I recall your post from a few months ago on the flooring forum. It's a huge decision and you are being wise to take your time and research as much as possible.

It's only been a little over one year, but our experience with having pre finished (factory finished) engineered flooring has been great so far. We do not have bevels on our floor, so I don't know what that's like in terms of cleaning when having bevels. My floor wipes up pretty nicely with a dry microfiber towel wrapped loosely on a swiffer pole/mop thing.

The company who made our wood (Lauzon) makes engineered flooring (factory finished) with or without bevels. It's one of the very few that can offer non beveled in engineered. Their boards fit together very tightly and we have not seen any gaps. Ours is glued down onto a concrete subfloor. Lauzon also makes solid hardwood.

nanny2a - I remember your much appreciated comments & encouragement on the sewing forum last year when I was making a dress & jacket to wear for my Dd's wedding : )

Your floor looks beautiful! Does Mannington still make non beveled engineered flooring? How long have you had it?

I can see a small portion of what looks like furniture with hand painted fruit on it. I love it! The drapery color & fabric goes well with that furniture and your pretty floor.

-Laurie

Lauzon non beveled engineered

We have 3/4" prefinished beveled hardwood that was installed 6 months ago. We're farmers living on an acreage so there's dust; however I can honestly say I don't notice it in the bevels. The only time it was noticeable was when the powdered sugar bag leaked, but it vacuumed up.

We went with the prefinished because I didn't think it would interfere with our daily routine as much as finishing onsite; however it was still a dusty and intrusive mess and due to various reasons took weeks instead of the days anticipated. I liked the prefinished because I could lay out the boards and know exactly what it was going to look like. Immediately after the installation we had a small water leak. It was easy to repair since we had extra pieces on hand. The prefinished was the right decision for us; however if you like the onsite finished then that's the way to go.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Engineered flooring is made of a thin real wood sandwiched thin 1/16" to 1/8" of finish wood on top of non-finish plywood underneath. It is very durable. It can be sanded carefully.

Hardwood is just that. Solid wood. It comes pre-finished or unfinished. You can make up your own stain color. The only problem with that is if you have to replace due to accident, you have to have both the wood and the stain for a perfect match. Pre-finished hardwoods are made by many different manufacturers. It's a matter of preference. I like flooring made in Canada. To have your floors look good with no spaces in between, hire good professionals.

We just today got the last coat put on our site finished floors. They are beautiful! Like you, I just could not get into any prefinished no matter how much I tried. I wanted that warm, old look. We went with wide plank pine. Can't tell you about living with them yet, but the process was disruptive. We did the whole house and decided to move out. We have a friend with an apt for missionaries who let us stay. We went with a water lox coatiing, modified tung oil. Beautiful, but stinky! We will be out as little as ten days, but we made it 2 weeks. Worth it? We shall see, but it is more what I dreamed of in a floor. Good luck!

thanks for the responses!

typeprof, I have a feeling I will be doing the same thing as you!

Nanny2a Your floors look great, but we are def getting 3/4" solid hardwood--that is my husband's only requirement.

Laurie, I love your floors--you responded to another one of my posts giving me the specifics--thanks!

Hilltop, your floors look great as well--could you share the specifics?

In pictures, I don't mind the micro bevels--it's just when I go and look at the floors in person, I have not found a prefinished hardwood that I like. I keep hoping I will as I really don't want to have to move out of my house (with a toddler and 6 month old baby) for close to a week!

thanks again and I would love to hear from some more--and pics are great!

KJmama,wow! out of your house almost 2 weeks!

Is your finish oil based? One of the flooring men I talked to said that if I did water based, it would not take as long and the water based finish is just as good. I have not really researched finishes--still hoping I can find a prefinished I like.

No, no, no! They are better for convenience, but you can always tell they were prefinished! They look cheap and "plasticy". Definitely understand WHY people choose it (cost and convenience) but I could never do it. Site finished solid hardwoods only for me.

Hardwood, finished on site. It's worth the extra trouble.

