if you are in a warmer climate (not in -30 degrees) you can just crack window and allow air transfer. even if you did not open a window, the smell from oil poly will dissipate pretty quickly. the smell wont linger for days or weeks, even. the people in the apt can survive. :)

gregmills_gw, wish I could go with an oil-based poly but I just bought a condo in a small 8-unit building in Brooklyn where smells travel far and fast (I can smell what my neighbors are cooking for dinner and even when they're doing their laundry!). There's also lots of families with babies in the building who I think might be bothered by the use of oli-based poly. Basically I've been asked to use water-based poly even though it isn't a formal rule. I don't want to piss off my neighbors so I'm going to go with water-based poly. Just hoping the floors don't look completely washed out and dull.

if the person doing the finishing work knows what their doing, then you shouldn't have an issue.

gregmills_gw, thanks! My flooring guy has a stellar reputation so I'll try not to stress! One last Q if you have time: do you find that water-based poly looks better over lighter stains vs. darker stains or no real difference? I was reading a few comments online about how if you're going the route of water-based poly a lighter stain might look better.

I really don't think it makes a difference. back to my point about oil poly giving a "richer" tone over stain. If you were to put samples of the same stain side by side and coat one with oil and the other with water, it takes a keen eye, but I believe you can truly see that "richness" difference

over a light stain, you may not see that big of a difference in "richness".

other thing is if your stain color tends to have a golden tone to it, the oil poly will only enhance that feature where the water may not highlight it as much.

bottom line is theres no "correct" choice between oil and water. its purely preference of the customer/finisher. If your floor guy truly does have a good reputation and does a good job, then theres no doubt in my mind that you will love your floor.

Relax, drink a beer, and enjoy!

Waterborne poly dries clear. If the stain is applied properly and dries sufficiently before coating with urethane, there should be no issues with coloration. Oil poly has a little thicker film buildup and may add a bit of tone on light or medium colored stains but not so much on dark or very dark stains. We stained an Ipe job with a Olympic Mocha Brown and coated it (three days later) with Bona Traffic. It was a very rich brown color. Have your floor person make a sample with the stain and urethane before staining the whole floor.

You might want to warn your neighbors since they will probably be able to smell the stain for a while.

Are you using DuraSeal stains? They're generally darker than Bona stains and dry faster than Minwax but Minwax may be reformulating their stains to dry more quickly.

jfcwood, this is very helpful thanks so much. Yes, my flooring guy uses DuraSeal. I'm going to ask him to do samples on the floor like you suggest (thinking of a mix of English Chestnut + Dark Walnut and English Chestnut + Jacobean).

If you're concerned with the washed out you could look at Basic Coatings Emulsion. It's formulated to give that richer oil based sealer appearance. Here's a video on using water based over a darker stained floor with Emulsion being used. A Dura Seal stain was used here, but I forget the actual color.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B41aGhbz7ls