Hardwood floors offer a classic and luxurious appearance in your home but can be expensive to install and maintain. Prefinished and unfinished engineered wood flooring offers an alternative to solid hardwood flooring that carries many of the same benefits. So today, our team is here to talk about the differences between prefinished and unfinished engineered hardwood flooring.
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What Is Engineered Hardwood Flooring?
Engineered wood flooring consists of a plywood core with a top layer of hardwood. Engineered wood mimics the appearance and texture of natural hardwood. The plywood core design makes engineered wood flooring easier to manufacture and install.
Engineered hardwood flooring is a good option if you want a hardwood floor but have a budget or have a concrete subfloor but sill want the look of solid hardwood flooring. Engineered floor boards tend to be wider than natural hardwood floors, so they offer slightly more flooring options and range in quality from Good, Better, Best, and Custom.
Prefinished VS Unfinished
Most engineered hardwood flooring is finished, meaning the manufacturer varnishes the hardwood and heats it in an oven to cure. The result is an extremely durable and long-lasting finish that covers the hardwood portion of the floorboards.
Unfinished flooring, as the name implies, doesn’t have a final layer of finish, so once installed they need to be sanded and finished. Similar to natural hardwood flooring.
Which Type of Engineered Flooring Is Best?
Like with most home improvement and renovation projects, the best type of flooring for the project depends on your individual needs and budget. Below are the advantages and disadvantages of the two types of flooring to help you make the right choice.
Prefinished Floor Benefits
Some benefits of prefinished floors include the following:
Prefinished boards are ready for flooring installation as soon as you take them out of the box. You don’t have to worry about sanding or coating; just secure it in place, and you are good to go.
- Since the finishing process takes place in the factory, pre-finished floors produce fewer volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can be health hazards.
- They are more convenient with no sanding or drying time
- Prefinished flooring costs more initially but costs less in the long run, as you don’t have to pay to sand and finish them.
Prefinished Floor Drawbacks
Some drawbacks include:
- You cannot sand down and refinish prefinished planks without the risk of damaging the top hardwood layer.
- For the same reason as above, fixing individual prefinished hardwood planks is difficult if they have scratches or dings. Most cannot be fixed at all, and the color and style have a likelihood of being discontinued within a couple of years.
- As the flooring wears, it will eventually need to be replaced.
Unfinished Floor Benefits
There are many benefits of unfinished floors and include the following:
- Unfinished engineered flooring retains the rough, natural grain of the hardwood layer on top.
- Since they are finished on-site, you have more customization options when it comes to sanding, coating, and finishing unfinished engineered hardwood flooring.
- Can have a beautiful furniture quality finish
- The most realistic looking to hardwood flooring and care when you have concrete subflooring.
- They can be maintained with our Buff & Refresh services much like solid hardwood flooring.
- The quality is much higher than boxed flooring.
- Since it is fixable, it does not need to be completely replaced every few years.
Unfinished Flooring Drawbacks
Some drawbacks include:
- Unfinished engineered hardwood flooring requires more time and effort to install. It needs to be sanded, treated, and coated.
Overall, we prefer unfinished engineered hardwood flooring, the quality is much better and we can maintain and take care of your floors for life.
Custom Engineered Hardwood Floor Installation in Atlanta
Authentic Hardwood Flooring has been serving the Atlanta area for over 23 years. Send us a message, or drop us a line at (678) 985-0110 to get started with your dream floor!
