Prefinished Hardwood Floors – Traditional Ways of Getting the Most Elegant Floors

Hardwood floors ideally blend with the rest of the rooms and the home furniture. While lighter logs are great to provide classy and elegant looks, the dark logs are apt to create an adventurous feel.

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Prefinished Hardwood Floors - Pre-sealed to Protect

The prefinished hardwood floors are ready to install and come with pre-sealed translucent thin film that protects the floor from stains, scratches, burns and spills. These floors are quite resistant to sunlight. They are ideal for places where there is heavy foot traffic. However, once damaged the floor cannot be mended or sanded off, and the floor needs to be replaced. Do not get duped by laminated wood floors, as they resemble prefinished hardwood floors. Refinishing the prefinished wooden floors take a long time due to the several layers of finishing to be done. However, refinishing hampers the life and thickness of the prefinished hardwood floors. The cost of prefinished hardwood floors range from $3 to $5 for a square foot.

Installing Hardwood Floors - Get a Rustic Appearance

The time taken in installing hardwood floors depends on the type of floor used. For prefinished hardwood floors, installation takes a day or two, wherein installing unfinished hardwood floors takes a long time, mostly a week. For installing hardwood floors, the wood used has to be purchased and stored for some time. Remove the old flooring and scrap off any cement or minute pieces left over from the old flooring or the cement. For expansion of wood, a distance of 1/8 inch must be given between the wooden board and the walls. Start installing with the longer parts and the places where the wood needs to be cut will be lessened. Drill nails onto the wooden boards to hold them in place. Finish nailers or electric brad nailers can be used that ensure the boards are held straight and correctly in place. Defective boards can be placed near the walls to hide them. The nails must be used 8-10 inches apart. Using a jamb saw the sides of the ends can be given final touches. Unfinished wooden floors require site finishing after installation.Installation charges include the type of installation, molding used, and the labor charges.

Hardwood Floor Repair - Amending the Damages

The repairing of hardwood floors is easy, and the hardwood floor repair kits available in the hardware stores ease the job. The scratches can be fixed easily using the color cards available in the kit. On activating the color using an activating solution, a painter’s brush can be used to color the scratches. Wax crayons specially made for the hardwood floors can be used to cover up the scratches. Small cracks are filled up with latex wood caulks. The caulk applicator is inserted into the crack and the void spaces can be filled up using the caulk material. For bigger cracks, use wood putty material, and apply it with a putty knife. The plank damages, if any, require replacement of the plank, and you must choose a hardwood material suiting the existing hardwood floor. Home improvement stores can get you suitable matches for the planks to be replaced.Photo Source : flickr.com/74783045@N00/