I like the way site finished floors have a smooth reflection....not broken up by the bevels. In my last house, we had the bevels, but there was very little reflected light due to the deep overhangs and lush vegetation. (Sub-tropical climate...little natural light was a good thing!) Here's my site finished, locally grown and milled cherry flooring:

Ours are Mohawk Bella Mead 3/4" oak flooring (pictured above in earlier post)

We got Bruce pre-finished 3/4 inch hardwood in the color butterscotch and it's perfect. Looks just like an onsite job.

yayagal, do yours have the microbevels? Do you recall the specific Bruce line you selected? I think Bruce has a prefinished floor without them. My friend just put in a Bruce prefinished--I am going to her house this week, so I will see it.

Amysrq--beautiful floor! I loved an American cherry floor displayed at a flooring store, but the floor guy said that it was very soft and didn't recommend it for our situation with 2 young children, dogs, and cats. What has been your experience?

thanks hilltop, another GW member also has mohawk prefinished and also says that the microbevels do not trap dirt--i will have to check out Mohawk.

For a traditional setting with a monolithic, perfectly even color on the entire floor, site finished, hands down.

For a more transitional or contemporary setting allowing for some variation in color and graining, prefinished is okay, although I specify no bevel styles, go with the longer board length rather than shorts, and tend to go with a solid wood product like Bellawood, etc.

Kristine, the cherry is soft. No doubt about it. But, we went around and around, looking at the other woods available and I just didn't feel the love for anything else. These floors are developing a patina and when I get down on my hands and knees to really go after a spill, it is a little sad. But, overall, the look pleases me immensely.

You have to decide what bothers you more/most....patina, bevels, source, graining, color tendencies, etc. I just didn't love the graining of oak or the character of the other woods. It had to be local for my LEED certified house. Even with the scratches and dings, the floors are still beautiful in my eyes.

We're just about to install prefinished bamboo floors in our bedrooms. Prior to that all the floors in the house were on-site finished hardwood. Refinishing those floors was such a huge headache and massive upheaval in our lives. It had to be done twice in six months because we had a bad batch of finish that peeled off. The finish manufacturer paid for the labor and materials to redo it a second time but not for OUR labor (i.e. moving out of our house) and alternate housing during the eight days it took to redo it and cure.

Just based on the hassle factor alone, I'm willing to overlook some of the things I may not like as much about pre-finished floors. If you're doing a new space, that's not really an issue but in an existing residence, pre-finished is just so much easier.

We'll found out soon if I hate the way the micro-bevels look but I never even gave them a second thought until I started seeing that complaint here.

Yes our finish is oil.
I have heard the pre finishes are tougher than any site finished if that matters.

We have pre-finished because it was much less expensive and took a lot less time than site-finished (and time is money when building). I do prefer the look of most site-finished, but this finish is *very* tough and I don't think site-finished could match that aspect (which is important to me with my rough kids and dog). I'm very happy with it and not at all wishing I'd gone with site-finished. I think it depends on your priorities.

Our floor is by Armstrong, and they do have a pre-finished floor without bevels. We have micro-bevels which are much less apparent than regular bevels.

Prefinished will far outlast the finish on site. They do not have to be plastically...it depends on the finish sheen pre or onsite as far as sheen

Micro-beveled edges also known as eased edges. The edges of the flooring planks/strips are cut at 45 degree angles resulting in a slight indentation between pieces when they are placed next to each other.

Beveled edges are cut at a more distinct angle than micro-beveled and create a deep "V" shape where the flooring planks meet, giving your floor a more informal, rustic look.

Square edges give a floor a uniform, level look and feel that is more formal and contemporary. The planks line up next to each other with no apparent edging, creating a continuous, smooth surface.

Distressed edges are typically irregular and created to match the look of hand-scraped or distressed flooring.

Unfinished flooring is typically less expensive than pre-finished flooring adding in the price of finishing onsite makes the cost go higher. Also unfinished flooring is usually produced with square edges.

Square-edged floors are easier to finish and refinish than floors with beveled, micro-beveled or distressed edges.

Beveled, micro and distressed edges will collect dust, dirt and spill more readily than square-edge flooring.

Oh, and most floors are only as good as their subflooring. Did you know that bamboo is not a wood but a grass? Y'all have fun with those bevels! Wood is beautiful!

