Quite right, Bestlawn, as to my post: I did not make it clear, and I should have made it clear, that I recommend use of 'organic' fertilizers during warm weather. My 'four to five' applications' was indeed a reference to Milorganite. I love the stuff. But if my post was capable of being construed as recommending four to five applications of a synthetic (Say, Lesco's 24-X-X, which is a fine product) fertilizer, I fear, as Bestlawn did, that a disaster would occur, because synthetics can't be used that way. Thank you for correcting my post, before fertilizer application time actually arrived. I feel I dodged a bullet here. The Original Poster should feel even better than I do . Courtdawg, you're going to want to maximize the fertilizer, should you care to follow my advice. But maximizing the fertilizer does not mean putting down five applications of a high-first-number synthetic fertilizer, it means putting down perhaps a synthetic in the fall, perhaps a synthetic in the spring (if the grass is already in place: otherwise, not), and dosing that new lawn with an organic, rather than synthetic, fertilizer. If you're comfortable with this advice, go ahead and do it. If you're not comfortable with this advice, the fault is mine: I'll be glad, as will several other 'old hands' here, to make it more clear, as you might require. The cogent part of my advice was 'you need to maximize the fertilizer, to maximize the rate of growth, because that helps a lot with self-repairing'. But it is not true that you can just throw down a synthetic fertilizer, four or more times a year, and expect good results. And thank you Bestlawn: once more, you've kept us, one or more of us, from getting into trouble that we might well have avoided. (Yay!)

This is an old thread, but it seems both the bamboo (Teragren) and the pecan/hickory (Armstrong) were from good companies. I suspect this poster could not have gone wrong with either. I nearly bought bamboo, but went with a handscraped hickory for the same reason, to hide flaws. My installer mentioned it was a good product based on the amount of good boards and that there were long lengths. It was not Armstrong. It seems I hear more complaints about scratches in bamboo, but that could be from buying bargain brands. My installer mentioned the Teragren bamboo I almost went with and said it was so hard, he bent nails trying to install it. Although he dropped tools on my hickory, and I have three sons, there are no dents. I've had it a year and although there were scratches in the first week, I haven't seen any since then. Maybe the oils on our feet are soaking in and preventing them? That is strange to see scratches in the first few weeks and then not for nearly a year after. I also notice that it is ambering and changing color when compared to where there are throw rugs.

I used Cabinet Coat. You can special order it from any Ace hardware store. I researched the web extensively and heard nothing but praises for this paint. I originally wanted to use oil paint for its durability, but wanted water-based for ease of application. I chose Cabinet Coat because it is supposed to give a very durable finish, but doesn't yellow as oil does. So far I am extremely pleased with its nice finish and durability and plan to use it not only for my cabinets, but for all the woodwork in my house as I go along.

There are a few prior houzz threads on this topic that provide experiences with Bona traffic. I wonder whether a site-applied finish can provide a finish hard enough to protect against dog nails and high heels, you should have the right expectation about durability and lifetime. When we had this decision for our kitchen floor my wife was against refinishing because of the dust and chemicals. The local flooring contractors also wanted to install transition strips between the kitchen and adjoining rooms with wood floors which for us was a negative factor. We decided to look at re-installing the original flooring or choosing one of the many high-durability engineered floors with high Jenka ratings.