I had a real good hardwood floor installer come out to give me a quote on redoing my house. He said water based "Bona High Traffic" was the most durable finish money could buy. He also gave me a quote for a lot more money than I was willing to pay, so I started the project myself.

I liked the look of water based, but my hardware store did not have "Bona High Traffic", and recommended a water based Varathane product. The Varathane is a good product, but scratches more easily than the oil based finish I had before.

Since I am redoing almost the whole house, I have to work in sections. I got 2 sections done already, and seamlessly blended them. My next section includes the main entrance way to the house. This is a very high traffic area, with people coming in with shoes on. I am tempted to switch to "Bona High Traffic" for this part.

I'd appreciate if someone with more experience could tell me:
1) How well will the "Bona High Traffic" hold up to the high traffic of my entryway?
2) How seamlessly can I blend the "Bona High Traffic" section with the existing Varathane?
3) Is there any better product out there for this area?

Bona Traffic is a great product and will definitely outperform varathane. But any finish can scratch when abused and in an entrance way, you must expect to do some re coat maintenance over time.

As far as blending, I believe that you will notice a difference between the varathane coated area and traffic area. Hard to say how much of a difference.

I might suggest using more coats of varathane and when it is time for a re coat, coat everything with Bona traffic if you want to

When you say "time for a re coat", do you mean using a drum sander to refinish everything again, or do you just mean putting a new coat on top of the old finish?

Jsut abrading the existing finish and applying a new finish coat.

I agree with Paul - Traffic is a much better product. I also agree that you will want to periodically screen and add another coat on the entryway (maybe every 1-2 yrs)

The other thing you should do (if you haven't already) is add entry mats to front door (both inside and out) and take shoes off at door. It's often the water/snow/etc. that wears down this area the fastest.

Debbie Gartner, aka The Flooring Girl