Will someone please explain the pros and cons of prefinished hardwood flooring. Is it worth extra effort and money to search out someone experienced in installing, sanding, and finishing raw hardwood? Is the prefinished stuff just as good? Is it a better way to go? Thanks.
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Sam,
I don't install or sell pre-finished flooring. Pre-finished doesn't fit my installation methods as I like to incorporate some details in all of my floors. Popping the last few rows in with a pneumatic nailer tends to 'pucker' the entry, which sands off on unfinished. I also like to use plugs around hearths, sometimes of a different species, and this is impossible with a pre-finished product. The occasional chip and dent or tear out which occur during shipping/handling and installation can't be repaired.
1). Pre-finished can't be sanded flat. Manufacturers have created the bevel or micro bevel to help alleviate the overwood problem. The bevels however eventually open up with seasonal shrinkage, which all floors experience, and the machined bevels exaggerate these gaps.
2) Pre-finished floors are more costly and more difficult to re-coat after the floors begin to show signs of wear. Many finishers include an adhesion stipulation on recoats of factory finished floors.
3) The wear thru warranties are ridiculous, and are almost never honored.
4) Pre-finished flooring, to me, looks too perfect. Some actually look like Formica.
Some recent NWFA market data for 2002:
Contractors are selling: 71% unfinished solid strip and plank.
16% pre-finished engineered.
12% pre-finished solid.
01% pre-finished engineered.
Distributors are selling: 55% unfinished solid.
28% pre-finished solid.
15% pre-finished engineered.
2% unfinished engineered.
The numbers speak for themselves.
Ditch