Hello everyone. I am new to the world of hardwood floor refinishing. I recently pulled my old carpet up have pulled all staples, check for nails and am ready to sand my floor this weekend. I am not going to stain the wood just use a clear poly on top of it. I am leaning towards a water based fininsh but do not know which one to go with and have learned that I need to use a sealer with alcohol in it to prevent the wood from rising (expanding) before using the poly. Any help in steering me in the right direction would greatly be appreciated. Thanks
Larry

if your shopping at the home cheapo id go with parks and blowes id go with the Bona product they carry. The alcohol sealer is not all that necessary but id still use it if your comfortable with working fast. The uni- sealer also gives it as little more natural color than a waterborne sealer.

As mentioned, alcohol based sealers aren't required. You can use whatever you wan to .You can use a water based sealer, an oil based sealer or an alcohol based shellac. You will get grain raise with all of them .You'll just get less grain raise with alcohol.

The down side to alcohol shellacs is that when you try to screen them with your buffer, the shellac melts onto your screen, which ruins it. Every product has its advantages and disadvantages. And if you really want great results, buy products from a pro flooring supply company. Home Depot sells a lot of mediocre finishes so don't feel that you are obligated ot go there because you aren't a flooring pro.

Here's some excellent sealers .
For water base: Bonakemi DTS , Basic Coating's Hydroline
For Oil base : Bonakemi Dri Fast sealer , Lenmar (old formula sold in quarts only)
Alcohol based : Zinnser Seal Coat .

For water based top coats, look into Bonakemi and Basic Coatings. They have a wide variety of products at various price points.