Wood floor: natural or pre-stained?

Flooring that has a finish applied at the factory. Like virtually all products, with a controlled production line process and environment, a tougher, more durable, and more uniform finish can be applied.

I'd prefer to go with a natural flooring, such as

IMO, there is nothing better.

In my house, the lower level is on a concrete slab making regular wood a bad choice, so I used

You live in Bridgeport but don't know how to spell it or is there some historical significance to the capital P?

Agreed 100%. The ability to control the process in the factory gives a much more durable, consistant finish. Beyond that, if you go pre-finished, you don't have to deal with the VOC issues you face when a floor is finished in place. With 2-3 coats of poly, you're looking at 3, 4, maybe even 5 days of strong solvent fumes. Strong enough to make your eyes water...

KB

Agreed, especially since you have a dog big enough to dig holes in the house. A hard factory finish will hold up MUCH better for you. A trip to groomer to get dog a pedicure would also be useful. Outside dogs grind them down naturally, inside dogs need help sometimes....

aem sends...

Edwin, You could always glue down a solid HW floor to your slab. Don't go with planks that are more than 1/2" thick and it should be no problem Cheers, cc

What he said.

I refinished my own hardwood oak floors. It's nice dinner party conversation to cross off my life's experience list, but I won't be doing it again. It's quite a pain in the ass, and days of solvent fumes, and the sanding, and all that happy horseshit... nah, not for me. 8-)

Question for those with pre-stained experience though-- do they sell this stuff as solid planks? What's the cost delta typically? I haven't bothered hunting at the big boxes, but I'm curious because I want to go this route when it's time to replace the carpet in a living/dining area.

Best Regards,

-- Todd H.

Caution: Even with a factory applied finish, dogs can scratch through the finish and expose the raw wood. If you have light wood with a dark stain, the light wood will show through. If you use a dark wood with a natural clear finish, it will show less. Ipe is one of the hardest woods available in flooring and also has natural coloring, you may want to consider it.

Whatever you do, get a 36" x 12" brass plate to use as a sort of inlaid doorstep. That way if you are ever surprised by a badger or something, it can try to dig under the door all day, and not damage anything. Although, if you check carefully every couple of days, you can generally figure out what pets and livestock you have, and so you won't be surprised, and end up locking them into rooms they don't want to be in.

--Goedjn