Archive for the 'Pre Finished Vs Unfinished' Category

What type of hardwood to purchase

Wednesday, July 12th, 2006

I am trying to decide on what type of hardwood to purchase. In a previous home I installed dark cherry-stained oak. I have a dog and of course the scratches were very visible and after only a few months looked terrible. I also found it very hard to keep clean.

VOCs and ceramic based coating

Friday, May 12th, 2006

Is the ceramic based coating on some pre-finished wood flooring really VOC free?

Waiting to finish

Thursday, March 16th, 2006

How long can you wait to sand and finish floors after installing ? We have other tasks to do, like stick on stone around our fireplace hearth. Can waiting too long to sand and finish be detrimental to the unfinished floor?

Ceramic vs. aluminium oxide coat

Sunday, February 26th, 2006

Can you tell me the difference between the ceramic coat and the aluminium oxide coat?

Bare micro-bevels

Tuesday, February 14th, 2006

We have recently done a DIY hardwood floor installation using a pre-finished birch product purchased from a major home improvement retailer. This material has micro-bevels, but we noticed during installation that it appears the finish which was applied to the top surface of the strips does not extend down the bevels, i.e.. the bevels are stained, but not actually finished. The result of this is that in all the bevels in the completed floor, we have exposed, unfinished wood, which is susceptible to absorbing liquids easily and could quickly ruin the floor - there are already a couple spots that have started to swell from spills. Of course, we could refinish the entire floor, but we were wondering if there was some way we might be able to seal the joints/bevels without resorting to a full refinish job?

Staining before install

Tuesday, November 15th, 2005

Would it be easier to stain a new pine floor before it is laid? If this is the case, could we go ahead and give one coat of finish? The last part of my question is, would we have to stain the ends of the boards when we cut them for installation?

Coat over pre-finished floor

Friday, October 28th, 2005

I just put hardwood floors, pre-finished, into my new condo. I love the color and grain of the wood I chose, but it is not shiny enough. my floor installer told me that adding polyurethane will only make it shine for around a month. Is this true?

Staining maple (or oak, ash, birch)

Saturday, July 30th, 2005

We are ready to lay in a new entry way-kitchen-dining room wood floor. Today we were told not to go with unfinished maple because it can not be stained due to it being closed (close?) grain. What hardwood floors, other than oak, can we substitute for maple. We do not want a dark wood. We would like to stain and finish after the cabinets have been installed. We are going with the stain and finish floor because our builder told us you cannot repair prefinished flooring without seeing the repair. Correct?

Best hardwood for houses with large dogs

Saturday, July 30th, 2005

We want to replace our carpeted floors with hardwood floors. We have two large dogs and two cats. Which type of flooring would be best with this many pets? Thanks in advance for your help! We want to make sure that whatever floor we choose (hardwood, engineered, laminate) will withstand many pet feet and the occasional pet stain without becoming too scratched, dingy or stained.

Installing hardwood in kitchen

Saturday, July 30th, 2005

We are building a new house. I love the look of hardwood and would love to have it in the kitchen. The problem is we have three children and I’m afraid it won’t hold up in the kitchen area. I’m also concerned about water damage. At this point I have requested ceramic tile in the kitchen but really want hardwood. The hang ups I have are durability and water damage???….. Help! What’s your opinion?

V Groove with dirt stuck in it

Saturday, July 30th, 2005

We have prefinished maple flooring installed in kitchen, living room/dinning room, master bedroom and down the stairs.
My question is the groove “v” in the boards end and sides are dirty and we wondered how or what we can do to clean this we have tried a small brush but still there. This is most noticeable in the kitchen.
We have always used a wood cleaner recommended by our flooring dealer vacuum and dust mop once a week and damp mop with this cleaner once or more often depending on usage. There are only two adults and two cats in house so very little traffic.

Prefinished hardwood compared with on-site finished

Saturday, July 30th, 2005

How does prefinished hardwood compare with on-site finished hardwood in terms of: -quality of finish?

Finished or unfinished strips for plank floor

Friday, July 29th, 2005

Unfortunately, parquet is not the look we are after. We do want wide and long, engineered for a tighter look. I guess it is back to whether or not the sealers will keep us protected.