We have beautiful quarter sawn oak floors that we've decided to have professionally refinished (just seems too risky to do them ourselves). We've had a couple of different people submit bids, which were competitive (both charge about $2.50 per square foot) but they use different products: one would use all oil based products, the other would put an oil-based sealer and stain and then two coats of water-based polyurethene. I've tried to research the difference but am still confused. My questions are:

Do water and oil mix?: Is it advisable to put a water-based product over an oil-based product? One website said it was fine as long as oil product cured for at least 30 days! Is that true? Obviously, the refinisher would only let it cure overnight.

Toxicity: I like that the water-based polyrethene product will have less of an odor, but is it necessarily less toxic? We have two small children so this is a consideration.

Quality: Is there a significant difference?

Aesthetic: We be able to match the stain on the oak encasing the fireplace, which I'm sure used an oil based product, if we use a water-based product?

Number of coats: Is two enough? How many is recommended?


Thanks in advance for any information or tips you will share.