My question is 2 part:
1) Our living room and kitchen was done in solid 3/4 #1 hard maple about 5 years ago. 95 % of the floor finish is still in very good condition. The kitchen and entry way area are worn thru to bare wood in 10% of the area at high traffic areas. Its all one big open concept room with no wall dividers. It seems like scratches from dragged in winter sand (New england) by the kids were penetrated with normal spills and water from dishwasher , sink, refrigerator etc. The floor originally had 3 coats of oil polyurethane. They were professionally installed and finished and the finisher told us this was best plus we love the amber color the oil gives. My question is can we just sand and recoat certain areas or do we need to sand down the entire 1st floor. We will have it professionally done. Will it match if we do this?

#2) Once the floor is professionally refinished what is the best coating we can put on the floor to prevent it from going bad in such a short period of time again. We want the amber of oil but maybe there is something we can put over the oil. Whats the best finish.

Thanks for any help.
Scott

Unfortunatly if the areas in question are down to the bare wood a complete resand is in order without question. Imo one of the best finishes availble is the Bona Traffic. You can put down an oil based sealer under the traffic to give more of an amber color. Keep in mind it will be quite a bit lighter than your floors currently are because oil poly ambers quite a bit after a few years.

Kevin. while looking at it more closely I notice that it really is only small spots of bare wood that are exposed. The entire floor is about 2000 square feet and it would be a big project to sand the entire thing. It doesnt make sense to do the areas that are perfect. Are you saying that the only way to do it is a reasand of the entire floor because the spot sanded areas would not match?? Wouldnt they blend over time as the new poly ambers? I could draw a line through the room at a logical point and sand only one side. The area with the spots at the kitchen is only about 80 SF.

Also My concern with the water based bona traffic is once I go that way I can never go back to the oil . If the traffic wears to the wood wouldnt it be impossible to spot match. A salesman at Hoboken told me I should go with oil in the kitchen and just recoat every two years or so before this problem develops again. Thanks for your response. Scott

If it's only a few small spots you might be a canidate to have it screened and coated with a fresh coat of oil hard to say from here not bering able to ssee first hand. It's not going to be like brand new but will improve from how it looks now and protect it from getting worse. IF its just a few boards you may be able to mask off the efected boards sand down coat those first to build up some film level then screen and coat the whole thing after you repair is completly dry. Have a pro look at it and see what they say.

Thank you Kevin. Your help is much appreciated. Scott