The training of the pro will always dictate the level the product will perform. Loba products are very expensive. As soon as a pro uses it exclusively then you are working with a HIGH END pro with outstanding training. No one voluntarily works with **EXPENSIVE product if they can't get it to work. The hardener is the stuff that makes things cure quickly. The faster it cures the faster it becomes 'tough'. In theory, Loba 2K Supra AT can be used without the hardener but it takes over 1 MONTH to reach final hardness (2 coats = 30 days; 3 coats = 60 days or more). If someone believes they can make something 'go further' by mis-managing the LABRATORY produced mixture is often considered a pretender. That being said, there are MANY uses for the products without the hardener...but only the very well educated high-end pros (the one's who made it through College or University but chose to work with their hands) will grasp the subtleties of 'off-label' uses.

Ciranova ? Pink Blocker can be used with any competitors brand stain. I have not experienced any issue. You do need to buff with a maroon pad prior to applying a stain with other manufacturer's WB PU. I have not applied any other WB except for Ciranova's own WB PU over Pink blocker. No time for experimenting. Pink Blocker is a reactive stain. It is water soluble. Ciranova has a binder in their invisible line finishes : Ecofix plus, Woodlook Plus and Oculto. It helps prevent reactivating the stain and moving the color around. Reactive stain can be applied after pink blocker. Still needs buffing with maroon pad. You can use the regular reactive stain on red oak. It will not be as intense as if, it was applied onto white oak. Aquavintage is a two part reactive stain. hardwax oil , oil poly or wb poly can be applied. If, using WB poly, use one of Ciranova's invisible poly. Ecofix for light natural colors. Woodlook for whites and grays and Oculto for dark tone reactive stains. It is water soluble, competitors WB PU will move finish around. If, you want a WB system that looks like a oil finish. Ciranova's invisible line is what you want. It will look as natural or raw as can be with the protection of a WB system. For added protection, you can do two coats of their invisible finish and two coats of Fortico. Fortico is comparable to Bona Traffic HD and Loba's Supra AT. You can top coat Ciranova's invisible finishes with competitors WB finishes. That will help keep cost down. Only downside, if, you run into issues. The tech support will not help you. Use your own discretion. Unico is the same as RMC. It's a single coat oil system with the added benefits of being able to apply a WB PU over it. It's soft, top coat with one coat of Titan or two coats of Fortico for the added protection. Titan is better than RMC. Note: every manufacturer alters their binders slightly in their finishes to make it unique. It creates issues with other manufacturers products. You would need to test samples to make sure there are no finishing issues. I have used Ciranova's reactive stain with RMC and Pallmann's oil with no issues. I have tried applying a competitors WB PU over Ciranova's reactive stain with no success. It moves the color around. But when used with Ciranova's invisible PU, no issues. You can apply dewaxed shellac over the reactive stain and apply a competitor's WB PU or just apply oil base poly. Keep in mind oil base poly will turn yellow. For aged look, it does not look good. If, you want the aged look use Ciranova. you won't be disappointed, unless your guy does not know how to use it. For a stained look, you can use any other brand. The colors are all the same, besides Duraseal, which has more colors available than anyone.

Wow! Ok...the good news is you are getting the ENTIRE floor sanded (including the treads) and refinished. Excellent! That's what is needed at this point. Now for the treads...MOST stair treads are RED oak. That MIGHT BE why the treads take the stain a little differently than the WHITE OAK flooring (make sense now doesn't it?). The Loba HS 2K ImpactOil is comparable to Rubio = oiled finish. Here's the link to the GERMAN website (not the USA...the European website is MUCH better for product information). https://www.loba.de/us/products/natural-oils-and-waxes/natural-oils/product/hs-2k-impactoil-color/ The ImpactOil is NOT compatible with the surface finishes like Invisible AT. Do not mix the two. Now...onto the colours. Loba makes their own stains. The original floors had "white line" syndrome = the finished had BONDING FAILURE throughout the home. That was the original problem (regardless of the flooding). The stain was INCOMPATIBLE with the FINISH (whatever the finish was). This is the very reason why you should NEVER mix chemical families (Loba + Loba = success; DuraSeal + DuraSeal = success). The ImpactOil is new(er) the the N. American market. The VERY FIRST THING I would ask the refinishers is: Have you attended the Loba training classes? You are looking for a 'yes' when it comes to both the Invisible and the ImpactOil. If you need support, Loba is just a phone call away. They have their N. American headquarters in N.Carolina.

You have a minimum of 2 hours of drying and 48 hours to hot coat without sanding or buffing. You can still have wet spots after 1 hour, At the 1 hour mark, you can mash up your finish. too risky. The finish is good for 48 hours for chemical bond. Ideally you want to avoid coating close to the 48 hours mark since, the chemical bonding attribute will diminish. You have a higher risk of poor to no adhesion around the 48 hour mark. If, you are going to split your finish, keep it simple. Split it in quarters. 1 gallon equals 4 quarts. It will be easier to estimate your harder and square footage in quarters. It's always good to have a little more than less. Any leftover after it is mixed, toss it out or use it all in the first place. If, you are tossing out leftovers, you are wasting money. But, if, you use it all, the finish on the floor will last longer. So, you are saving money. If, you have 250 square feet to work with. Purchase two gallons. You will use 3 quarts per coat. 1 quart will cover 100 square feet.