Top 5 Benefits Of Prefinished Hardwood Flooring
There are few things that can increase the value of a home and update the interior better than hardwood flooring. Hardwood floors have been used for centuries to provide beautiful, durable, and long lasting flooring options for homes, offices, and retail spaces.
Wood floors can be found in many shades, finishes, wood species, grain types, and styles, making them a good complement for nearly any design.
Wood floors are so popular, in fact, that many people try to get the look by using other materials that may be faster or easier to install, but that can’t give you the same appearance or longevity of wood. In the past, all hardwood floors required expensive and time consuming finishing after installation.
With prefinished hardwood flooring, however, you can have your cake and eat it too, because these floors look beautiful from the minute they’re installed.
Benefits Of Prefinished Hardwood Flooring
The advantages of prefinished hardwood flooring are pretty straightforward. The finish is harder and lasts much longer than simple polyurethane applied after installation. That means you won’t have to worry about having it refinished for over a decade.
Ease Of Installation
Installation of prefinished hardwood flooring is relatively quick and easy when compared to unfinished floors.
Already coated in a factory setting, it does not need to be sanded and finished on-site, which eliminates the need to put up with the noise, dust and toxic smells that go along with installation of unfinished flooring. For this reason, installation costs are also lower.
Durability
Prefinished flooring has several coats of finish and strengtheners applied using a UV-curing technology in a strictly-controlled factory setting.
This makes the wear layer of the best prefinished hardwood flooring very durable, and the finish itself comes under manufacturer warranty, which is substantially better than any contractor warranty applied in the field.
Unique finishing technologies and drying conditions that available at an industrial plant are simply impossible to replicate on-site. Factory applied finishes are more abrasion resistant and are free of dust, brush hairs, swirl marks, etc.
These evenly applied heavy duty finishes do not have an odor. While site-finished floors last 3-5 years (6-maximum) before needing to be refinished, most prefinished floors can last for decades.
Non-Toxic
Installation of prefinished flooring means less mess and noise, as well as ZERO toxins and unpleasant smells that are unavoidable when traditional flooring is finished on-site.
This is a major advantage for highly trafficked areas, or households with pets, children, or people with allergies. Prefinished hardwood flooring is a hypo-allergenic flooring solution.
Depth Of Color And Natural Wood Texture
In addition to being non-toxic and highly durable, factory applied finishes also tend to be highly transparent, which allows to preserve the look of natural wood texture and depth of color to the maximum.
The best prefinished hardwood flooring is available in a wide range of colors, surface finishes and styles. In addition, prefinished hardwood flooring is guaranteed to be free of dust, specks and hair that sometimes go unnoticed when flooring is finished on-site.
Fewer Imperfections
Since the finishing process on prefinished flooring is done in a closed, industrial setting, there are fewer hairs, swirls, dust and other imperfections found on the flooring than on traditionally installed hardwood floors.
Factories have carefully controlled quality processes so that each piece of flooring has evenly applied stain and finish coats with few variations or imperfections.
How Much Does It Cost To Refinish Prefinished Hardwood Floors?
The main factors for determining the cost of installing flooring are labor costs for hiring a professional, the type and grade of the wood flooring, and the size of the area you want to cover.
The costs for laying prefinished floorboards in a room measuring 125 square feet varies depending on the contractor you choose, including the price of the flooring and all necessary materials and supplies.
Related Article: How Can You Refinish Hardwood Flooring?
Clean Floors With Cleaner Recommended By Manufacturer
When it comes to knowing how to shine prefinished hardwood floors, it’s important to note you should only use cleaners that are recommended by the manufacturer of your flooring. They are the experts when it comes to what is best for your flooring.
After you dust your floor, you can also use a damp mop and manufacturer recommended cleaner to sweep the floor going over any of the areas that need cleaning.
Don’t Forget: When you are damp mopping you don’t want to let the mop get overly wet. You want to make sure you aren’t putting unwanted moisture into your prefinished hardwood flooring.
On An Ending Note
Prefinished flooring gives you numerous choices, wood types and species, colors, and styles. It also gives you better, more consistent quality and durability for your floor with less wait and down time after installation. If you want a good quality wood floor with none of the drawbacks of an unfinished floor.