Shortened version - first floor guy sanded entire main floor (oak) then laid unstained oak in the kitchen addition and re-stained the entire main floor so all the floors match. He did an ok job with the stain but was terrible with attention to detail so the baseboards are badly stained with both stain and polyurethane, the new floor had to be ripped up because he did not check the moisture content in the thinset in the addition before he laid the new floor. It cupped pretty badly - so we had to tear it all up. There was too much crud (for a lack of better word) sealed into the floors near the baseboards as he did not clean and tack the floors well enough, plus small white paint flecks from our peeling outside porch steps. He did not remove his outer footwear when applying the sealer. He put satin sealer in the kitchen (what I wanted) but the very next week put semigloss on the remainder of the main floor! He did replace the wood for the addition but we decided not to have him continue as our flooring installer/finisher.

Enter second flooring guy - did a good job with the addition and staining, re-buffed the semigloss area and applied a satin finish...except he did not use the product we told him was used (Duraseal) so the new satin was still quite shiny. Too shiny for me. So we had him re-do it with the satin Duraseal which was used in the kitchen area. Except - it looks horrible - all streaky with dull hazy areas! He redid it the following day but diluted it 10% - same result! Uggg. Found out today the original flooring guy used a discontinued Duraseal satin that is more user friendly and yields better results. He has the remaining supply of this product in the province. He would come back and redo the final top coat but then when I go to redo the floors upstairs (prob in a few years) there is a good chance this finish will not be available.

So now I am stuck with what to do. Go back to the product the second flooring fellow uses and likes (but I would like a less shiny finish) or try to find another product that has the ease of use and sheen I want? I think the product used by this guy was Bono or Bonoline or something similar and I don't know if they make a matte finish..although I would like some form of sheen to the finish.

This has been an ongoing flooring headache - almost 4 months worth of issues and we are so close..

Nice picture of hickory floors!