Prefinished hardwood flooring has become one of the more popular choices of flooring, over the past 10 years.
Before prefinished flooring became the more sought-after option, hardwood flooring was installed as unfinished planks that had to be sanded down, stained and finished with a protective surface layer, which is all completed in your home.
The great thing about prefinished flooring means that the materials arrive with finishing treatments already applied which immediately protects them against stains, marks and water penetration. So once your flooring has been installed, all you need to do is give your floor a sweep and voilà…you are done!
The chief feature of prefinished flooring is that the wood strips and planks are coated with multiple layers and cured under UV lights; this process creates an exceptionally hard finish.
With prefinished flooring, it is important to ensure that the installation team you use take great care when installing the planks as any scratches bumps or dents are virtually irreparable. So if your installation team do not flatten out the flooring cartons and use them as a pad for their tools, make sure you request that they do, before they begin any work.
Make sure too that you inspect your flooring on arrival and before installation.
Although prefinished flooring has become immensely popular, there is still a divide out there as to whether unfinished flooring is a better option. So we have listed some pros and cons below so that you can make up your own minds:
Advantages:
- Odourless & mess-free installation:
Unlike unfinished flooring, there are no strong chemical odours and large amounts of dust from sanding down boards in your home. And as mentioned above, the boards need time to dry. - Easy installation:
It is much easier and quicker to install prefinished hardwood than to go through the process of sanding and staining the material on-site. With pre-finished flooring, there is absolutely no sanding required. - Durability: When the factory applies the finish treatment to the boards, they are able to use very powerful chemical sealers, which are applied by commercial processes that are not available to on-site installers.
- Easily accessible. Because pre-finished flooring is so popular, it is much easier to find than unfinished flooring.
Disadvantages:
- Difficult to Repair:
If prefinished flooring gets damaged during installation, you have no option but to replace the floorboard. Forget the notion of trying to fill, sand, and re-seal the board with your own coating. It is impossible to do as you cannot manually duplicate the factory coating. - Installation is a delicate process:
Following on from the point above, the installation team need to extremely careful during installation. It is imperative that they ensure their materials and tools are never resting directly on your floorboards. As this will result in your floors being damaged. - Because the hardwood materials are completed at the factory, a sealing agent isn’t applied to the lines between the planks when they are installed. This, unfortunately, can lead to dirt and grime getting wedged in the seams. This also means that the seams are more susceptible to water penetration, which in turn can cause rot or mold that will creep underneath the boards, eventually forcing you to replace the entire floor.
At Eco Oak, we offer a large variety of both prefinished and unfinished hardwood flooring options, so make sure you get in touch. Our dedicated and experienced team are on-hand to assist and guide you in finding your perfect flooring!