Finishing Yellow Tongue??? Help

Hi all

I am new to this site.

We have recently had renovations done on our house. To save money we are going to finish the yellow tongue flooring that has been laid down.

Do we need to sand it first or can we just varnish over the top?

What is the best product to use to get the job done quickly? I hear the water based products dry in three hours is there a cheaper altenative? I don't mind using oil-based products as we are not living in there yet. But time is of the essence with christmas coming up.

Your input would be appreciated.

Thanks

My gym has YT flooring in the cardio room, its coated in clear epoxy the only sanding that took place was at the joints to make sure they were perfectly flat.
Was done about 8mths ago and it still looks brand new, even where the treadmills move on their rollers(for the incline feature)there are no marks. Its super tough!
Looks good to, yellowish floor with a burgundy feature wall and the rest in stark white, all the machines are black/stainless steel.

The epoxy is slow setting/fuming off and pretty expen$ive, but will last years and can be repaired easily.(a thing most urethanes water and oil based cant do)
Wattyl 7008 is another option(2pac urethane).

I have been a bit concerned if it would look ok. I only need it to last a year or two until I save the money to get my timber floors.

Epoxy sounds great but Drying time is a big factor as I want to move back in before christmas.

Thanks for your info.

In that case just use some cheap poly urethane, it will last 2yrs ok enough for protection of the YT.
Should fume off enough in a week, still will have a slight smell for a month or 2.

Thanks

I did the back room of my house in green tongue about 12 months ago. I scribed lines with a router every 400mm and just sanded the joints.
Finished with 2 part (Estapol 7008) and it looks great.