Pre-Finished Oak Floor

[James-W]

I have helped put down a regular oak floor, then we sanded it and put finish on it. But now they have pre-finished oak flooring and I was wondering of anyone have used it and if so, do you like it? Also, what are the pros and cons of it?

The reason I asked is because I am helping a guy build a house and he was contemplating on installing it in the dining room and the living room. Or, we could just do the regular hardwood flooring and then sand and finish it. We are thinking the pre-finished stuff would save a lot of work, but if it isn't as good then we will just do the regular kind. I am not talking about laminate flooring now, I am talking about regular hardwood flooring that you nail down and then sand and finish versus the type that comes pre-finished, you just nail it down and you are done.

 

[PCustoms]

This isn't a new producproduct, it's been around for years.

Imho it's better then a finished in place floor. The factory will be able to use better coatings (some are super hard/scratch resistant aluminum oxide based) applied and cured under controlled conditions.

 

[TommyK]

I have done a lot of it including my own house. The big thing is attention to detail during installation because you can't sand out poor fitment after the fact. Also areas requiring face nailing tend to be more conspicuous. It makes sense in a remoldel where the finishing process can be disruptive to the residents. In new construction I would do it the old fashion way.

 

[wrenchguy]

i don't like the tiny grooves (seams & butts) that catch stuff in a prefinished floor. varathane floor finish is what is used on prefinised flooring and available in most areas. stick with traditional floor.

 

[Zippercat]

Installed prefinisfed hardwood (Bruce 3/4” oak) almost 30 years ago in family room. Finish held up to everything a family can throw at it. Never had any problems with anything getting stuck in any grooves, tiny or otherwise. Sold house about 4 years ago and new owners are talking about refinishing it.

It can be a time vs. cost issue. Prefinished gets the job done faster but usually costs a bit more. Only other real issues are stain color (you can get custom stain in almost any shade of the rainbow if you finish your own) and the need for true custom wood working (you can get unfinished oak in almost any size to make what you need).

 

[kwschumm]

Because it's not sanded in place the boards may not match exactly in height at the seams so they cut a chamfer on the edges. These have a tendency to collect dirt and grit. Other than that they are OK but, IMO, not as nice looking as sanded in place wood floors.

I'm not sure whats available now but the prefinished flooring I've seen has a plywood type base and wood veneer on top so the flooring may not be able to be sanded and refinished. A flooring person told me that they used to advertise that they could be refinished but it never worked well. No personal experience here on that front.

 

[smalltown]

I put down the Bellawood from Lumber liguidators a few years ago and am very happy with it. It's solid oak so it could be refinished if necessary

 

[James-W]

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it. He is stopping over tomorrow so I will let him read what you said and he can decide what he wants to do.

 

[supertooljunkie]

I installed 3/4" solid oak prefinished flooring throughout my home five years ago. Including the kitchen. I wanted tile there because of spills and such. My wife prevailed though. but it has held up remarkably well. I would do it again.

 

[jake00]

Been doing wood flooring all my life, make it, sell it, install it, sand it.

Many mills began making prefinished for 2 reasons, they can get away with a lower grade of wood in the dark colors and to make a better margin.

Almost all prefinished will have a micro bevel, It won’t trap dirt, but does highlight the individual boards... it’s purpose is to account for subfloor inconsistency’s ....

If the milling isn’t great, you can’t fill gaps like a unfinished floor

The finish on prefinished can be stronger than conventional, but that’s if they use aluminum oxide.

IMO a site finished floor looks better ,

 

[850xpeps]

Because it's not sanded in place the boards may not match exactly in height at the seams so they cut a chamfer on the edges. These have a tendency to collect dirt and grit. Other than that they are OK but, IMO, not as nice looking as sanded in place wood floors.

I'm not sure whats available now but the prefinished flooring I've seen has a plywood type base and wood veneer on top so the flooring may not be able to be sanded and refinished. A flooring person told me that they used to advertise that they could be refinished but it never worked well. No personal experience here on that front.

I think th eplywood type woul be considered engineered wood floor. Can also be refinished but not to the extent as prefinished.

 

[RivennHewn]

Not all engineered flooring is the same quality. Some have a very thin veneer, and some have a solid face that could actually get sanded.

I went with a direct glue down in my kitchen 7 years ago, and it's just starting to show it's age. Couldn't really expect traditional sanded T&G to do any better.

I'm not a fan of the click together floating floor products.

 

[roscoe2000]

I have the Bruce prefinished floor that was put in during a large scale renovation. It has held up well, but now that I've become more savvy in the home improvement field. I can see were I could have gotten a better wood floor by going the unfinished route. Thou the prefinished route is quicker, I would have liked to have a thicker finish along with tighter groves.

 

[larry4406]

Prefinished floors:
1. Grooves at board joints. Collect dirt and debris. Some vacuums will only clean these by using a crevice tool, so your cleaning time goes up or you may need to buy a better vacuum. Depending on brand, these grooves can be unpleasant to walk on with bare feet.
2. Typically the "hardwood" portion is only skin deep, maybe 1/16 to 1/8" with a plywood substrate. Thus, your ability to sand and refinish in the future is out the window. If sanding and refinishing is attempted, you need to sand off to below the grooves to remove the original stain. By then you are into the plywood substrate.
3. Many brands/styles go out of style rather quickly compared to the life of the home. If you ever have to do a repair requiring new boards, you are SOL unless you have some stashed. This happened to one home I built where the two different wood floors were discontinued with 6 months of completion of the home. Pre-finish was requested by the customer's decorator.
4. The installation effort for prefinished is the same as traditional strip oak flooring. You do save the time and mess in not having to finish the floors which can be 5-7 days depending on size.

Traditional Oak Flooring
1. No grooves at boards easy to clean.
2. Same installation effort as pre-finished, but there is added effort and mess for sanding and finishing
3. The wood is real oak thru thickness. You have 1/4" sanding allowance above the tongue which provides generations of repair opportunity including sanding the stain completely off and changing colors.
4. Stick with a reputable stain company (ie., MinWax) and you can perform touchup and repairs at any time with easily sourced materials
5. Strip oak flooring is readily available.

I build production homes. Builder I work for still does the traditional 2-1/4" hardwood strip oak sand on site flooring. I think it is superior in every way. All the homes I have built/renovated have had it for the above reasons. I had one bought home and that builder did the prefinished and it was painful in bare beet and a witch with a capital B to keep the **** out the grooves.

YMMV.