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Hot take: prefinished vs site finished hardwood is a bigger debate than it needs to be
I did a job last year where we put in prefinished oak in a living room and site finished maple in a bedroom down the hall. Fast forward 12 months and the prefinished has these tiny chips near the dog bowls while the site finished just has some light scratching. The client paid about $2 per square foot more for the site finished but the labor was way more. My buddy swears prefinished is the way to go for rentals but I'm leaning the other way now. What's your experience been with longevity between the two after a few years?
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tarak174mo ago
tiny chips near the dog bowls" reminds me of my friend Sarah's house. She went prefinished and after two years the edges by the kitchen peninsula looked terrible because of her Golden Retriever's paws sliding around.
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fionak634mo ago
OH MAN that dog bowl story hit home! We put prefinished hickory in our mudroom and the spots where our lab eats are SHOT after 18 months - there's these little divots near the water bowl that look like someone took a tiny hammer to them. Site finished white oak in the dining room barely shows anything after three Christmases with heavy chairs sliding around. The finish coating on site finished seems to really bond into the wood better instead of just sitting on top like the factory stuff.
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