Fact number one: the Mrs. is pregnant so I want to keep her environment free of organic solvents.

While she was away for a few days I applied Varathane penetrating sealer to a new red oak floor in a 50 sf room and I ventilated like crazy. I didn't have time to apply the topcoat of oil-based poly (I want the "ambering" that this will provide) but I figure the sealer will protect the floor against low traffic until she is a way again long enough to varnish.

The new floor abuts an old floor through a doorway and I can see the difference in color that the varnish should untimately unify, but here's an idea that I want to run by you pro's:

What if I gave the new floor a coat of orange shellac now (two weeks after sealer) to make the color match the old floor and then gave it top coats of water-based varnish later? Would the water-based stuff still have a "whitening" effect? Would this hodge-podge of finishes hold up?

I know that even the water-based varnishes have a component of organic solvents, but again, I'd apply them while the Mrs. was away and still gain some advantage in drying time. The alcohol in the shellac is a a pretty mild solvent, with a PEL of 1000 ppm.

I am grateful for any advice. Thanks.

new oil based finish is not going to be as ambered as what has been down for years, it takes time for that to happen so to help "blend" the old and new you probally should have stained the floor first, now you can add a universal tint to some polys to add color. the down fall would be as the floor wears so does the color. so be sure you put one or preferablly two coats over to protect from premature wear patterns. The shellac thing is something I am not to sure of there is a bunch of positive post on a dewaxed shellac by parks "unversal sealer" is what its called you may want to check it out seems to be compatibale with most finishes. good luck