We've just finished doing our stain/seal using Dura Seal's "Quick Coat" in red mahogany.

Looks really good, deep rich color tone, but needs topcoat protection. I've already scuffed it in a few spots which will have to be touched up.

After that, it's topcoat time. Was looking at Basic Coatings' site, and their technical literature has an extremely strongly worded warning about using a waterborne poly (such as their StreetShoe) over an oil stain/seal. Their contention is that oil takes a long time to dry, and that the solvents remaining in the oil can ruin the adhesion of the waterborne poly.

They note that a lot of floor contractors like to "roll their own" hybrid finish systems, combining products from different firms. Basic Coatings apparently doesn't like that. They go on to strongly discourage the use of any other manufacturer's product in conjunction with their own. I'm not sure how much of that claim is routine marketing/legal boilerplate.

They also suggest that a full 30 days be allowed for an oil stain/seal to dry before applying their waterborne poly.

Yet as we browse the board here, it seems to be reasonably common for professionals to apply waterborne over oilbase.

Do any of you who do do that take such rigorous precautions as waiting a month? Or apply technical adjuncts, such as heating and fanning the room to speed up the oil solvent evaporation?

We'd be pleased to report our experiences back to the rest of the board, but we also want to take care and do it correctly. A report that just says "Well, yikes, *that* was a freakin' disaster," isn't very useful to anyone.

You can apply a waterborne floor finish over an oil-based stain. It's done everyday. However, the stain must be absolutely dry. Different stains take different amounts of dry time. Avoid using the floors until they have been top coated. Typically, 72 hrs. is adequate for most professional flooring stains to dry before top coating. Some waterborne finishing system require you use their sealer first before using their finish. Basic is one of these if you are going to use Street Shoe. You can use either the Basic commercial catalized sealer or Emulsion before top coating with Street Shoe. To test if a stain is dry enough, take a clean, soft white rag and rub the floor with it. If stain comes off on the rag, wait awhile longer till no stain is present on the rag when rubbing the floor with it. Increase the air flow to speed up dry times with fans. Avoid overheating the floor as this will cause gaps to develope between the boards. My favorite Basic system is (2) coats of Emulsion followed by (2) coats of Street Shoe.