Love it! Great stuff...

I mixed in the stain at a bit less than the recommended max of 4/1 for the first coat of Original, used four coats applied 24 hours apart (2 Original and 2 satin). The stuff is almost impossible to mess up (with each coat I tried to duplicate common errors like too much material, too little, dust and the rest.)

The sample board glows nicely, looks organic without too much shine and ambered up just a bit with each application.

I even like the smell as it reminds me of Dad's shop!

Sold on Waterlox with the only caveat being the time it will take to get the finish done on the entire floor (five to six days).

Our installer has proposed one coat of Waterlox Original and two coats of Waterlox satin. Do your experiments give you a feel for whether three coats total are sufficient? Thanks!

Three coats should do it. During my experiment, I laid a very thin second coat (of original) just to see how it would do, so I have one thick, one thin and two normal coats.

I do have smaller sample blocks I played with - many have just three coats. These I have scratched with nails, bit into and abused; I have to say the Waterlox is impressive.

My plain white oak (i.e. unstained) sample I found to be a bit too "yellow/amber" and a bit light for my taste. After playing with stains I found the Minwax Gunstock to be a bit too dark and a bit too red (looks like red oak) and the Cabot's Gunstock perfect at 5/1 with the first coat of Waterlox.

Congratulations on a great floor and great finish - I'd be glad to post a photo of my sample iffn I can figure out how to do it here.

Kai

Thanks for the advice about three coats. I'm planning on using a medium dark stain - maybe special walnut - but haven't got any oak to play with yet. I usually go with Minwax, but I'll check out the Cabot too. That Gunstock color is really pretty.

I was relieved the installer was familiar with Waterlox and willing to use it. Most of the time my choices seem to be met with blank stares and a "but that's not the way we've always done it."

Thanks again and good luck!

Best of luck, I know what you mean by "that's not the way we do it" comments - I get at least one a day.

Keep in mind that the Wlox will amber up as the layers are applied. It's actually very nice, but on a darker stain, I would imagine you'd get at least a "tone" darker - I did for sure with our stain. Also insure that the first coat (the one with the stain mixed in) is stirred occasionally to keep things mixed and even.