Supplies for the Flooring Professional


Hardwood Buyer’s Guide Volume 2

 

 

Atlanta Flooring Hardwood Buyer’s Guide: Site-Finished vs. Prefinished Hardwoods

With all the choices available today for hardwood flooring, it can be a daunting task deciding what you should choose. One of the most basic, and important, options to decide on is whether you want to go with prefinished hardwood flooring or site-finished for your Atlanta flooring project.
 
A pre-finish, or factory finish, creates a no muss, no fuss installation. There’s no dust from sanding, no fumes from chemicals, no waiting for the finish to dry. Prefinished Atlanta flooring options are:

  • Warranted to last longer than site-finished floors – typically 15 to 25 years, versus three to five years for site-finished flooring. This is because factory applied urethane finishes are much tougher and longer lasting than site-applied finishes.
  • Available in a variety of color choices making it easier than ever to get the exact look you want for you home and Atlanta flooring.
  • Typically more expensive than regular hardwood, but last much long and are much more durable than other types of wood flooring finishes.

 

Advocates of site-finishing enjoy the fact that the floor can be sanded after it’s installed to even out any imperfections. However, on-site sanding and finishing can produce fumes, messy dust, and significant waiting time from when the floor is sanded until your Atlanta flooring can be enjoyed. Site-finished hardwood flooring:

  • Offers the widest selection of stain colors to choose from in order to get the look you’re after.
  • Are sanded us a unit, not individual boards, as to produce a more uniformed finished look.
  • Are easier to match stain colors, verses trying to match a color from prefinished sample boards.
  • Since they are finished after they are installed in your home, the cost of labor and installation of your Atlanta flooring may be more expensive than other types of hardwood.
  • If you like the look of site-finished flooring, but want the durability of prefinished flooring, choose a product with a square end and edge.

 

Both options have very different pros and cons going for them, but only you can choose which Atlanta flooring is right for you.

Contact Timberland Flooring today for more information on both these techniques and how we can help you.