What is prefinished flooring and is it right for me?
The major difference between prefinished and site-finished flooring is the custom, tabletop look you get with a site-finished floor. Prefinished often has those gap-grooves between each strip, which some folks find unsightly. site finished = TABLE TOP prefinished = gaps and some unevenness.
A lot of hardwood flooring sold today is prefinished. That is, several coats of UV-cured polyurethane are applied at the factory. These factory finishes are tough and durable. Installing a prefinished floor eliminates the time, the dust and the odors associated with the on-site sanding and finishing of an unfinished product. A prefinished floor can be installed in a day. An unfinished flooring installation may require up to four days, depending upon the space.
There are many prefinished and unfinished hardwood floors that can be glued down. You really need to get to a showroom or see a catalog of choices in order to pick the floor that’s right for your application. There are solid floors and laminated floors. The solid wood flooring systems are recommended to be glued down to plywood substrates. The laminated floors are made like plywood. They are constructed of layers of different kinds of wood and can be installed over concrete or over plywood.
As always, if you choose a prefinished floor, you will not be sanding and therefore it is paramount that the sub floor is close to PERFECT before you start installing. If the sub floor is not perfect, you will see it in the finished floor. Modern adhesives last as long as the floor.
