It is always best to ask your flooring expert. Typically you can apply oil base products over water base products, But not in the reverse.

Poly is poly, whether it is oil-based or water-based. However, I'd stick with oil-based. It is generally more abrasion-resistant.

Hi Jeff, thank you. In this thread --

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/help-i-have-to-choose-the-best-finish-for-my-new-wood-floors-dsvw-vd~432137

"The Bona Streetshoe and Traffic waterborne urethanes are much tougher than the old polyurethanes and are worth every penny for that alone."

Does anyone have any experience with the pros and cons of Bona Streetshoe and Traffic waterborne urethanes ?

I'm not a flooring expert, but we switched from oil based to water based poly on our oak floors. I don't think you can just apply water poly over oil without sanding again. Our flooring guy used Bona and we've had it for three years now in the entire house and I can't tell the difference in wearability between oil and water. As far as I can tell, after speaking to more than a handful of flooring contractors, the only guys endorsing oil for a number of reasons, were the guys who never learned to use the water based poly. Also, while water is faster to dry between coats, it takes a few days longer to cure (7 days). Some people just don't want to wait an extra 3 days. Another advantage to water poly is that, if you need to repair small wears in the floor, you don't need to re-sand the whole floor, you can just apply a coat of poly.

Hi Christina, thank you. Do you happen to have photos of your oak floors with the oil based poly and after the switch to water based poly ?

Other than the wearibility of the two, did you notice any difference in the looks or the feel (touch) of the two different based finishes ?

hi Ed, I'll try to find picture of my floors before.
I chose to go with a neutral/ colorless poly, not a color stain. In a natural finish, the oil poly will enhance the gold tones of the oak while the water poly will come out a little more sandy-looking. In a colored stain, I think the difference is less noticeable. I hope I explained it well.
Also, I deliberately switched from a glossy finish (oil poly) to a satin finish (water poly). Generally anything in a high gloss will show scratches more easily, and we have children and pets so I wanted a finish that would not need to be redone too quickly because it's hard to move the entire house to have the floors redone. The satin finish makes the floors gleam enough.

The only real draw backs to oil based is the wait between coats and the smell. With water based it is recommended you have four coats, all of which can be completed in one day. Oil based requires fewer coats but you have to wait 5 hrs between coats and 12 hrs after the final coat before you can start using the room again. Oil based does have a smell, but obviously, the smell dissipates and will disappear entirely! The only other difference, and this is neither a good or bad thing just a matter of preference, oil based leaves an amber glow whereas water based keeps your floors looking more like their natural color (in the picture attached the left is with water based, the middle is with no finish, and the right is with oil based).

That all said, we assume your finish is oil based seeing as you're waiting between coats, and we would recommend sticking it out with the same finish.

Hi Christina and C&R, thank you so much. I'm also pretty sure the existing two coats are oil-based, as there was a 24-hour wait between each coat. :) An extra few days or even a week of wait is not a problem at this point, since we've already more than doubled our initial "hope" of 3-4 months (now it's already over 8 months.)
A year ago, I didn't know anything about the different finishes. Our new natural cherry cabinetry has a water-based finish, and it looks and feels great on the touch. I can now tell the difference in terms of the look and the feel between oil-based and water-based finishes.
Christina, I also chose a neutral-clear finish (satin), no stain on the natural maple.
If I had known about the two different finishes last year before the remodel, I probably would've chosen the water-based finish for the floor. Now it's too late, looks like I have to stay with the oil-based.

Hate to throw a wrench in the works... but if the last coat of oil finish was applied some time ago, you'd have NO problems doing your final coat(s) with water based finish. Benefit being that the more OIL you use... the more ambering effect you'll get. And if that's not an issue, there is an oil-modified waterbased finish available by Dura Seal as well as others, that has all the benefits of oil finish with the ease of application & dry times of water based... just my 2 cents.

Hi Select Hardwood, thank you very much. Yes, the last coat (2nd coat) of oil finish was already dry 17 days ago on July 5, 2013 (1st photo of this thread). I'll double check with both my contractor and the floor pro to see if it's still OK (good) to switch to a water based final coat.
What's the name of the oil-modified waterbased finish by Dura Seal ? Thanks.

Hi Ed...
If you'd care to visit contact me at david@selecthardwoodfloor.com, I'll be happy to answer your questions on a person to person basis.
You're apparently in CA, as are we... so the same products are available.

I've finished a number of floors. In my experience, water-borne poly is not durable. I've tried the "professional" coatings, including Streetshoe. In fact, my current cumaru floor is finished with Streetshoe. The floor looks great. The finish is horrible. Full of scratches. I had a similar problem with one of the high-end water-borne products in my last house and decided to use Varathane oil-based on a second floor in that house. The oil-based finish looked great several years later with no noticeable scratches.

I wanted to do the environmentally responsible thing in this house and go with a finish with fewer VOCs. I regret it and won't do it again.

Hi Jeff, thank you. How do you feel about water-based poly not on the floor, but on cabinets and hand rail finishes ?

Hi Select Hardwood, thank you -- I'll send you an email now. :)

Ed. Personally, I like a finish named Waterlox on the furniture I build (a hobby), mainly because it's easy to apply and it's repairable. But for furniture, cabinets, and trim, water-based poly is fine because they experience less wear and tear than a floor.

Hi Jeff, thanks!

I am not an expert either, but I know that my very expert floor guy put down oil based stain, oil based poly, and then finished it off with water based poly. All Duraseal. So I think it is OK to do.

2 year old post... to be clear, water based finishes will often bubble and peel if oil based is applied over top. Sometimes you can get water based over oil...but it is tricky. Working like chemical to like chemical can be very important - especially for wood finishes.

Good afternoon. I am Shawn with Wildrose Hardwood Refinishing Ltd. In Alberta Canada. Over 20 years we have used most brands of both Oil and Water based finishes.

Once you start to apply an oil based finish, you would not want to utilize water based. The two different finishes are created to bond to hardwood in a very different manner. Oil tends to dry and cure to the surface of hardwood, whereby water penetrates the surface of the grain, increasing adhesion with the hardwood, and dries and cures much faster.

Oil can be applied after a waterborne finish has completely dried, though I am sure you will be giving up warranty for doing so. Water should not be applied onto oil finish as it will not create a proper bond and will most likely "flake" or peel, as we call it aj "orange peel" effect.

If you have other questions, you are welcome to email us at Wildrosehardwood@gmail.com