What will the hardwood be used for? Is it flooring?

what state and climate do you live in, and what is the timber?

Do you have the timber already?

It is flooring. Mostly refinishing existing floors. I think the guy said we have white oak... we are also planing on staining it. I live in ny so it gets cold in the winters and humid in the summers. Thank you so much for responding.

THE GUY is who should know what to use

The ones doing the floor should be able to provide recommendations. If you deviate from this you will likely have to assume full responsibility if something goes wrong.

Graham

We currently have about 4-5 "guys" bidding. So we wanted to specify the criteria. We decided on the the oil based. They are all recommending different things.

Cancork is always on point with advice!

Don't buy poor quality. We recently had a thread where the people couldn't move back in for a long time because of out-gassing of an oil based product that wasn't curing in a timely fashion.

Rather than specifying "criteria" and having them bid on that, I would be interviewing them each for their specific approach and making a decision based not on the bottom line, but on who is most capable of doing the job right. That should not have to involve you telling them how to do their job.

I would also be asking for references and calling them.

If they are all recommending different things, it is up to you to ask questions and get to the bottom of why they are making different recommendations and understand the pluses and minuses of each. Don't make them each bid on identical criteria, that is silly. Evaluate each of them individually, and that means looking at a LOT more than price.

consider what type of wood you'll be treating

I am just trying to get some information so I could have an intelligent conversation with the flooring professionals. I have googled and tried reading about the different types but there really isn't a lot of information out there that someone who doesn't deal with floors can understand. All "insider" info is very much appreciated. My understanding is that my floors are white oak.