We've been very happy with our Mannington engineered hardwood floors. They look really good and have held up well to lots of little accidents caused by people dropping things. We installed in the summer of 2004.

Now, would I prefer a different wood floor? Yes. My good friend installed a wide-plank distressed dark hardwood floor after seeing ours and deciding they needed wood also. But my floor cost a lot less than hers and that's one of the main reasons we got what we got. Hers is engineered pre-finished also and it's beautiful. However, for our California house, we needed the engineered to lay over concrete. A wood subfloor is not a viable choice in our neighborhood. And we deliberately chose micro bevels. It's a preference, not a necessity.

If you have real choice on a wood floor, there are many things to take into consideration:
Cost
Stability
Convenience
Beauty

But if you have a concrete foundation or are doing a wood floor in a basement, then, the engineered prefinished hardwoods are probably the right choice. It's like so many other things. I might love the look of a Coach purse but can afford Nine West. I want to wear 3" heels but must wear orthotics in a very low heel. I would love to have French doors and leave them open for breezes but have too many flys and bees right outside to do that.

Do your research and figure out what works best for you. Good engineered wood floors look like wood because they ARE wood.

Red

I also should mention that our hardwood is solid 3/4" oak. We were told by the flooring company that engineered hardwood is a better option if you're going with a wide plank because it's more stable and will not cup or bow as much as solid hardwood would over time. It can also be sanded and refinished, but probably only 2 - 3 times (which is most likely all you would ever need over the lifespan of a wood floor). Since we went with 3-1/4" width plank, we didn't need to worry about it.

I found the site below which has some good info:

Here is a link that might be useful: Hardwood info

Like yaya above, we also have Bruce floors in butterscotch. We went with a squared edge so the planks would lay flush. It does look like an on-site job. The house we lived in prior to this had on-site original hardwood floors. It was a beautiful New Orleans home. I chose this particular Bruce floor because it was as close to that sheen and finish as I could get. We get comments on how pretty our floors are all the time. There is nothing plasticky about pre-finished floors if you take your time and choose the right floor. My mother-in-law also has pre-finished but not enough of a gloss/sheen or something and she does have a cheaper look. They also don't feel as solid when you walk on them.

My parents have the same Bruce floor we do (that helped me pick my floor actually) but in the gunstock color and with a microbevel. They're also gorgeous and very nice looking because of the finish of the floor. On both of our floors they just have an expensive sturdy look and feel to them. While they preferred the bevel, we preferred flush because it looked like on-site finished floors.

If you want to see pictures I can post them when I get to my computer later today. I'm on my phone now. :)

babs, i would love to see pics!

also, do you know the specific line you have--there are so many different lines of Bruce.

also, what is the sheen level of your floors? I do like at least a semi gloss sheen.

we just installed Bruce Dundee plank in Saddle color. It is 3/4" hardwood pre-finished. It has a microbevel on the edges, but square butt ends. It looks great and the finish is more durable than site finished. The only real difference is that the butt ends can be a little rougher, site finished is smoother... But, for the convenience and on site labor, pre finish was a great way to go.

I'll try and post a picture a little later. I don't know if I can find my paperwork or not. My floors were installed about five years ago. Yes, they are at least a semi-gloss finish as are my parents' Bruce floors. I'll look through my stored pictures to see if I have some saved of both and look for those papers for the name. Get back to you in a bit!

Apparently I have almost every post-Katrina receipt except for our wood flooring one. But since I purchased it through a friend's family hopefully I can find out this week or next if they keep records that long. I'll let you know. For now the photos. I'm posting a few b/c I know you wanted to see sheen.

1) The ONLY photo I could find of my mom's Bruce beveled floor in the color Gunstock. It was shortly after I took this photo of my DD and my mom that I ditched my Fuji point and shoot and got my DSLR Canon Rebel. LOL!

2) Different shots of our Bruce butterscotch squared edge floors:

Hope that gives you the idea of the sheen and look. There's a lot of depth of color in both my parents' and in our floors. They're no trouble to clean at all and no dirt gets in between the planks as they sit flush against one another. I think someone above said it best, the squared edges are often called eased b/c as in the last pic, you can see a slight separation but there is no bevel. I actually don't notice any separation at all in daily life but mostly in photos taken at certain angles.

