Westchester and Fairfield County Flooring

Unfinished hardwood vs. Prefinished hardwood flooring | Westchester NY

Posted by TheFlooringGirl on Feb 12, 2012 in Blog, Hardwood Flooring | 2 comments

Many of my Westchester customers ask me whether prefinished hardwood or unfinished hardwood is better and which costs less. We install both types of hardwood, and the truth is, it depends on which of below factors is most important to you.

Definitions

“Prefinished hardwood” means that the hardwood has been finished in the factory and then you just install it. “Unfinished” means you have raw hardwood that needs to be nailed into the floor and then sanded & refinished on-site.

Benefits of Prefinished hardwood flooring

More scratch resistant/lasts longer. Prefinished hardwood is 7-10x more scratch resistant than unfinished hardwood. That’s because when it’s finished on site, you generally get 2-3 coats of polyurethane while when it’s made in the factory, you usually get at least 6-7 coats which are oven baked along w/ aluminum oxide, the worlds’ 2^nd hardest substance.

Less messy – Anyone who has lived through sanding & refinishing knows what I’m talking about. It’s a mess with all the sawdust. Oh, and did I forget to mention the smell? By the way, to combat the dust, we do offer a dustless system which costs a bit more but definitely cuts back on the mess

Faster – Of course this depends on the space, but usually most of our prefinished jobs can be done in 1-2 days. When it’s unfinished, it often takes 4-5 days + drying time, and you can’t walk on the area at all during this time. With prefinished hardwood, you can walk on it the same day.

Advantages of Unfinished hardwood flooring

Smooth edges – Most prefinished hardwood has a slight bevel at the edges. Some customers prefer this because they think it looks more real; other customers like the smoothed out look when you sand the floors. No right or wrong answer here; just a preference. Also, I will point out that for prefinished hardwood, a bit more dirt tends to get trapped in the microbeveled edges.

Matching color of existing hardwood – If you have hardwood in other parts of the home, using unfinished hardwood will be the easiest way to match it. You can have your installer select and/or test the stain colors as well as make sure they get the matching wood (e.g. is it red oak or white oak and which grade).

Choosing a specific color and testing it – If you want to mix and match/blend stains and finishes you have this option vs. with prefinished, the color selections are sometimes a bit more limiting. For our customers, we will often test 3-4 stain colors so they can see them on their flooring. Not only is it important to see in your own lighting but because hardwood differs (based on species, grade and age) the stain can look different in different homes. Also, some boards are light and some are darker, so it’s better to test on several boards to get a better feel.

Unfinished hardwood usually costs a bit less. With prefinished hardwood, you are paying more for the wood and less for the labor; for unfinished hardwood, you are spending less on the wood and more on the labor. The wider you go in the planks, the wider the difference in price for prefinished vs. unfinished.

If you live in Westchester NY, give The Flooring Girl a call for all your hardwood and refinishing questions 914-937-2950. Our estimates are always free.

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