I recently bought a house with red oak floors. We originally set aside $8k to have the floors down. Well, since the interest rates shot through the roof, we had to use $5k to buy a point on our loan - otherwise the payment wasn't affordable. So, I've decided to pay to have the floors sanded, but just can't afford the other $3/sq ft to poly the floor. I've read the last 10 pages of message board and I see Traffic is by far the favorite. However, I'm going with an oil based poly as I really like the look. I know MinWax has a few cheap oly polys, but I was wondering if there is anything better? I can't afford the $80/gallon for Traffic, but $40 or so is in our budget.

Please let me know any suggestions.

Wow. Just registered, also, and it's almost like I wrote your post, rookie--all the way down to the red oak. Unless it's considered poor form, I'd like to piggyback on your thread.

I've read great things about Fabulon, but can't find it where I live (St Louis area) after a week of searching. Apparently, it's very hard to find just about anywhere. If I want it, it appears I'll have to get it shipped...which is going to cost me. It's scoring marks second only to Traffic from what I'm reading on this forum and elsewhere.

My query strays from yours here. While I also want the "warm" look from an OMU and the durability...my pregnant wife and my two kids under 5 likely can't tolerate being in the same house whilst I'm working with an OMU. (All 3 bedrooms on main floor, doorways/vents very close to other rooms.) In order to obtain the the warm amber tones I want, I understand that I can use emulsion as my first coat/sealer. That part I can work around with a water-based poly. But as for the durability that an OMU offers...

can I get anywhere close with a water-based so I don't make my family sick?

Any words of advice are greatly appreciated.

??????????????? Are you saying the flooring contractor wants $3.00 per sq.ft. JUST to apply the polyurethane finish? If that's the case, get other bids man. I do the whole job (including the sanding and finishing) for $4.00 a foot, including ALL the labor and materials and taxes. And some consider me too expensive because they charge less.

As to the look of finishes, no waterbased looks like oil, really. But you can put some waterbased over oil to get much closer and not have to bear with the odor for the entire job. If you can get your family out of the house for the weekend, apply the oil ( Bona Dri Fast polyurethane SEALER ) and after a few hours, overnight is best, buff it smooth and apply Traffic or Eon 70 or Mega. The smell will be gone. Eon 70 has the LOWEST VOC's and still a two component urethane. Not quite as durable as Traffic but good. As for cheap OMU, Bona Woodline Oil Modified Polyurethane is tops for price and durability. And Dura Seal is good as well, just costs more, dries slower, and takes more coats. I prefer Woodline.

Hi Gary,
Thanks for your response. I got 3 quotes from companies. All of them were $3 a sq. ft just to sand it and $2.50 to $3 to put 4 coats of poly on it. I'm not sure if it's because Huntington Beach is expensive or what, but I figured with 3 companies that's the going rate? I found one guy through a friend to do it all for $5 sq. ft but he was new to the industry and had only done 6 floors.
I can't remember the name of the website I got the names from, but it was given on here in a prior post. It was something like the official woodworking network. Sorry memory is bad. Maybe I'll try a few non-local companies and see if the bid is lower. I'm definitely not excited about doing anything on the floors as I'm not patient with tedious work. If I can find someone local for $4 a sq. ft that is reputable - it's signed sealed and delivered.

Well, Huntington Beach is a pretty exclusive area so now I understand why the flooring contractors are charging that much. I hate to say it but sometimes, the customer's address will dictate the cost, with more upscale communities being charged more. And you are asking for four coats as opposed to the standard three. Even still, I would have probably bid that at right around 4.50 to 5 a ft to sand and apply four coats. What kind of finish did they base their bids on? And BTW, the organization you looked at was probably the NWFA and their consumer website, woodfloors.org.

Huntington Beach has very big and nice houses - I won't be living in one. lol I think I bought the cheapest house in the city. $657,000 for 1200 sq ft doesn't seem cheap to me though. It's probably more than we can afford but we will figure it out.

That is the site I went to. I tried calling 3 more contractors that I found through a yahoo search. All were the same or more. We have 20 days until Escrow closes, so hopefully I can find something closer to $4 sq ft. I'd really hate to do these floors myself; however, now that I know I'm paying more for my zip code, I might try.

Thanks again for your insight.

Edit - I didn't ask what kind of product. One said, "The best oil poly out there." The others didn't mention it. I just heard their prices and said, "Thanks."

Have a reputable company sand and refinish and YOU apply the poly.... if you're using oil it's very forgiving. If they are charging you 3600 just to put down poly....HOLY S&^?!! You only need 3 coats anyways...
With oil touch ups are simple while your applying it... You have to make sure to abrade in between coats.. It'll take 10 or so hours to do all 3 coats.. each gallon of omu will cost you about 30 bucks.. Or you can pay someone 350 bucks an hour to put down you poly....