The Gunstock color is a shade darker than our Butterscotch floors. We wanted a bit darker than natural but not quite as dark or red-toned as the Gunstock at the time. For our upcoming build I might go a bit darker just because my tastes have changed. But I've been totally happy with the durability, look and cleanability of the floors.

thanks Babs!

The floors (and little girl and pup too!) look beautiful. I def like the sheen, color, and square edges. Now I just need to see if I like it in person.

Do you know what the width is?

Could they be the Fulton line? I asked at one flooring store and he said that the only Bruce line that he knew of with prefinished square edges was the fulton--although he didn't have a sample.

I am going to have to check them out--I really would like to find a pre finished floor I like--but I am leaning towards site finished--I have been called "hyper critical" and "very picky" at two different floor stores when I was trying to explain the "look" I want. But, it seems that I can get that look if I go with site finished.

thanks again to everyone who has responded! I really appreciate everyone taking the time to respond and post pics.

kristinekr,
We're facing a similar decision, and have decided to go with on-site finished hardwood in white oak w/ 3 coats of oil-based polyurethane. I think it's a personal preference really. We're matching the existing floors in our house, which are 60's white oak hardwoods. They have certainly stood the test of time.

I'm still in disbelief over the cost of having the existing tile/subfloor ripped up and having the new floor put down.

I love the concept of prefinished wood floors, but in reality I've found the finishes to be too shiny and almost too perfect!

Site finished floors are a pain. We had to leave our house for 5 days because every entrance was having hardwood put down. But, they've been down now 7 years and yes there are some scratches, but with the satin finish and the medium toned stain, you really have to look at a certain angle to see them.

I'd definitely vote for 3 coats - that third coat really makes them glow. I also like the fact that the floor is completely sealed with 3 coats of poly - no moisture can sneak down the cracks.

I have prefinished 3/4" brazilian cherry. I don't have any problem with the bevels, but I wish I would have gotten site finished. I absolutely hate the high gloss finish. It shows every smudge, crumb, speck of dust, etc. Might not be so bad if it was a lighter wood, but with the cherry it is a nightmare. If I would have gotten a site finished floor I could have gotten a finish without a high sheen.

Bonnieann,

What kind of quotes are you getting. To put in red or white oak 3 1/4 " width is going to be around $8 sq/ft for the wood, install, and finish. That doesn't include removal of existing floors--we will do that ourselves.

I remember when we were have glued down wood and tile removed it was almost as expensive for the removal as it was to put down the new tile!

We've gotten three quotes and it will cost almost 5K to rip up the existing tile and plywood underlayment. The "demolition crew" comes in with a dumpster and will rip it up over a few days.

After that the "finish crew--installation crew" will come in and install the oak hardwoods. Then begins the multiple coats of poly (aka--excuse to eat out!)

Our kitchen is 12x24 and the job involves cutting around the exiting cabinets and fireplace to get the tile/subfloor off. It's a messy job for sure. My DH, who admittedly is not the handiest guy, took up the bathroom floor in our guest bath. It was a bear of a job, so he's more than happy to have someone else do the dirty work.

The quote for just installing the floors was $2900-$3500 from three different flooring companies. They do not really want to do the demolition and encouraged us to do it. Um, no! So you're right, in that the cost of tile removal is expensive.

I'll post pics when the job is done.

We used a prefinished solid oak 5-in low-gloss handscraped plank, and we love it. It is definitely not plasticky, and I kind of like the bevels since it goes with the texture (scraped). It's a dark floor, so we can't see any dirt in the bevels, lol.

Thanks for the kind words. I'll see if I can track down that info for you. Good luck with whatever you decide!

Segbrown, please give the specifics on your oak floors- they are beautiful! Do you have any photos of them in your home? I've been following this thread with rapt attention as I'm having the exact same dilemma- replace my 80's parquet with prefinished or site finished hardwood? My staircase is done in solid oak that can be stained to match whatever i choose, but going with oak in general seems like a good plan.

thanks for all the responses. I have decided to go with site finished red oak. I am getting bids now and hope to get them done by the end of the year. All the responses have been so helpful!

