I decided to go with the 3rd coat of Poly, AND the screen and recoat upstairs (single application of poly). Total additional was ~$400.

You need to be aware that unless you go dark you will see some red to a certain degree. Now maybe once you see a color on the floor even if there is a hint of red you will love it. But having red oak and not liking red can really limit you color choice.

Will adding a 3rd coat of poly a good idea? Sure. Cant hurt. Will it give you the protection from scratches that a dog can create? Nope.
If you dog weighs anymore than 15 lbs you can bet there will be scratches.

Dogs and young kids do not mix with hardwood. Strictly from the standpoint of keeping the floors in prestine condition.

My goal is not to make you second guess any of your decisions. My goal is to make you aware of the reality so your not blindsided when these issues come up.

Thanks for the info.

The red oak was in place when we bought the house. The 'red' my wife doesn't like is based on the trim in the basement, which is a very 'Sedona Red' colored stain.

The good news is that we currently don't have a dog, or kids. But I know first hand the damage they can cause, as I am having the floor refinished because of this.

Below are the Minwax stain samples:

Cherry - Natural - Special Walnut - Provincial

Golden Oak - Early American - Honey

In the upper right you can see the previous floor color, with a small sample of Golden Oak next to it. The Honey is a new color, much darker than I expected. We were looking for Fruitwood, but there was none in stock to sample.

Here is a link that might be useful: Minwax Colors

This post was edited by jonw9 on Tue, Sep 10, 13 at 7:56

I recommend against the third coat.
When a polyurethane finished floor gets scratched and dingy looking, it should be recoated. This will happen to the top coat regardless of whether you have two coats of poly or 20 coats. If the two coats are applied at the proper spread rate it should be sufficient. The downside of the extra coat is that it starts to fill in some of the soft grain. With each additional coat the floor gets smoother making flaws such as scratches and scuffs more evident.
If the floor looks great after the second coat I recommend you don't do the third.
The exception would be if you were to say that you'll never recoat your floor and you want to make the floor last as long as possible before resanding. This means that you're willing to live with the scratches and scuffs that will accumulate in the next 5 to 15 years.

My consideration was that there are certain areas (doorways, aislt into the kitchen, etc.) that will receive significantly more traffic than other 'open' areas.

I was hoping the extra thickness would add to the wearability (?) of the floor.

Are you suggesting just pocketing the $300, and using that for a screen and recoat in 5 years would be the more prudent method?

I have done quite a bit of searching, and it seems that there are certainly 2 camps on this. One that says any more than 2 coats of poly is a waste of time, and the other that says do (at least) 3.

That's an excellent idea in my opinion. Regardless of how many coats you get, those high wear areas will look shabby after the same amount of time. Granted you won't wear through into the wood as quickly, but with proper attention that shouldn't happen.
If you stay in the house that long, chances are that your kitchen will need a recoat before other areas that get less intense wear. So let's say you recoated only the kitchen after 5 years (assuming there's a decent place to stop the coat), after 10 years you'd probably need a coat on everything then after 15 years you recoat the kitchen and in 20 years it's time to resand. At this point the kitchen would have 5 or 6 coats and would look smooth.
Also, it's very important to use the correct maintenance products to make sure you can have the floor recoated successfully in the future.

I like the Natural. It gives a good contrast to the cabinetry, and will be easier to live with for ongoing maintenance than the darker colors. It will wear better with kids and dogs if those are in your future as well.

And, I agree about the 3rd coat not really being needed. Many people are shying away from poly these days because it can't really be touched up well without some type of natural threshold or stopping point to hide the line. And you'll get wear in wear areas no matter what. So, with poly, screening and recoating the whole floor IS in the future, no matter how many layers of anything you put on it. Save that third coat for when you need that to happen.

The stain is down. We ended up going with Early American.
(Which was the middle of the bottom row above).

Here is the finished product. I know the picture isn't real good, but it was at 9 pm, and I didn't want to walk on the floor, so it was shot from the doorway.

The camera flash makes it look more orange.
I am still on the fence about coat 3, but am leaning towards just the 2. There is a really rough board ear the door that could probably snag a sock or something.

I am supposed to meet the floor guy there this afternoon.

Looks nice!

Very nice. Enjoy!

Thanks all!

I was hesitant at first, but I think this turned out nice. I skipped the third coat as I didn't want the floor to become too smooth looking.

I spent the weekend tip-toeing around, not wanting to damage anything. Still waiting on that first scratch!

Now it is time for some rug shopping!

Looks good. What did your refinishers tell you about rugs? Most finishes suggest a period of time to wait before putting rugs down.

Typically oil based finished require 30 days and water bourne urethanes anout 2 weeks

I think he said we should wait at least 2 weeks before adding rugs, but I have read enough to wait 30 days. It will take my wife at least that long to find one she likes! ;)

He was pretty relaxed with his time frames. He said I could walk on the floor on the evening of the second coat, but I chose not to, just to be safe.