When it comes to buying oak hardwood flooring consumers find themselves with two choices.? They can either purchase unfinished or prefinished.
Prefinished floors are by far the best overall, in the sense of quality.? However if you are looking for something to perfectly match what is already in your kitchen, unfinished might be the way to go.? The only reason to choose prefinished, however, is style related.? Of course, the decision is yours.? So here are five things to think about when deciding which type of oak flooring is right for you.
- Prefinished wood is incomprehensibly better than unfinished wood when it comes to finish.? You will likely have your unfinished wood custom stained, but it is incredibly unlikely that this finish will compare to that of prefinished wood.? Prefinished wood floors generally tend to have been 4 and 7 layers of Polyurethane or some other sealant added to them.? This helps to keep out moisture, in addition to giving a better overall appearance.
- When you purchase prefinished wood you will typically get a 5-25 year wear warranty for the wood, as well as a 5-15 year warranty on the finish alone.? Custom stained unfinished floor comes with a single year warranty at best, and sometimes less.
- Keep in mind, quality takes time. For example, because it has to be ?aired out?, nailed down, sanded, stained etc., a custom prefinished floor can take up to a week to install, and sometimes longer. Installing a prefinished floor takes about half that time.
- A prefinished hardwood floor is better for the environment as well as your home since it produces less VOC?s than the custom unfinished choice, during and after installation.
- If you choose to go with unfinished hardwood, it will have to be refinished fairly soon, and probably more than once. Refinishing this type of flooring can be tremendously expensive.
Now, if you are looking for something quick to install and customizable, then unfinished flooring may be the way to go.? The purpose of this article was simply to ensure that you, the consumer, are armed with all of the necessary information before you make a decision.? Flooring of any type can be an expensive proposition, it is important to know what you are getting in to.? woeHwo
