I'm here to ask for help because I think I've discovered that the person I contracted to refinish my floors has never done this before.

He called himself a wood expert and he said he could refinish my wood floors.

I have approximately 1000 sq feet of red and yellow oak floors. I bought my apartment with these floors already and they were severely crowned (the difference in height was easily 1/4 inch all around, if not more).

He has sanded the floor down evenly and is now in the process of cleaning up for staining.

This is where I need help. He wants to finish the floor with MinWax Tung Oil Finish, but the manufacturer does not recommend that for flooring. I'm going to suggest we use polyurethane, same brand, but I wanted to verify that I'm not going to make a mistake by doing this.

I'm very disappointed because he had been recommended by friends and others, but I failed to ask the right questions. I don't want to get rid of him because I don't have anyone else that can finish the job -- wood floor re-finishers are hard to find in my area.

Is the MinWax Polyurethane the right way to go? We're staining with MinWax Stain in Red Mahogany. Advice, suggestions, ideas, feedback, would all be appreciated.

Hmmm, well, I agree, I do not think he is regular full time hardwood flooring refinisher. Because he wants to use products that are not pro level products. Minwax is made for the consumer, not the professional. Perhaps that is all that is readily available in your location. I would be partial to polyurethane because it will wear better in the long run. Minwax Tung oil is fine for furniture but probably not the best choice for wood floors. It will work. It may not last. The good thing is, you can probably apply polyurethane over the tung oil if it is properly prepped.

Thanks for the reply.

I talked to him again this morning and he swears by the Tung Oil Finish. I asked him directly about his experience and he says I can see what he's done with other customers in the past.

But, he did start saying that he's a jack of all trades and he does other things too, he doesn't always work on floors but that the floors he has done he's always done this. So, he started back pedaling.

If putting on this type of finish won't harm the chances of putting polyurethene on it later, then that's what I'll do. I'll test his method and then if I don't like it, ask him to cover it with the poly.

(Yeah, it was a red flag when he told me he only uses HD products... I'm learning here, for next time.)