Last week, we talked about the different grains in hardwood floor depending on the way the wood flooring is cut. These grains and their respective “looks” all factor into how you choose a hardwood floor.
The choice on hardwood floor isn’t made just with grain and wood type, however. This week, we continue our four-part series on how to choose hardwood flooring by answering the question: who should choose pre-finished or site-finished wood floors?
Advantages of pre-finished flooring
Prefinished wood flooring is sold with the final color and topcoat already applied. This gives you two major advantages:
- With finish applied in a temperature-controlled factory, the application dries more evenly than it would in your home.
- And, with finish already in place, these floors can be installed quickly (usually in one day).
The time factor is a big consideration for many homeowners. Finishing a floor is messy and requires that no one set foot in the room for days at a time. It’s a trickier construction schedule to keep, without a doubt. Prefinished wood flooring removes that stress.
The factory setting for prefinished wood flooring carries more than just the benefit of evenly-applied finish, too. In that same factory setting, companies can also apply a range of exotic finishes that are much harder to apply consistently in a home setting, for example “edgy” gray finishes or extremely light finishes.
Advantages of site-finished flooring
Unfinished wood flooring can be stained and finished by an installer after it’s put down in your home. This does require emptying the space to allow for sanding, staining, finishing, and drying time.
This process, though more cumbersome, does have its advantages:
- Where prefinished floors have beveled edges to help camouflage gaps, an unfinished floor is sanded flat after installation, making it look flawlessly installed in your space—it’s the perfect, solid plane without gaps.
- And, when it comes to finishes (and staining, if you want to stain the floor, too), by installing unfinished wood flooring you can choose exactly the shades you want.
There’s probably a shade of prefinished hardwood flooring out there that you would like just fine, but if you prefer to find the perfect match for your space, unfinished floors give you full creative license.
Edwardsville, Shiloh and Belleville hardwood flooring questions are answered here for you every week. Reach out to us directly if you have topics you want to read more about in our upcoming articles.
Valor Home Services is your local expert in the installation and refinishing of hardwood floors. Belleville and surrounding towns have all been part our service area for over 20 years. We’re proud to serve—and we hope the next homeowner we can help will be you.
