trbo20 wrote:
Hi all,

I refinished my yellow pine dining room floor last year, and the
chairs, baby, and general carelessness have taken their toll on the
gloss. When I initially did it, I applied six coats of oil semi-gloss
urethane and buffed with steel wool between every coat. Needless to
say, there is a very thick coat down at the moment.

I would like to buff the floors with steel wool once more and apply
another skim coat of urethane on it. The problem I have is that it's
a high traffic area and I can't really block it off for the time it
takes oil to fully dry. Because of this, I would like to use Varathane
instead. It's water based and should dry much faster without the
smell.

If I clean and scuff the surface properly, is there any reason why I
shouldn't use a water finish over an oil one? Like I said, the
oil's had a year to cure so I don't think that leaching will be an
issue.

Thanks in advance,
-Tim

FYI - For those that read this post later on when researching floor
finishes. If you want a semi-gloss finish on your floors and not glossy
and are doing multiple coats as the original poster has done. It is
advisable to use gloss for your first coats and only semi-gloss for your
final coat. The reason is is that the semi-gloss finish contains a
matting agent to make it semi. This can obscure the wood under the
finish. The gloss does not contain this additive. Only the final coat
give the gloss level desired, intermediate coats have no effect. So, use
gloss for first coats, your last coat should be of the desired sheen.

To the OP - As suggested - Contact the manufacture of what ever water
based product you are considering (or read the can or check their
web-site). Then, if they say OK, I would look into renting a sander for
a very light pass. They have those sanders that vibrate with about a
14"x18" pad on them. use a very fine sandpaper (320 or finer?) Since you
have soo much finish already you are really just scuffing up the
existing to ready it for the new finish. Or, you could just do the 0000
steel wool as before.