Unfinished or prefinished hardwood floors?

Unfinished or prefinished hardwood floors?only difference is that the actual wood is sanded and
It is not easy task to  decide what kind offinished after install at your home. If you decide for
hardwood floors install in your house. There is a lot ofprefinished, the floor boards will be finished at the
different kinds of floors, there are domestic floorsfactory so after installation you don’t need to
like oak, cheery, maple, walnut and exotic such asdeal with sanding, dust and long wait.
Brazilian cheery, bamboo, teak and much more. YouIf you remodel your home and don’t live in it,
can see samples of hardwood floors in thesanding is not a problem, you might consider
showrooms or order one online and compare theunfinished wood. Unfinished hardwood floors are
look. Make sure you take in consideration theconsidered the top quality product on the flooring
hardness of the wood.market. Unfinished wood can be installed with all kinds
Here is the list, the higher the number the harder theof design; boards can run in different directions,
wood:unfinished floors can have borders. You can have the
Ipe / Brazilian Walnut /  Lapacho     medallion installed when you decide for unfinished
                  3684floors. You can choose from different shines of the
Cumaru / Brazilian Teak    finish: satin, which nowadays is very popular and
                              3540gives contemporary look to your house semi-gloss or
Ebony    high-gloss. You can choose water based finish which
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â is environmentally friendly and creates better air
3220quality in you home ,oiled based finishes are widely
2900used for hardwood floors and are considered little
Red Mahogany, Turpentine    harder then water based. After the process of
                              2697installation, sanding and finishing the floor will be
Brazilian Cherry  / Jatoba    smooth, the seams between the boards will be tight
                              2350and most importantly there is not going to be a
Santos Mahogany, Bocote, Cabreuva          bevel of any kind on the seams. This is an important
2200   difference between unfinished and prefinished floors.
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Unfinished floors will not have a bevel so there is no
Cameron    place for debris to collect. If the unfinished floors are
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  1940incorrectly installed or wood is exposed to extremely
Rosewood    big difference of moisture and temperature, floor
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  1780boards will shrink and expand this will create a gap
Kempas    between boards. This is why it is important to hire
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  1710experienced ,licensed hardwood floor contractor.
Wenge, RedPrefinished floors are fast to install and your floor
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â            1630contractor will not sand it at your house so if you live
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â in the house while during the project. You can get
1575eco friendly prefinished floor such as bamboo or cork.
Hard Maple / Sugar Maple    Remember you will be limited to linear design and
                              1450there will be a bevel between the boards so if you
Natural Bamboo (represents oneget light wood you might have dirt collecting inside
species)            1380the bevels of the floor boards.
White Oak    Prefinished hardwood floors have finish already on
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  1360the boards, make sure you are getting the floor that
Ash (White)    has hard finish, aluminum oxide it very commonly
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  1320used and is in most cases harder then the regular
American Beech    finish that your floor contractor will apply at home.
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  1300Prefinished floors are usually more affordable and the
Red Oakselection is very wide, there are exotic species,
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  1290boards come with the variety of colors and width,
Carbonized Bamboo  (represents onecan be smooth or hand scraped.
species)      1180Both unfinished and prefinished floors can be
Cocobolo    refinished in the future, make sure to  ask your
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  1136hardwood floor installer how many times you can
Teak    refinish the floor he is suggesting. Solid unfinished
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â floors can be refinished in general 5 times. Prefinished
1000floors come in a different thickness, some prefinished
Douglas Fir    floors are very thin and there is not enough material
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  660to refinish. This is an important factor when you
Larch    decide because it is always good to be able to
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â refinish hardwood floor. You might think it is
590expensive to go with unfinished floor but think that
Chestnut    you can refinish it 5 times this gives you at least 20
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  540years, so if you save a little bit and go with
Eastern White Pine    prefinished floors you might end up replacing it in 5
 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  380years and if the floor you have chosen can not be
After you have chosen which species you like yourefinished you will have to pay again for a new floor.
have to decide from unfinished or prefinishedRefinishing is of course more affordable then new
hardwood floors.floor.
Unfinished floors are very much like prefinished the