Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Hardwood floor finishing Water vs. oil

We recently built an addition to our house built in 1937. The previous owners stained the oak floors dark and they are immediately adjacent to the new floors. We had a flooring person in last week and he wants to sand all floors (old and new) so they will match. My question is: oil based vs. water based poly? He said that the water based will last longer, which is different than what my minwax polycrylic can says. Any advice?

Use a commercial waterbase polyurethane made specifically for woodfloors. Their are WB finishes made for trim and their use on woodfloors is sort of an afterthought. See what kind of woodfloor guarantee minwax gives for the polycrylic when used on floors. Ask minwax if they would recomend it for woodfloors in traffic areas. They do make waterbase poly that is harder than most oilbase poly. They are more expensive. If your floor finisher is suggesting using polycrylic for your woodfloor I would suggest getting more quotes from other woodfloor finishers.

I'm not a floor guy so I can only give my personal opinion as a homeowner and consumer. We have had experience with both both water -based poly in our old house and oil based in the "new" house we recently puchased and I would go with the oil. We were really disappointed with the durability of the water based. We had it in the bedrooms which are not considered high traffic areas and it didn't hold up well. We have had the floors refinished with oil in this house and are really happy with the results. The guy who did the floors also said you get a bit more life out of the oil over the water.

Speaking from experience oil is the way to go. Much easier to work with because you have more time give wood i feel a more golden look to it . Just my thoughts.

Philly:cool:

I like the water based. These days most Vendors will tell you that their water based product is the most durable. The sweet part is the drying time. Can walk on it and re-apply in 2 hours. Hardly any odor. Also the water based is crystal clear and does not yellow with age. The oil based does yellow with age.