Water-based finish dries fast, so you need to apply it quickly when you are finishing large surfaces. I’ve found that a squirt bottle, paint roller and foam brush are the tools to use to speed things along. Fill the squirt bottle with strained finish, load the roller with finish, squirt finish on the wood surface and use the roller to even it out. Then “tip off” the finish with the foam brush to remove the texture from the roller head. Practice will teach you the correct amount of finish to squirt onto the wood.