Prefinished Hardwood Flooring

An introduction to prefinished hardwood flooring. When designing and installing custom wood floors, many home and business owners are unaware of the availability of prefinished hardwood flooring. Prefinished floors are prepared at a manufacturer’s facility and delivered to a jobsite ready for installation. But what is prefinished hardwood flooring exactly, and what are the real benefits and drawbacks, if any? In this introduction, we’ll answer all your questions and explore the options for prefinished hardwood flooring from Carlisle Wide Plank Floors.

What is prefinished hardwood flooring?

Prefinished hardwood flooring is a flooring surface that is sanded, stained and sealed at a manufacturer’s facility before it is delivered to a home or business for installation. In contrast, an unfinished hardwood floor must be sanded, stained and sealed on site in a time-consuming and messy process, often requiring the occupants to vacate the premises for a period of time.

What are the benefits of prefinished hardwood flooring?

Prefinished hardwood flooring allows you to eliminate the mess and inconvenience of finishing a floor on site. Your prefinished floor is delivered ready for installation. Consequently, installation can be completed much more quickly. Additionally, a prefinished floor may allow the manufacturer to use stronger sealants that offer additional protection for the floor which are not available for use on site.

What are the drawbacks of prefinished hardwood flooring?

In the past, some prefinished hardwood flooring has been associated with a cheap or plastic look. Some prefinished floors are not able to be touched up easily by the homeowner, resulting in floors that do not last as long. Additionally, finishing a floor on site may allow installers to use finer pigments that can penetrate the wood more easily. Fortunately, Carlisle Wide Plank Floors has developed a unique finishing process designed to allow prefinished hardwood flooring to look, feel and be refinished just like traditional unfinished flooring.

Carlisle Weekend Cottage White Oak Flooring

Frequently Asked Questions

Are all Carlisle floors available as prefinished hardwood flooring?

Any new wide plank floor from Carlisle may be ordered as prefinished hardwood flooring. Whether you’re considering Ash wood flooring or Birch hardwood floors, or you’re partial to Maple, Hickory or solid Red Oak flooring, you’ll always have the option to have your floor prefinished at our facility.

Can prefinished hardwood flooring be stained in any color?

Prefinished hardwood flooring is easily stained in a wide variety of colors to meet the needs of your interior design scheme. Unlike many manufacturers that offer only a limited number of stains, Carlisle provides a virtually unlimited variety of hues. Our custom colors range from nearly natural colors that appear unfinished to dark rich colors that create a classic interior theme.

What’s the difference between engineered and prefinished hardwood flooring?

Prefinished hardwood flooring is simply a floor that has been finished before delivery. Engineered hardwood flooring is a floor using floorboards that are manufactured with multiple layers, or plies, to produce boards that are more resistant to changes in temperature and humidity. Engineered flooring is ideal for installations in basements, on concrete slabs and over radiant heat systems – environments that may see greater fluctuation in relative humidity at the higher end of the normal spectrum. Engineered flooring from Carlisle can be ordered as prefinished hardwood flooring.

How do you clean and care for prefinished hardwood floors?

You can clean prefinished hardwood flooring just as you would clean any other hardwood floor. A mixture of vinegar and water works well. Simply mix 1 or 2 ounces of white vinegar with 2 gallons of water and apply lightly with a mop. The natural acidity of vinegar helps to loosen dirt and contaminants while also being safe for floors and the environment. When your floor needs a touch up, you can use Carlisle’s dustless recoat kit that allows you to touch up your floor easily with no sanding required.

Can prefinished hardwood floors be hand-distressed?

Several of the texturing and distressing techniques that Carlisle offers are available with our prefinished floors – an unusual offering within the industry.

Is Carlisle prefinished hardwood flooring safe for the environment?

All Carlisle Custom Coat finishes are designed to be environmentally friendly and contain no measurable VOCs that could pose a health hazard if they escape into the air.

How is Carlisle prefinished hardwood flooring different?

Carlisle uses time-tested techniques with modern technology to provide a revolutionary and proprietary method for prefinished hardwood flooring. The Carlisle Custom Coat® process is unlike anything else in the industry. Each board has a deep, hand-rubbed appearance rather than a painted-on look. Each plank in Carlisle prefinished hardwood flooring is meticulously sanded before the best possible stain and sealer is applied under ideal conditions. A multi-coat process delivers up to three times the durability of site-applied finishes while giving each board a natural and beautiful appearance. Consequently, with Carlisle there is no drawback to ordering prefinished floors.

Expect exceptional service with your prefinished hardwood flooring.

Our team prides itself not only on the exceptional quality of our floors, but on the remarkable quality of our customer service. Our overriding goal is to make the process of exploring, designing and ordering your prefinished hardwood flooring as exciting and pleasurable as living with it after installation. For customers who know exactly what they want, our team makes sure they get just that. And if you are looking at wide plank and prefinished hardwood flooring for the first time, we are happy to answer every question and provide expert guidance throughout the journey.

Why choose Carlisle for prefinished hardwood flooring?

A Carlisle prefinished floor gives you all the advantages of a ready-to-install and no-mess prefinished process along with the beauty of an on-site, hand-finished floor. Carlisle Custom Coat stains and topcoats developed for prefinished hardwood flooring are totally unlike anything else in the market today. When it comes to prefinished flooring, Carlisle truly leads the market. In fact, we have been a leader in flooring fashion since 1966. Every Carlisle wide plank floor is a hand-crafted masterpiece in wood, a one-of-a-kind surface that is the true reflection of the home or business owner’s aesthetic. Our New England craftsman, true artisans who live and breathe woodworking, are attentive to every detail and the personality of every plank. