Should I Get Prefinished Or Real Wood Flooring

With unfinished flooring planks you have to live through installation sanding and finishing.

Should i get prefinished or real wood flooring.

Prefinished solid wood floors initially cost more than unfinished wood flooring about 2 per square foot for a good grade of red oak. But once you factor in finishing costs prefinished ends up. When you compare prefinished hardwood flooring vs unfinished hardwood flooring you should look at your personal time and budget constraints. This is the most appealing benefit of pre finished floors for some homeowners.

But since the introduction of prefinished solid hardwood during the 1940s this newer form of flooring has become increasingly popular and today you may find that it s easier to find than traditional unfinished hardwood planks. As compelling as on site finishing is pre finished hardwood floors have their advantages as well. There are valid points from each point of view both options have advantages and disadvantages. Go to the plank floor section of the hardwood authority and you ll soon.

Prefinished wood flooring is the best avenue when hardwood prices installation cost and convenience are major factors for your flooring project. Prefinished floors means less mess which has obvious advantages especially if you have children or pets that you don t want exposed to fumes and other installation by products. Prefinished hardwood flooring is the best option if you want an easier installation process and if you want to move furniture into your home immediately after installation. Traditionally hardwood flooring was always installed as unfinished planks that were then stained and finished with a protective surface layer right on the worksite.

A prefinished plank floor over 4 is a poorly designed product and i ve been hearing all winter of these amazing shrinking floors. These are generally in widths of 4 or less. Some pre finished engineered hardwood flooring has slightly beveled edges which creates slight grooves between boards while solid hardwood flooring generally has very tight seams between boards. Dry mopping sweeping and or vacuuming on a weekly basis is the best way to rid hardwood floors of light dust dirt and pet hair accumulations.

Engineered hardwood flooring is almost always sold pre finished and there is a narrower range of available colors and species than with solid hardwood. I asked an online hardwood flooring community group on linkedin which was a better floor unfinished or pre finished and it resulted in a tremendous amount of passionate responses. Solid hardwood flooring is available in a wide array of wood species including oak maple and black walnut as well as regional specific choices like pecan mesquite and others.