A pre finished floor or an unfinished finished on site hardwood floor.
What is prefinished hardwood.
When it comes to adding warmth beauty and value to your home hardwood can t be beat.
Prefinished hardwood flooring typically costs between 3 to 20 per square foot for materials though many very good products are available at the lower end of this price range.
One of the primary advantages of prefinished hardwood floors is that they are more durable than unfinished hardwood.
After the flooring installers have completed their job literally the only thing you need to do is sweep up and you re ready to go.
Solid hardwood vs engineered hardwood consider the best type of hardwood flooring depending on where you are using it.
First let s make the distinction between solid hardwood and engineered hardwood solid hardwood is exactly what it says it is a solid plank of wood whilst engineered hardwood is a composite product consisting of an upper layer of hardwood that is adhered onto layers of.
With unfinished hardwood the wood is installed and then it is finished on site.
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.
Pretty easy photo by casey dunn.
Pre finished flooring is solid hardwood flooring that comes already sanded sealed and ready to nail into place.
Pre finished hardwood is 7 10x more scratch resistant than unfinished hardwood.
The choice between prefinished and unfinished hardwood flooring depends mainly on your priorities.
Prefinished hardwood flooring cost.
It is the unusual hardwoods that tend to be quite expensive.
And thanks to the wide array of prefinished solid wood flooring now on the market it s never been easier to replace or find a match for your old floors.
That s because when it s finished on site you generally get 2 3 coats of polyurethane while when it s made in the factory you usually get at least 6 7 coats which are oven baked along w aluminum oxide the worlds 2 nd hardest substance.
Prefinished hardwood floors are more durable are easier to install and produce a better look than unfinished 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.
If you like your finishes to be durable and you don t want to spend more than you have to spend for your floor installation you ll naturally gravitate toward prefinished flooring.