We had the beveled edge, random width in our last house. I vac often (dogs) so I didn't find the groves to much of problem until we refinished. The man sanded the floors then used a small tool to drag between every grove. They were Bruce with a hard wax finish which I would never recommend. Every bit of the wax finish had to come off to poly.

madabout ... it's Anderson Gatsby Collection Tudor Brown Oak.

Here are some photos, not terribly good ones, but what I have:

segbrown,

Not only are your floors beautiful, but your kitchen is incredible. I want to jump right into it! Simply gorgeous.

Thanks, segbrown! Wow, your floors look amazing- especially in the kitchen. I have white cabinetry with marble, too, and your floors are the perfect contrast. By the way, what is that paint color on your island? Love it!

Kristinekr- We made the same decision. Demolition of our existing ceramic tile floor starts tomorrow. It will take a week to rip out the tile and install the hardwoods, including the 3 coats of poly. DH and I have spent the past 2 days clearing out the kitchen and moving stuff into the DR and sunroom so we can maybe eat some meals at home. Actually, I'm looking forward to eating out ALL week (it's just the 2 of us).

We got 3 estimates and chose the contractor with the best references and a crew who is willing to tackle the demolition of the tile portion of the job. It's going to be a very messy job, but they have promised to close off the kitchen to all the other rooms to contain the mess. We'll have a dumpster in the yard.

I'll post pics when the job is done.

Thanks ... the island color is BM Taos Taupe.

that is exciting bonnieann. Please post pics when it's done. Enjoy your dinners out!

I got another quote and the latest quote is so cheap. Despite the cheap price, I know the finisher is good as he did my friend's floors (that look great) plus several of their friends.

It is only going to cost $5000 total for 700 sq feet of
3 1/4" width white oak (I decided to do white oak instead of red), installed, stained, topped with 3 coats of water based poly, plus refinishing of 6 stairs and the handrail, plus removal of the parquet and rug. I am so excited--the other bids were over 2K more.

I am not looking forward to moving everything out!

if you decide 3/4" oak, site finished. Our bid for 2 long hallways, refinished and a dining room and a living room and one 11x11 bedroom and to put all new hardwood (about 1500) into the kitchen which was feathered in with existing hardwood in a fairly good sized family room was 4600 total. we applied a dark stain plus 2 coats of oil, semi gloss. which to me does not look so different than satin and holds up better he said. So that is 4600 total with new hardwood in a average size kitchen, refinishing 5 rooms total and 2 long hallways. I think that seemed fair. I will say that I did have the 25 year prefinished in PH dining and honestly did not like room the way it looked or how the prefi performed. Plus with site finished you have no problem ever refinishing them over and over for many years. It just seemed to be worth the extra cost IMH0 also even with the oil. we still were able to sleep in our house. The smell dissapated later in the day and, we had fun crawling in and out of our master bedroom with 2 dogs...lol not so much! good luck

We have 2 1/2 inch oak throughout our entire house and that's what we decided to go with. It's very traditional where we live (New England). One floor contractor bid for both the 2 1/2 and the 3 1/4. The quote for the larger boards was less, as would be expected. It's less work to install fewer boards.

For us, given that the adjoining rooms (family room and dining room already have hardwood floors) it was a no-brainer to match the width. If you have a different situation then go with what you like.

I have a HUGE wood pile in my FR right now. I will take pics of the whole job!

oopsie, that sounds like a great price. We got 3 bids and there was quite a difference between the cheapest and most expensive one. I found the same thing when I ordered replacement windows.

I am in in New England too bonnieann! I didn't even think about it being easier to install the 3 1/4" boards. The wood itself is a little more expensive for the wider board, so I guess it pretty much evens out.

I am going to order my wood tomorrow. Of course I am second guessing myself and looking at maple and santos mahogany--I am all over the place. I am driving my husband nuts!

Mine is Bruce Hardwood - Gunstock. I love the richness of hardwood no matter how it is done!!

kristinekr,
Here's an update on our site finished hardwoods in white oak. This is with 2 coats of oil-based poly. The third and final coat goes on tomorrow and then we're done. We are very happy with our choice. I'll post pics of the final project when it's done and everything is back in place:

bonnieann, they look great! you are making me much more confident about going with the white oak.