Hardwood floors - site-finished and pre-finished in adjoining rooms?
Bunny
8 years ago
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Bunny
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Pre-finished or site finished hardwood
Comments (6)As a hardwood floor enthusiast, having been in the hardwood floor business all my life, it is site-finished hands down for me. Aside from the aesthetic knocks I have against prefinished floors (seams you can see and feel with your feet, a funny sheen, no choice on sheen, color fading problems, etc.) the main point I stress with my clients is maintenance. You mention small children and a dog, both of which I have to contend with on my own floors. Any hardwood floor you choose will eventually show signs of wear. With the proper finishes on a site finished floor, restoring your floors to new is very feasible. With a factory finished floor, it is virtually impossible. With the current cost of unfinished red and white oak in standard widths of 2 1/4" and 3 1/4" at extremely low prices, we have been finding that site finished floors can actually be less costly than even median factory finished floors. The difference in material price easily offsets the cost of sanding and finishing. Of course, any homeowner making this decision must consider the possible issues of dust, fumes, and time off the floors. It is imperative to find a top-notch floor finisher who works primarily or exclusively in occupied homes. You need a finisher who can keep dust to an absolute minimum (which is possible) and who uses high-end water based urethanes such as Bona, Glitsa or Basic Coatings. Each of these companies makes a commercial grade water based urethane that will be prefect for your traffic needs. They are also very low in VOC's and some are green guard certified. The best reason to use them, though, is that 5, 8, 10 or more years from now when you see a traffic pattern becoming visible, a good floor finisher can use the same finish to "re-coat" just those areas showing wear. It is possible to blend these newly recoated areas into the surrounding areas without moving all your furniture. This is typically very affordable and takes only a few hours to complete and dry. In this way you are able to indefinitely maintain your floors making it possible to avoid ever sanding them back to the wood. Unfortunately, with prefinished floors, once they wear out, all you can do is to sand them back to the wood and do exactly this process. To make matters worse, most of them now come with aluminum oxide finishes which make this refinishing very difficult. I say, why install a floor trying to avoid refinishing when refinishing will eventually be the only way to make them look good again? Get it right from the start, use the best finishes out there, the right finisher and then maintain your floors. You will have floors you love for life....See MoreSite finished vs. SOLID pre-finished hardwood floors
Comments (4)You received bad information about the prefinish less likely to move. now they could have been referring to the engineered. but Solid prefinish is just as likely to move with a site finish floor. of course the movement will come from the environmental conditions in the home. Do prefinish floors has a tougher finish? yes, but it comes down to lifestyle. if you have a bunch of kids, large dogs, and throw partys every weekend, no finish will hold up for very long. But it sounds like you dont have the problem, so the toughness of the finish shouldnt be a huge factor for you. There are plenty of decent finishes on the market used by pros that for your situation should suit you just fine. I think the thing you should be looking at is price. Does the install of prefinish along with the price of the material work for your budget? or does the site finished work better? Site finish means the project will take a bit longer, because of the added time needed to sand and finish the floors. but those are minor. Have you found a pre finish product you like? In either case you should focus on sourcing a good professional and he will be able to answer the more detailed questions that are particular to your new home....See MorePre finished or site finished hardwood?
Comments (3)Thanks cpartist. I've been thinking the same. Can you recommend any quality brands for engineered hardwoods? What are the must haves?...See Moreprefinished or on-site finished hardwood floors
Comments (9)Those are all good and valid points. To clarify any confusion, solid pre-finished hardwood floors can be refinished if you ever need them to be. Theres a bit more sanding involved to get the factory finish off, but it's done all the time. The floors get sanded down, and the bevels are no longer there, leaving you with a newly site-finished floor. The little grooved edges are called micro-bevels, and the durability of your flooring greatly depends on its installation. Those microlevels won't necessarily cause your flooring to be more susceptible to water damage than a site finished floor, as long as the installation is nice and tight. Yes, your hardwood floors will expand and contract, but every wood does this. It's just a natural characteristic. Quartersawn hardwood is known to have less movement than plain sawn, so if the gaps are a concern, you may want to think about looking into quarter sawn hardwood. Having hardwood in a kitchen is risky regardless if it's prefinished or site-finished. You just need to know, as a homeowner, that certain precautions need to be put into place to ensure the longevity of your floors. (Especially in a kitchen) Another thing I wanted to touch on was the fact that you said you had carpet in an area and tile in another. This would mean (hopefully) that the tile is sitting on either cement board on top of plywood, or there is a cement subfloor where the tile is located. This would have to be addressed when the tile is removed, and you are probably going to need some subfloor prep for your hardwood floors. Most likely additional plywood to bring the elevations of the floors to the same height. Many factory finishes are, in fact, more durable wear layers than a site-finished polyurethane coatings. And that is one of the reasons why many pet owners choose pre-finished floors. As long as you're not choosing a particularly soft wood, a prefinished floor would be just fine for your home. It would make sense, having children and a pet because of the time you'd have to vacate for the finishing process of site-finished floors. It would, overall, be an easier install. The quality and longevity of your hardwood floors depend on the quality of your subfloor, and the quality of the installation, not whether you have site-finished or pre-finished material. Good Luck! Pre-finished vs Site-Finished Hardwood floors...See MoreBunny
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