If you haven't already purchased your flooring material, I encourage you to reconsider the use of engineered flooring. The increased stability of engineered wood versus solid wood makes it a better choice for wide widths.

Janice , the best natural finish over White Oak comes from Bona with their Bona Traffice Naturale'. <- link Its Greenguard indoor air certified and very durable. Its made to offer the highest levels of durability and protection for the flooring while maintaining nearly the look of unfinished. We apply it to our American made flooring. Here is a list of recent projects using this finish <- link .

I'm in Canada, so I get the cool feeling. As a cork flooring professional I have 'issues' with in-floor radiant heat because the product I LOVE (love cork....LOOOOOOOVE IT!) cannot go over top. Cork has TOO HIGH of an insulation value. It counter-acts any heat that is trying to push through. Wood is a semi-conductor. It will allow 'some' energy (ie. heat, electricity) through while blocking the rest of it. For that reason, most people who want in-floor radiant heat to warm their toes use tile, stone or carpet (are you trying to heat the HOUSE with the radiant heat or are you warming your toes?). The other issue I have with in-floor radiant heat = it severely limits the product you are allowed to use over top. The BIGGEST issue is with ELECTRIC HEAT. Sigh....the stuff that is used most often in 'renovations' with radiant heat. Ahem....electric radiant systems are not the one's who tell you what can and cannot go over their product. They will 'claim' just about anything to get you to purchase their product. Nope. It is the FLOORING manufacturer who says, "Appropriate for use with hydronic in-floor radiant heat." Notice I changed to 'hydronic' with that last statement? Yep. Hydronic = water/oil/gel. It is the most efficient, expensive and the most rigorous to install. It can (potentially) raise the floor height of the room by more than 1". It can be hung from the subfloor BELOW the floors (that means you need access to ceiling in your basement (assuming you have a basement...I can't tell). That will keep the floor-raise to a minimum (or zero...). It is still expensive to install. So...my question is: which TYPE of in-floor radiant heat are you using? Hydronic? Electric? Or my favourite 'oldy but a goodie' = Forced Air (yes...I've seen it! Soooo interesting...from a house built in the 1950's)? The TYPE of in-floor radiant system AND the REASON for the heat (whole home system or just warming your toes) will dictate WHAT you are allowed to put over top.

Haven't specified yet exactly which one with the contractor, but they said they can use Bona which is what I was leaning towards. I was looking at Bona Nordicseal and and mega one like you recommended to try and neutralize the red/yellow tint as much as possible without a stain. For some reason they only specified two coats of finish for the natural job. The other quotes I received that included a stain had three coats of finish on the quote. The natural job with water based finish was significantly cheaper compared to the one with a stain. About 1.5-2k difference.