When it comes to solid hardwood flooring, there are two main types to choose from: prefinished and unfinished, explains Rich Kessner. The owner of New York Floorman, LLC, a family-run business in Manhattan with a history of helping both residential and commercial clients, Kessner says that he frequently hears from people who aren’t sure what type of flooring to have installed.
In the majority of cases, Kessner says prefinished hardwood flooring is an excellent option for the clients he works with. Because prefinished floors require less effort to install, they generally end up costing people less money in the long run. Here are a few additional points that Kessner brings up with prospective clients who are interested in learning more about prefinished hardwood flooring in Manhattan.
Reduced Drying Time
Because prefinished wood is already sanded, stained, and finished before it gets to the client’s home or apartment, there is less work that needs to be done on-site. “There is no drying time at all, since the prefinished hardwood floors have already been finished in the factory,” Kessner says. Whereas installers working with unfinished wood have to account for the time it is going to take to coat the floor with multiple layers of water-based or oil-based polyurethane—a process that can take days, depending on the type of polyurethane that is used and the number of coats that are put on—this is not the case when a prefinished wood floor is being put down.
No Need for Sanding
Unlike unfinished wood, prefinished hardwood floors do not have to be sanded before they can be installed. Just like with the stain and the finish, the sanding that is done to these floors is all done in a factory, before it gets to the client’s home in Manhattan. For most hardwood flooring installations, the sanding component can take time and effort. Not having to do that to prefinished wood, though, saves clients time and money on the project. “So [having the sanding done in-factory] saves you any number of days of work,” Kessner says. “It could be saving anywhere from two days up to five days, depending on what the process would have been to achieve the same look otherwise.”
Cheaper Labor
When it comes to having hardwood flooring installed in Manhattan, the cost of labor is a major factor. The more installers that have to be on a job site, and the longer those installers have to be working to get the job done, the more expensive the process is going to be. Therefore, the lack of time expenditures and labor requirements for installing a prefinished floor makes prefinished hardwood an excellent option for homeowners working within a tight budget.
Comparing Prices
Kessner says that people who look for wood flooring prices on the Internet can sometimes be thrown off when they start researching the differences between unfinished and prefinished wood floors. This is because the prices online make it look like unfinished wood is the much cheaper option. Although the actual strips of prefinished wood are more expensive to buy than unfinished wood, the labor that is required to install prefinished wood in a home is usually less extensive. Therefore, the overall cost of installing a prefinished wood floor will often be lower than installing an unfinished wood floor once everything has been taken into account.
For example, although a homeowner who bought a prefinished natural red oak floor would probably pay more for materials than someone who bought an unfinished oak floor, the cost of sanding and staining that unfinished floor would oftentimes be very expensive. The only way that the overall cost of installing an unfinished wood floor would be even to that of a prefinished wood floor is if the homeowner did not want the unfinished wood to be stained, and if all the installer had to do was put on a few coats of polyurethane. “In that case, you are almost even in terms of the price, because the sanding and the finish of the wood doesn’t cost as much as the staining would,” Kessner says.
Because of the numerous pros and cons of each option, Kessner says that his clients are fairly split between those who choose unfinished wood and those who choose prefinished wood for their home remodeling projects. “Personally, I like the unfinished wood,” he says. “But the thing is, you have to have skilled people who know how to sand and stain.” Although any carpenter can install a prefinished floor, it takes a true craftsman with experience and skill to be able to bring out the beauty in unfinished hardwood. “That is where the skill comes in,” he says. “The skill trade of staining.”
