I have searched a little but haven't gotten the answers I was looking for so I figured I would post a few.

For reference my floors are rough cut red oak that I had kiln dried, plained and tongue and grooved to 1' thick. They are 2", 3" and 4" wide by 10-12' long.

My floor is layed and I am sanding it this weekend my questions are about the finish coats. I am going with a darker stain with satin finish polyurathane, from what I have read you need to sand in between coats of gloss polyurathane, do you need to do this with satin also?

If so, how in depth does it need to be? As in going over it by hand lightly just to rough it up, or using a floor sander, or a buffer?

From what I have read 3 coats should be plenty.

Any help is appriciated.

Well, you dont have too but most find it necessary for the desired result. You can do it by hand, your not trying to take the finish off just scuff it so the next coat has some tooth to grab and hold.

Actually yes you do have to sand between coats not only to remove any bumps but to give the next coat something to bite into. I think Minwax that you buy at HD says you don't have to but any real flooring finish manufacturer that I've seen says to. I use my buffer.

So some finer grit sand paper and a once over and I should be good to go then, just a little more work. A buffer would be nice but the closest rental place is 40 miles away and the room is only 16x14 so I should be able to handle it.

What's the best way to apply the polyurathane? I would imagine the better it goes down the less sanding I will have to do, can I use a roller, or just a paint brush?

After each coat I go finer and finer with the sanding usually ending with 220. I like to use a roller to apply the poly but in smaller rooms I have done the whole thing with a large brush since I am using it to cut in anyways.

Some guys will hot coat it but can be tricky I hear. Think I read it on a minwax can too but needs to be recoated within a specific time period.

hot coating is done all the time actually prefer it with waterborne coatings. Oil can be a little more finicky but its still fine as long as you stay in the time frame allowed. were talking new floor, new finish not recoating an old finish.

What exactly is "hot coating" I searched and found a little info about it but nothing specific.

hot coating is when you put a second coat of fiinsh down while the solvents in the first coat are still "hot". the coat will develop a chemical bond that causes the two coats to melt together. abrading the floor gives you a mechanical bond but also will introduce a mechanical scratch pattern if you are too aggresive or the coat is not dry enough. The problem with hot coating is if you get on it too soon it will aligator on you if you wait too long it may not bond.

So how do you know when the time is right?

We recoat within a few hours with our waterbase. Streetshoe can be up to 24 hours according to their reps, and the time frame is also printed on the labels.

That's for water based, how about oil based?

Can't help you on that one, I stay away from the oil-based products anymore after it makes me terribly sick,and i used proper respirator and ventilation.

For oil based you will want to wait about 6-8 hours. I would suggest applying 2 coatings, then buffing before the final coat with a 220 grit sanding screen. I think the one less time buffing is the less finish taken off as a result of the buffing.

6-8hours isn't nearly enough time to dry. I've gone back after 24 hours and there are still wet spots. I assume to hot coat it needs to be just dry enough to walk on.