In the process of installing unfinished red oak flooring, 2 1/4 inch, in our living room, foyer, and the hallway. The other rooms have oak flooring, guessing the original finish from the 1950s---it is a deep amber-like color.

I would like to finish the new floor in a color close to the old floors. At this time, would rather not get into sanding and refinishing the old floors. And I don't think we have time for the "aging" process to bring the new floor to a similar color as the old floor. The new/old floors will meet in four bedroom doorways and one opening six feet wide.

Can tint/stain be added to the polyurethane/shellac? On another post someone mentioned using amber shellac. I would prefer to use a water-based poly.

Also, after I finish the sanding process--after I put down one coat of poly, will I need to lightly hand-sand with steel wool or similar? If so, how do I know how much to sand?

I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

I is hard to say without seeing the existing floors. However if they are ambered you may consider doing either Bona amberseal, or Duraseal oil sealer for the base coat. Either of these can then be top coated with water finish.

If you can get something to match a fifty year old finish you will be a wealthy person.

You most likely have old oil urethane on your existing floors and using shellac and water based urethane wont come close to matching.It is possible to tint urethane but I'm not an expert in this field .If you really want to tint, I recommend sealing your floors with either oil poly or shellac like Zinnser seal coat.

After that dries, your grain will be raised. level sand the grain raise and finish with 220 grit abrasive sand paper or screen. Steel wool is old technology and makes a mess .Don't bother using it for this application. We pros buff the floor with either a disc buffer or a square elipitical buffer and then hand buff anywhere the buffer can't reach like corners or up against moldings.

After buffing, your floor should be smooth .Keep in mind that shellacs are soft and tend to clog your abrasive paper or screen where a good oil urethane does not. Once the finish is buffed / level sanded , you need to vacuum and tack it until it is clean.

Once clean , you are ready for your tinted color coat. For this step, dewaxed shellac is your friend . You can mix a alcohol or alcohol compatible based tint into it until you get the color you want .Apply it with a cleaned and seasoned lambswool or hand brush the whole floor. Your choice.

After that , let the coat dry but not for too long . You do "not" want to buff this coat. Buffing a color coat is a big no-no. You want to let this coat set up for maybe 5 hours (shellac dries really fast) .Once dry enough to walk on , you are ready to hot coat this color coat with your urethane. Hot coat means you apply a new coat to the coating that is on the floor without buffing and while the finish is still active and gassing off.

If you get this far without a catastrophe , you need to wait a day , buff / screen the finish and put on your final coat.Good luck.This process is much easier said than done. You really have to have a feel for it as most flooring contractors aren't comfortable with the process and don't do it.