The Ultimate Guide to
Prefinished Flooring
Choosing the right floor for your home requires a lot of research when considering all of the available options. To help narrow your search, we recommend prefinished hardwood flooring. It's well-suited to match any home décor and lifestyle while adding beauty and elegance to your home.
What Is Prefinished Flooring?
Prefinished floors come from the factory ready-made for fast installation. Unlike unfinished floors, these hardwoods are already sanded, stained and sprayed with up to seven or eight coats of polyurethane. The top coat often has a hard acrylic finish or baked-on aluminum oxide. Pre-finished floors are cut and nailed directly to the subfloor, without the mess of a sanding and finishing project.
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What Is the Difference Between Solid Hardwood and Engineered Hardwood?
There was a time when consumers didn't want anything other than 100% solid wood. It was like the gold standard of hardwood flooring. Despite the popularity of these floors, manufacturers introduced an alternative known as engineered hardwood. This new wood floor was marketed as a more affordable option. Even though it had a lower price point, the consumer market still preferred solid hardwood flooring. Well, we've seen the tide change drastically over the years. Today, engineered hardwood is the go-to choice for homebuilders and homeowners.
Which floor is better for you? The bottom line is that each has its pros and cons. Here's a closer look at what these wood floors have to offer.
Solid Hardwood
Solid hardwoods are a favorite among purists. The wood is well-known for its long-lasting durability. It can retain its look for decades. It's a solid chunk of wood that doesn't have any layers. The installation process involves nailing or stapling it to the subfloor. One of its biggest benefits is that it retains its value, which is good news because it boosts your home's resale value.
Perhaps the biggest downside is how it responds to water. Solid hardwood flooring changes form when exposed to moisture. For instance, it can withstand a flood, but it won't retain its original shape. This organic product works best in areas of your home where it's less likely to get wet.
Engineered hardwood is popular among homeowners who want the look of solid hardwood floors with a lesser risk of wood expansion and contraction. The Engineered Wood is multi-layered with a combination of hardwood and plywood.
This reduces buckling, warping and shape changes, even when it comes into contact with moisture. It can be installed in any area of your home, including below-ground locations. It has more installation options than solid wood. These include:
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Nailing
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Stapling
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Glue
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Fold-and-lock
Engineered wood offers another benefit for homeowners. Since it's made with real wood, a real estate agent can market a house as having a hardwood floor. This makes for a good selling point when you want to attract buyers.
Engineered wood flooring does have its downside. It is durable, but it doesn't have the same level of longevity as solid wood. The bottom layer is high-quality plywood that has a thin veneer of wood on top. Because of this type of surface, it's prone to chipping and de-lamination. Damage is most likely if the floor undergoes extensive foot traffic.
What Is Wide Plank vs. Narrow Plank Wood Flooring?
Hardwood floors are an interior design feature that may never go out of style. They add a touch of elegance and warmth to any room. Plus, they can last a lifetime with proper care and maintenance. It's no wonder hardwoods are in such high demand among homeowners who seek to boost their home's value and improve its visual appeal.
Your hardwood flooring options are vast. What you choose has a lot to do with your home's décor and architectural style. There are two major wood design features you must take into consideration, which is the plank width. You can choose between the wide plank and narrow plank wood floors. What you decide ultimately boils down to your style preference.
The obvious difference between the two floors is plank size. Wide planks typically run from two to 12 inches in width. The manufacturer and wood type contributes to a broad range of sizes. On the other hand, you don't get as many size options with narrow wood planks. The widths generally fall between two and four inches.
Many homeowners gravitate towards wide planks. Wider wood flooring gives living spaces a fresher, more open feel. It's a style that's not often seen in homes, so it adds a unique flair to the interior design. Some homeowners prefer narrow wood planks. This flooring choice exudes charm. It complements classic or traditional architectural styles very well.
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What Is the Difference Between Smooth and Hand-Scraped Texturing?
There are hardwood floors that have smooth textures while others are hand-scraped. Each flooring design has its own distinctive look and feel. The difference in the visual and tactile design of these floors has a lot to do with how they're manufactured.
Smooth textured floors are machine-made. The wood surface doesn't have any grooves, etchings or engravings. You can run your hands or feet across it without feeling anything but smoothness. There's also consistency in how the boards look. This type of floor is an excellent choice for modern, sleek home interiors.
A hand-scraped textured floor literally has a personal touch. The manufacturing process involves highly-skilled craftsmen who work intensively to create a textured look. Each board has its own unique pattern, so no two boards are the same. Because this flooring is hand-sculpted, it costs more than smooth-textured wood floors. However, there are machine-made versions of hand-scraped floors that are less expensive.
Hand-scraped wood flooring appeals to homeowners who like the aged look of the rough texture. It warms ups a room. The textured design fits in well with earth tone walls and casual decors. This hand-crafted technique works well on engineered and solid wood floors. Additionally, hand-scraped floors hold up well under heavy-duty wear and tear because dents or scrapes simply blend into the floor.
Level Up Your Home's Flooring
You have many options for your next hardwood flooring project. Consider our prefinished hardwood flooring because it comes from the manufacturer prepared for immediate installation. If you need additional information regarding other flooring options, contact us today. We have everything you need to enhance your home's natural beauty.