site finished or pre finished wood floors
snuffycuts99
10 years ago
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estescustombuilders
10 years agoRelated Discussions
3 and a quarter hand planed pre-finished or site finished?
Comments (5)Now even more to add to the dilemma...minor I'm sure in perspective to true dilemmas..... I just found a website that makes wide plank flooring and spoke with a "professional" about my flooring choices..their products are $8-$26 per sq. foot but she says that they use 120 year old trees and cut their planks from the heart of them not the canopy and outer edge that many of these manufacturers selling red oak for $2 per sq. foot...so now I'm wondering... We hope this is our last house and we'd like to do it right...is it really a much better wood if it's from the heart and an old tree? I'm considering white oak or heart pine...she's telling me to do staggered sizes 5-10"...she said because they're a finer product they are less likely to cup and I would need to acclimate it first, this house is 8 years old and I planned on bringing them inside for a couple of weeks. This company also says they need no sanding and to put 4 coats of tung oil on them and that's it. So, do I go with a prefinished 3.25? Do I go with the $2 per sq. foot red oak, stain it and sand and finish Do I go with the wider plank flooring (oak or pine) install it ourselves and tung oil it ourselves? Which flooring would give me the longest wear factor and be less prone to cupping? If I have a slight dip in part of the area I'm flooring, can I just shimmy it with underfelt? Too many questions I know, just wanted to lay it all out there and see if any of you have run into these issues before and what your experiences have been. Thanks! Tara...See Morepre-finished vs site-finished floor
Comments (11)Dozens of coats? The standard is around 7. For someone whos laid "hundreds" of floors maybe you should take a monent and read the box. And have you ever read the warranty info? Essentially once you walk on it the warranty is void. (Exageration yes but not by far) Theres nothing wrong with prefinished wood. Just its for people who dont want the sanding and on site finishing or for those who dont have the skill to sand and finish correctly. People who dont do their homework and see big words in big letters saying "50 YEAR" , "ALUMINUM OXIDE" they get stooped into believing its superior to everything else. If it was as superior as you claim every flooring contractor would be using it instead of water bourne and poly urethanes....See Morepre-finished wood or on-site wood flooring?
Comments (29)There is always going to be a debate about this, but I'll say what I tell most of my customers. First, what's the look you want? Most pre-finished woods will NOT(no matter what the company tells you) have a perfectly flat end result, and you will have seams. Every wood company known to the flooring world will put a disclaimer on their 'instructions' that the "use of stains or putties should be considered normal practices". So if either of those concern you, don't get pre-finished wood. On site finished, those key things will be sanded down and puttied before finishing and resulting in less if no visibility of wider seems, putty marks and scratches out of box. Second, finishes they put on pre-finished these days are considerably different in many ways. In a factory somewhere(probably China depending on the company) they can put the harshest chemicals they want on the wood because of the fact that it's in a "controlled environment" which then can(and mostly does) result in a better and stronger finish. With on-site finishing you are restricted legally on what finishes you can apply, and depending on situations and products it can take anywhere between 3 days to 2 weeks for only FINISHING. That takes a chunk out of and slows down your building or living time. And thirdly, you cannot compare Apples to Oranges, EVER. You can't go to your neighbors house and see the pre-finished Australian Cypress they purchased from Lumber Liquidators for cheap that they installed themselves and then go to the local classy, and expensive, restaurant and see their on-site darkly finished Red Oak professionally installed, and come up with what you want in your house. And honestly people, 99 times out of 100 how much you spend will determine the end result. Meaning if there is a Oak that you're looking at and it costs $1.50/sf(yeah we wish, right?) and there is another Oak that costs $4.65/sf, the more expensive one WILL have a better finish, density, and/or overall quality(like i said 99 times out of 100). There's too much to go into but the basic aspects are different companies get different quality of wood- meaning grain tightness(tighter is better less chance of damage during sawing) grain pattern, finish chemicals(if pre-finished), etc. And just some last comments to help you out. What it really all comes down to is you. It's your house, it's your likes and dislikes that matter. Joe Shmoe can try and try to sell you this product or that product, but only go for what you want(remember most companies will give a kick back, or a spiff, to the sales person to sell their product even if the sales person says they don't). You have to live in your house, nobody else does. The installer only cares if you're happy and he/she gets paid, and the salesman only cares if you're happy and he/she gets paid, but you can only be happy if you get what you really want. Also, I used to love Bamboo. I like the look and most notably it is one of the fastest growing woods(it's actually a grass) in the world. I don't like it for floors anymore because it scratches so easily, because of the nature of a grass it soaks up any liquid very quickly including finishes. If your heart is set on bamboo, go with on-site and expect a lot of finishing days and in the future refinishes. I know there is another thread on bamboo floors, so check that out. Then, as with all floors, make SURE you felt all your furniture with heavy duty felt(in Oregon it's tan, but everywhere it will be very thick) and no, plastic feet will not do- knock off all old feet and replace with heavy duty felt. A pre-finished product that I really like is hand scraped wood. Couple reasons for this is- personal preference as i like more "rustic" looking design- and also because scratches and dings and bangs don't show as easily. I've actually installed a floor that had such a dark finish and was hand scraped that we accidentally cross-grained scratched it after it was all laid with an appliance and we took a sharpie(yes the marker) and colored the scratch with it and the scratch literally disappeared even to us knowing where to look for the scratch. So a dark stained hand scraped wood is excellent for scratches. And lastly, if you "think" you can install it- get a professional, it's harder than it looks and pros have the right tricks and tools that make the final product perfect(not to mention if something goes wrong you have someone else's dollar that will have to fix it). The only reason you should do it yourself is if you "know" you can do it. Hope all that helps. Good luck with your remodels or new homes!...See MoreSite finished and Pre-finished hardwood floors
Comments (7)First off I would discard option 2. Putting wood over wood is generally not something I would recommend and I would think that if the dining room carpet were replaced with wood, they would finish up at the same height. Plus it could cause problems at the appliances. It sounds like the kitchen needs to be refinished or replaced. Get options for both with options to do the dining room the same. When did you previously have floors sanded? There have been solid advances in dust capture machinery. It still takes some time but with proper care it will last a long time. It's worth it to take a little time to get what you want. If budget is an issue, put the same wood width and species in the dining room, either in the same color as the kitchen or in a color you like. Maybe you can find a trustworthy refinisher (with good machinery, zipwall poles, plastic and tape) to do the kitchen floor to match the new dining room the next time you go out of town. We do this all the time. Or install new unfinished matching solid wood in the dining room now and apply a coat of oil sealer temporarily until you can have it all finished to match. This way you get a better match without eased/beveled edges or overwood and all the cracks filled and poly'ed over....See MoreUser
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