Switched my stance on pre-finished hardwood after a single job

I used to think pre-finished flooring was just a waste of money (like an upcharge for convenience). Then I took a job up in Portland last spring refinishing a house with site-finished red oak, and the dust was unreal. It got into every crack, took me 3 extra hours to clean up, and the owner complained about the smell for a week. A buddy of mine who does high-end builds finally showed me the numbers: pre-finished stuff saves about $2 per square foot in labor and sanding supplies alone. Plus the factory finish is way harder than anything you can spray on site, like a 10-year durability difference. Now I still recommend site-finished for some custom looks, but I don't trash the pre-finished option anymore. Has anyone else had a job that completely flipped their opinion on a material?

3 comments

3 Comments

gracej9914d ago

Wait, you mean I could have saved 3 hours of my life not picking sawdust out of my nose hairs? That ship sailed about 20 jobs ago. The real kicker for me was finding a little pile of dust in my jacket pocket 6 months later like some kind of sad time capsule.

the_elizabeth13d ago

Hold on @michael_williams but isn't finding that dust pile later kind of a FREE souvenir of all your hard work? I'd call that a little gift from past-you, not a sad time capsule.

michael_williams14d ago

That "sad time capsule" line got me, I still find dust in my truck from that same Portland job.