I gave the first coat of oil based urethane (gloss) a sanding with 220 grit paper. It still had some shine but I definitely removed material. It was impossible to tell where the urethane was going down during the second coat!

I'm using a lambs wool applicator and thinking that I might have to change to a brush to get my head closer to the floor to look for skips. I do have a bunch of halogens lighting up the floor to try and improve the contrast but they don't help too much. I'm not looking forward to using the brush as it slows down the job considerably.

Any tips??

Welcome to the joys of wood floor finishing.

The best time to coat is during the day but not with direct sunlight on the floor. Cover windows with 3M's thin film paiters plastic, will still let light through but not direct light. If you can get some shadowing you can easily see the refection in the floor as you coat and if you don't see the reflection (its dull) it's a miss area.

Just have to keep getting down on your hands and knees and looking across as you go. Try and keep a wet edge and snow plow your finish across the floor as you go

I put the third coat on last night. Wow, it was even harder to do than second coat! I was planning on four coats but think I'm going to quit while I'm ahead.

Overall the floor looks fantastic, looks like its still wet!!