it with an oil based finish.

If you really want to go with the best finish,. have them use a conversion varnish,..Sherwin Williams makes conversion varnish, but I highly doubt they make one suitable for floors. You will most probably have to go with "Glitsa" if you want conversion varnish. If your flooring guy is not aware of Glitsa, he is NOT a seasoned professional. To me it smells a bit like lacquer. Conversion varnish is oil base,. and also has the property that it does not yellow much over time. It stays looking the same (more than other oil based finishes). If they use glitsa in your house, they will probably want you to to stay at your mother-in-laws for a day or two. So be forewarned.