I just attempted to refinish a hardwood floor in a 32 year old house. The floors appear to have never had a finish coat on them - the wood looks raw and in excellent condition. The first coat of poly looked beautiful until it dried - then changed to an orange peel/blister look. We sanded that coat back to bare wood and tried again with the same result - terrible looking finish. From one angle it looks good - from another it's horrible. I really don't know where to go from here. I wonder if there is something in the floor reacting with the oil-based poly causing the problem. Would a water - based poly work any better? Any suggestions? Thanks.

sand the floor better..probably has some form of wax or other contaminate..could also be the poly..but dont think so