Many homeowners wonder whether to go for pre-finished
hardwood flooring? From an aesthetic perspective, it is in our opinion that
there is no beauty and warmth of unfinished hardwood flooring that’s sanded and
finished on-site by flooring experts.
When you consider hardwood floor installation Los Angeles,
you must have a clear idea between prefinished and unfinished hardwood.
Now, the hardwood that you choose is something that you would
see, live and appreciate every day. The extra days requires for on-site sanding
and finishing is of less inconvenience when compared with several years that
you’ll enjoy the new hardwood floors!
So, let us check out the main differences.
Prefinished
Hardwood Flooring
Prefinished hardwood flooring has been finished-sanded,
stained and coated with polyurethane- in the factory.
All you need to do is install it and it is done.
Prefinished flooring is factory-finished and so each board
has been finished individually with sprayed on coats of polyurethane.
Unfinished Hardwood
Floor
Unfinished hardwood floor is raw hardwood that must first be
installed and then sanded and refinished on site.
Unfinished hardwood flooring that has been treated with
water-based or oil-based polyurethane can be buffed and recoated every few
years to revitalize the topcoat of poly and remove surface scratches.
Advantages Of
Prefinished Hardwood Floor
- Time- prefinished flooring is
really a faster process. Once prefinished flooring gets installed, you can walk
on it as well as put furniture on it after it’s done.
However, with unfinished hardwood floors, the sanding
process might take some days and then you would have to wait several days to
put it back on the floor.
- Less messy- when choosing hardwood
floor installation Los Angeles know that it’s really less mess. There is no
chemical smell whatsoever since there are no chemicals being applied. The
flooring has been treated in the factory where it is made.
It is true that the smell from refinishing and applying oil-based
polyurethane is intense, difficult to deal with and not at all healthy to
inhale.
But with green products being available, you don’t need to
deal with harsh smells and or chemicals of an oil-based poly.
- Cost- prefinished flooring
actually costs less when compared to unfinished flooring.
Though prefinished flooring may cost more for the actual
material, with reduced labor cost of just an installation, prefinished hardwood
floor ends up being less expensive than unfinished hardwood floors.
Advantages Of
Unfinished Flooring
- Appearance- unfinished flooring
appears like real wood. Though solid prefinished flooring is real hardwood, it
often appears somewhat plastic-like with less noticeable grain pattern.
- Matching existing floors-if you
have existing hardwood flooring in your home, adding unfinished wood flooring
is the ultimate option.
You will be able to match the species of wood and an expert
hardwood floor refinisher can play with colors and stains in the unfinished
wood to match the existing floor.
When considering hardwood floor installation Los Angeles, it
depends on you whichever finishes you want, be it unfinished or prefinished.