It’s been long debated between floor pros and home owners as to either apply oild based or water based finish over hardwood floor. Each side has it’s own fans. In general as long as you use finishes made by trustable manufacturers both types will do a very good job of protecting your wood floors. There are some main key distinction between two.
Water based finishes dry faster. You can usually apply 2 coats of water based finish in one day. In most cases customer can lightly walk on the floor after 3-4 hours. Oil finishes will take longer to dry, minimum 18 hours. Drying time of course will be also affected by humidity and temperature. So with water based finishes you’ll have faster turn over of job and return to normal living! Another main difference is the amount of smell. Waterbased finishes have less odor. This may be especially important for people with sensitive sense of smell. Oil based finishes have more strong smell more in line with oil based painting. The odor will dicipate in few days though. Oil based finishes will become yellower when they age, this happens after 4-5 years. The water based ones won’t do that.