Quick dry varnish?

I used minwax semi-gloss poly (the label says "good for floors") and put it on in two med-thin coats with a pad applicator. Drying time was measured in hours per coat and it looks great.

Hopefully you can exercise control over the various members of your household for a few hours ;-)

Joe Barta

Water based polys are probably the quickest dry time and the friendliest (fumes) if you plan to stay around them while drying. Drying time about 45 minutes. No appreciably VOC's.

I put five coats on in a day when I did my office floor.

Down side is that they might raise your grain a bit if the floor isn't fully sealed. And you will have to check on compatibility with your existing coating.

Yeah, I'd sorta prefer an olde tyme varnish recipe since that must be what is on the floor now. Tried BLO on a few areas. Maybe I could just go with BLO and wax?

I have used a mix of Tung oil and Shellac applied with a wiping pad with good success. Maintenance coats and repair of scuffed areas is easy. Bugs

From experience.

Spot finishing the floor will give that area some protection as opposed to wearing away the bare wood and doing this is better than nothing.

You will not be happy, because your wife will not be happy, and she will tell you why - because the floor will now have new looking shiney spots and everthing else will look dull. Kind of like painting the rust spots on the old truck with green fence paint. This is an insult to your wife's (your's too) cleaning habits, her upbringing and her parentage. She may even throw God in the mix.

You can say things like; It's only temporary until summer when we can do the entire floor with the windows open. We need to mitigate the terrible wear on the wood now. And when the dog licks it, he's only checking to see if it's dry.

She will not believe you. She knows you. You may die from severe blood lose in the night.

Put your affairs in order before you proceed.

MGHMOYS Pete

You ought to check out the zar poly's. They dry quickly, flow on great, build very well, are low odor. I used minwax poly once, was not satisfied at all. It built very slowly, didn't level worth a darn. MBR

Well, this is one reason why I'm not too likely to try a modern poly finish.