Just wondering what is most durable and looks best with character grade black walnut, Traffic Satin or Semi Gloss?

If using the Bona Sealer, are two finish coats adequate, or are 3 needed? Can a tint be added to the finish coats to even out the color over the planks? I don't want to darken, just blend the colors. What product and quantity (ratio) should be added to the Traffic?

Do not add anything to Traffic! If you want to even the color out, you will need to stain the floor some kind of medium walnut stain. That will make the light sap color a little darker and give the whole floor a more uniform color. Don't ask for a stain color recommendation, experiment. I like Bona Dri Fast stains or as a second choice, McCloskey's Tungseal. IMO, 3 coats of Traffic are needed over a stained floor. Bona says two, at a spread rate of 350 ft. per gallon but many pros, myself included, find that an impossible rate to obtain and usually get about 500 ft per gallon. Three coats look better as well.

In that case, if you use Bona Dri-Fast stain first, do you then delete the Bona Seal and just add the 3 coats of finish?

Yes, if you stain a floor, Bona says not to use their Bonaseal IF you are applying Traffic. They do not say why and I have never gotten a satisfactory answer. Bona wants you to use the Traffic directly over the COMPLETELY dry stain.

Gotitused,
It’s a personal preference but it would be a crime to not put a first coat of tung oil or oil based poly to bring out the natural characteristics of black walnut. If it where me I would do one coat of tung and 2 oil based gloss and then a coat of bona traffic semi or a third of oil based semi or satin. Traffic can be tricky on dark wood. Be careful with Traffic satin it is different then the oil satins. I personally like it but it is not what most think of when they think satin. It’s a whole different level of satin.

If you stain first (to even out the color), you could use Bona's Dri-Fast oil-based polyurethane sealer before using Traffic. This isn't a Bona recommended procedure but I cannot see why it would not work. It would bring out those glorious walnut colors as well as tung oil.

I'm understanding you to say that once I pick a stain method of either the Bona Stain with sealer OR tung oil, then I apply the finish coats. Does the sealer count as one finish coat, leaving two more applications of the Traffic, or do I still add 3 coats of Traffic after applying color? I read your posts about the difficulty of getting the coverage in 2 coats, but I wasn't sure if the Bona Sealer was counted as one of the finish coats or not, leaving only 2 Traffic coats as a finish. The reason I'm asking is I want to be sure I include the correct breakdown on my contract. Thanks!

One other method guys have been going to is to tint and seal in one shot is to use waterlox tung oil with stain at a 4 to 1 ratio this will tint the floor to tone down some of the sap in character grade walnut and bring out the real beauty of american walnut. Walnut is one wood imparticular that looks like almost like two diffrent species when you see one with a waterborne sealer vs an oil. personally I would put three coats of traffic over desired sealer and or stain. You will get a few more years of wear this way and there is no better time to do than the present, if you waited and had a additional put on in 3-4 years it's going to cost you three times what it would compared to doing it all in one shot money well spent imo.