If you use a oil based stain on the floor should you use an oil based finish? Or could I use an oil based stain and water based finish. I always go by the old oil and water dont mix, but I"m wondering if it matters when it comes to the stain vs the finish.

Thanks

I use the bona system. That is a oil based stain and water based finishes.

If you are concerned the best thing to do is to use a compatible system of the same brand that is meant to wok together.

As mentioned , the Bona systems work very well. But it is possible to use a oil / solvent based stain , let it dry fully and then coat over it with most water based urethanes.

The trick is to know the manufacturers and products well. Bonakemi recommends using a sealer over stain before using their "mega" water based poly but with their "traffic" water based poly, no sealer is needed.

If you are using basic coatings products, you likely need to use their hydroline sealer before applying top coats .

Lastly, some stains dry well , especially Bonakemi stains. Minwax does not dry very well anymore and with any of their medium to dark pigment stains, I always wait 2 days to begin applying finish over them. So if I stain with Minwax dark walnut on a Monday, I wont apply poly over it until Wednesday.If your stain doesn't fully dry , nothing will stick to it for long

Im glad you mentioned the sealer for the Mega. I must have read wrong. I thought there was no need for sealer if staining and using mega. I'm glad I still have some sealer left.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

You're right, you don't seal after staining using Bona stain. Stain and then 3 coats mega or traffic over the top.

Stain, vac and tack, 2 coats mega or traffic.
Buff floor smooth, clean and 1 final coat.

DTS is there new sealer and it clearly states do NOT apply over a stain.
If you do, plan to re-sand and stain and do it right the second time.

Test it on a sample board, stain it, let it dry over night then coat with DTS and you'll see what happens.

I've always felt that it was odd to have to seal between the stain and the Mega. But that's the info that the Bona reps gave me and my partner company. As mentioned, the DTS is not meant to go over stain but Bona advised us to use their oil based Dry Fast Sealer .

If it's okay to just apply Mega over stain, then that's the way to go as using Dri-Fast sealer is almost redundant. I can say that I personally have applied Mega directly to a sanded and prepped floor without using any kind of sealer and it did work fine. I tried it because I hated Bona's "Bona-seal" so much . It's seems okay until you try to buff it and it melts all over your abrasives and clogs them. Interestingly, the DTS buffs out perfectly.

Anyway, I'm going to re-contact Bona's support people and double check on staining and using Mega without sealer.

when you apply bonas dry fast stain that is what seals the floor. you do not need to use bonaseal or dry fast sealer unless your doing a natural finish.and if you use basics emultion you dont have to use a sealer at all.

What these "sealers" do is to block tannin bleed and help in side bonding, plus help prevent too much penetration of the actual waterbased floor finish. Not needed if you're using oil-based polyurethane as the final coats. So, if staining the floors, the stain serves a similar function as the sealers. And that is to block tannin bleed and help prevent side bonding. Since Mega is not a typical waterbased poly, similar to Basic's Emulsion, there is less tannin pull and side bonding with it. And the need for a sealer is reduced.