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Does anyone have an opinion of prefinished Bruce 3/4″ oak flooring vs. traditional hardwood (nailed, sanded, brushed stain, 2 coats poly)?
One question I have is what happens in the event of water or other damage in a section of the floor? Can the prefinished be sanded and refinished?
Replies
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DaveB
Essentially there is no difference between the two, other than the prefinished aspect and the Bruce has tiny radius edging giving an accentuated
installation.
There is no difference in the refinishing qualities between them either.
The pre-finished stuff is easier to install in an existing home because there is no odour and is totally finished as you leave the room.
That's it, that's all folks.
Hope this answers your questions, Good Luck...
*I installed the prefinished Bruce 3/4" in our living room and it looks great. Sure was nice to be done with it after installing instead of still having to finish. But be sure you take care to not damage the finish during install.The radius edging does make a big difference in the look and feel (bare or stocking feet) from that of a smooth edged floor. Be sure that's what you want.Rich Beckman
*I put Bruce flooring in my kitchen remodel and the prefinished aspect was nice. The radiused edges helped hide some unevenness in the 88-year-old floor that my shims didn't quite correct. But the radiused edges collect crumbs and dirt. So you have to sweep parallel the boards to clean out the grooves. Figure 15% wastage in a production setting. I ended up with 2 extra boxes and had maybe 5-6% wastage because I was working on my own time and enjoyed the puzzle of how to most efficiently utilize the pieces while maintaining a random look. Badly curved long pieces can be cut to make 1 or 2 useable short pieces. But I found the quality pretty good and didn't feel shorted of long pieces. Yes, you can always sand and refinish the floor. Now or in the future. Many times because you've got almost a 1/2" above the nail heads.
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Thanks for the responses.
I just lined up a floor person to do the prefinished Bruce when the homeowner called to tell me they now want the traditional unfinished/sanded/poly oak flooring. They talked to someone that had the Bruce and the 8 coats of poly started peeling off. Has anyone had trouble with this?
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Dave,
Our floor has been down for three years and it still looks great. I haven't seen any problems with the finish.
Rich Beckman
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I put down about 400 sq ft of the Bruce prefinished flooring a little over a year ago. Not a single problem. This house has me and my three kids, two dogs, and there is just no way to shut down for sanding and finishing. Sure the radius edge is suboptimal, but it is far outweighed in having it done when you put away the nail gun. I'm going to be putting in another 1,500 sq ft. in my house this spring. Doing it myself, I figured that I can put down oak for about the same $ as good carpeting, but it will last a lot longer. Before I do, however, I'm going to go up to Lumber Liquidators (www.lumberliquidators.com) and look at what they sell, because the price looks great. In my area the Bruce flooring has gone from $3.35 a sq ft to $3.99 in a year.
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Does anyone have an opinion of prefinished Bruce 3/4" oak flooring vs. traditional hardwood (nailed, sanded, brushed stain, 2 coats poly)?
One question I have is what happens in the event of water or other damage in a section of the floor? Can the prefinished be sanded and refinished?