IMO it will depend on the wood species . It might be the same as in your aprtment or very different as for smaples IMO isn the space that gets the best natural light , you can alwsy mimic that with LED lighting. I am a bit confused over the 2 tyrpes of layout in one space but if the wood is the same for both it should be okay.Maybe Minwax is not what you need .

Good point about wood species @Patricia Colwell Consulting. If the main room and hallway look like the same species then it sounds like I can skip sampling both. I don't know if it is the same species or not in our main apartment vs the studio, which has had floor protection on it for months now!

Any recommendations for sample size?

The GC's floor finisher says he only uses Minwax or Varethane so I prefer to go with a product he knows. Yes, I'd like a refinisher who has broader experience and can work with me on this but I live in Manhattan and my budget and neighborhood don't command trades people who can serve customers with discerning taste!

Stain samples are provided on the sanded floor because the grade and the age of your wood ALWAYS AFFECTS THE COLOR OF THE STAIN.

@BeverlyFLADeziner Yes, the floor will be sanded. Should they also do a top coat of poly on the samples or just the stain alone?

Your pics are helpful. The long stripes of sample stain next to each other really help you see what the floor will look like.

I don't think the final finish is required to select the stain color

"I don't think the final finish is required to select the stain color"

No. Just flat out no. The color, and the perception of color, can change dramatically with the application of finish. To be sure what you are getting you need to do the entire finishing schedule you are going to follow on exactly the same wood; this includes sanding through all the same grits, any dyes, stains and sealers, then the same mumber of topcoats, applied in the same manner as you will on the whole piece. Anything else will result in bad surprises.

To the OP, Minwax and Varathane are low end consumer products that generally give mediocre results. I'd worry about a pro who relied on them over the much higher quality options.

@rwiegand Thanks. I will recommend they do sanding, staining, and top coat.

I don't disagree with you about the quality of the stains and what that might say about the pro who relies on them. That said, I don't have it in me to find a contractor other than my GC. This is included in the price of our contract and we would have to renegotiate the contract when we are 4/5 of the way through it. Also, it is really hard to get good contractors to come to my neighborhood (not a fancy zip code in Manhattan, hard as hell for contractors to park in) and the good folks are completely booked and only want to work in high end neighborhoods. So, I'm trying to gather as much info as possible to increase the odds of this coming out as well as it can with the contractor I am using.

I did a video on the subject a few years back that will help. The job videos on the pages also talk about the water popping technique.

Floor stain samples and techniques

the first issue is using minwax. no competent floor refinisher uses that stain. it's like getting your clothes at Walmart compared to anywhere else.

He's comfortable with it because it's cheap. You know why? because using cheap materials means he can pocket more money.

you say your budget won't allow. have you checked what others are charging?

why can't an experienced floor refinisher use something like DuraSeal stains? How in the world would using a cheap stain be easier to use over a superior product? Doesn't even make sense, does it?cheap stains usually mean uneven finishes. You want to gamble w/that? great.

Is the herringbone oak? all the other floors oak? oak is more forgiving so hopefully the minwax will be ok. He should know how to sample.

why is this even a question for you? You should have to ask him to test "by the window" or in "the hallway" or whatever. HE SHOULD know what to do for samples! Again, if he doesn't, I wouldn't let him near my floors

@palimpsest Thanks for the scoop on Minwax and Duraseal. I read a bit more about the differences and that much of it is just marketing, as well as some of the other points you mentioned. Another is that Duraseal stains are a bit darker, which is actually what I don't want.

I had to run to the hardware store yesterday for something else and saw an incredibly huge supply of Minwax products. It is nice to know that the flooring guy can just run down the street for whatever he needs last minute if he runs into problems and need extra or whatever. For Duraseal the distributors are all about 6-7 miles away, which in city traffic could mean an hour or hour and a half round trip and an extra day of work, which would slow things down.

Bona products are a choice you can look at. Bona DriFast® Stain (SS750051101) - Bona.com and Traffic waterborne urethane. Bona Traffic HD® (WT155318001) - Bona.com

Hire a Contractor - Bona.com Contact and get quotes. You can then make an informed decision.

Be aware that if you are mixing different lots of stain you need to mix them all together before starting on the floor (just as you'd do with custom-mixed paint), otherwise you risk lot-to-lot variation that can be obvious. Running to the hardware store when you run out of the first can is not a good strategy unless you've pre-determined that they are stocking the same batch number-- even then it's safer to mix. .