Benefits of Prefinished Hardwood Flooring

More homeowners today purchase solid hardwood floors with a factory-applied finish, otherwise called prefinished hardwood flooring. There are a number of benefits to choosing prefinished hardwood flooring over site-finished, where sanding, staining and protective coatings are applied after the boards are installed. With prefinished hardwood flooring, you don’t have to deal with heavy chemical fumes, messy dust and significant drying times before you can walk on and enjoy your new floor.

Factory prefinished hardwood flooring is not only faster and easier to install, but it performs better over time. To produce the highest quality hardwood flooring, stains and finish coatings are applied and dried in a controlled factory environment. High-performance aluminum oxide urethane coatings get as many as seven passes of ultraviolet light to cure the urethane to the wood and preserve its color, creating an extremely durable finish. By comparison, on-site finished floors typically receive 2-3 coats of polyurethane that is applied and allowed to cure by air drying.

Long-Lasting Performance
Because factory-applied finishes are much tougher and longer lasting, prefinished hardwood flooring is warranted to last longer – typically 5 to 35 years for residential use, versus 3 to 5 years.  Armstrong hardwood flooring comes prefinished, including the coordinated hardwood trims and moldings you need to complete the look.

The combination of hardwood’s natural durability and today’s high-performance urethane finishes means prefinished hardwood flooring will stand up to the demands of day-to-day living in an active home. If the time comes when your prefinished hardwood floor loses a little of its luster, it can be sanded and refinished to restore its original beauty.

Prefinished hardwood flooring is easier to care for, too. Routine cleaning is simply a matter of sweeping or dust mopping once a week, or vacuuming using a felt or soft-brush head attachment. For periodic touch-ups, use Armstrong Hardwood & Laminate Floor Cleaner.

Prefinished hardwood flooring for highly active homes
For homeowners who want prefinished hardwood flooring for their home but don’t want to worry about scratches, dents and scuffs from heavy traffic, Armstrong makes Performance Plus™. Available in birch, cherry, hickory, maple, oak and walnut species, Performance Plus is genuine hardwood infused with liquid acrylic to make it even more durable.

A floor’s finish plays an important role in determining its look, degree of maintenance and lasting quality. With all the choices available in prefinished hardwood flooring today, there’s no reason to select anything less than the most beautiful, long-lasting floor for your home.