When it comes to real, solid hardwood flooring you have two options: prefinished or unfinished. Let’s take a look at each option in a little bit more depth.
- Prefinished Solid Hardwood – Prefinished solid hardwood is sanded, stained (in some cases), and sealed all before leaving the factory. The customer can choose from flooring samples to see which wood, stain or finish they like. The beauty of prefinished flooring is that the installation is so much faster than unfinished. There is no sanding or finishing needed, since all of that has already been done.
- Unfinished Solid Hardwood – Unfinished hardwood is wood in its raw state. After the wood flooring is installed, it is then sanded, stained (if desired), and finished with a protective top coat. Although it is a longer process than installing prefinished floors, it is beneficial if you are flooring a kitchen. This is because having the finish applied after the flooring is in place will help to prevent water damage by creating a seal between the wood boards.
So, which is better: unfinished or prefinished solid hardwood? The answer is… It depends. Both are excellent options and give you the warmth and quality of true hardwood floors. Because we are all different and might be looking for different things in our hardwood floors, the “better” option changes on a case by case basis. Unfinished floors might be perfect for someone who wants a distinct color of stain or for someone trying to match existing flooring. Prefinished solid hardwood makes a lot of sense if you love one of the samples you’ve seen, and you want to save time and money on installing your flooring.
