HI, I need help with finish and sealer choices for my new unfinished #2 Common red oak floors. They are in a kitchen and living room. We would really like to highlight the natural beauty of them. I would like to use water based and have been looking at the brands Streetshoe, glitsa and bona. Bona is alittle beyond our price range. So any budget friendly options would be great. With which ever finish we choose how do I choose a sealer?

I like Glitsa Max. I also like to stain floors with an oil based stain to show the grain, which also makes a lesser grade look a lot better. The soft grain spring wood will eventually become embossed over time from the traffic and is also more susceptible to wear and the staining will help the floor look better in the long run. Staining a light brown will also help to anchor the architecture and seem more solid to walk on. The stain will be the "seal" and then apply three coats of finish to get the best protection. Just a touch of a warm reddish brown walnut color mixed with natural to thin the intensity to the color that you want. A yellow floor that's "natural" will show wear earlier and the worn spots will look dirty when the floor is re-coated in ten or so years. After all the floor is an investment that you can maintain with another coat of finish without needing to sand to bare wood and start all over before you wear through the finish, if you like the color.