Hardwood Flooring Finishes

[TrooperFarva]

I'm in the process of renovating a 2200 square foot house. It was built in the 80s, and, consequently, had wall to wall carpet. I'm replacing the carpet with hardwood on the top floor and the stairs. I chose 3/4" unfinished yellow birch. The install is moving along, I'm doing it myself, I finished one room, and got the first 3 rows in the main hallway done, which was the hard part, now that those are aligned with the rest of the walls, the remainder of the install should move along quickly. But I have to pick a finish. I think a satin finish would look really good with the yellow birch, but are there any downsides? Is it less protective than a high gloss finish? Is it higher maintenance? Does it cost more?

[Geoff St. Germaine]

Polyurethane is available in gloss, semi-gloss and satin (usually). All the finishes from the same product line but differing only in sheen should have the same hardness. Obviously satin will be easier to maintain than gloss since gloss is going to show scuffs and scratches very easily and semi-gloss will be inbetween.

[TrooperFarva]

Are satin finishes viewed as cheaper then? Or are they just as popular as high gloss? There's a good possibility I might try to unload this house when it's finished, I'd like to get an idea of what more people would be into.

[peterbright]

For sales purposes, high gloss may be the way to go. For actual living purposes go satin.