I finally had a chat with a finish carpenter who changed my mind on prefinished flooring

He told me he's been using site-finished floors for 20 years because prefinished never matches after the first repair, and after seeing his work from a kitchen remodel last spring I am starting to wonder if I have been cutting corners for clients.

3 comments

3 Comments

jamiew8312d ago

My brother's prefinished floor looked awful after one water leak in the kitchen.

michael_jones12d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah @jamiew83 that's the thing with a lot of these modern floors... they look great until real life happens. It's like everything is designed for a showroom, not an actual kitchen where people spill stuff. Kinda makes you wonder if we're all just paying for a look that can't handle a tiny bit of moisture.

noahpark5d ago

Huh, that's rough. But honestly, I kind of blame the install, not just the floor. Prefinished stuff is only as good as how you seal the joints. If the edges aren't fully locked or glued, water seeps between the planks and swells the core from underneath. A lot of people forget to check the manufacturer's warranty too, some won't cover water damage unless you used their specific vapor barrier.