There are many benefits to unfinished hardwood floors also called Site-Finished Floors (meaning the floors are finished on site after installation as opposed to prefinished flooring). First of all, when you get a ¾ inch thick unfinished floor from a quality retailer like The Hardwood Center, you are getting a solid piece of real hardwood that will last a lifetime and increase the value of your home. Not to mention they look absolutely beautiful…..
Unfinished hardwood flooring can be sanded smooth. Prefinished floors have a beveled edge on their boards which make a visible joint when installed. Now this isn’t all bad and there are a lot of benefits to engineered prefinished floors – just read this article about them…but it you want that smooth floor with no joints, sanding and finishing an unfinished hardwood floor is the way to go.
Unfinished floors can be stain any color (or no color at all). Quality installers/finishers can match virtually any color you choose for a finish. Want that natural look, then go with a clear satin finish or maybe a dark stain with a high gloss fits your style better. Perhaps a white wash look with walnut inlays in your thing. With unfinished flooring the sky and you imagination is the limit.
You can also install an unfinished floor at any point during the construction/remodeling process. Put it down early under cabinets if installing in a kitchen or bath or in main areas of the home, doesn’t matter. Once the unfinished floor is installed, construction traffic won’t harm the floor. Now of course, the finishing of the floor will come latter but you can certainly install the unfinished floor early on.
Some people think finishing process can produce a massive amount of fine saw dust from sanding all the flooring. Well it can, but many quality installers/finishers use a dustless sanding system which greatly minimizes the mess and also speeds up the job. Now even though today’s dust containment systems are pretty remarkable, there is still going to be some fine dust around the house. However, it’s nothing that a wet rag can’t take care of with a few minutes of wiping down walls.
Another thing to consider with unfinished floors is the length of time it take s to install,
finish and cure. Where engineered flooring can be laid and ready to use in about a day, unfinished hardwood flooring takes a bit longer. The actual time depends a lot of you, your contractor, your installer, the finish selection and the size of the job. Generally speaking it can take 1-2 days to install the floor. Then comes the sanding of the floors which often times takes another 1-2 days. Finishing a floor can take anywhere from 3 to 5 days to do it properly. Many finishes require multiple coats to get the floor looking just right. Once all of that is done, the finish needs to harden up before you walk on it and move furniture in…..this usually takes another 3-4 days. So all in, you need to plan and expect about one to two weeks from start to finish.
Hope this article gave you some insight into unfinished hardwood floors. These type floors are a great choice for your home and will bring you years of enjoyment.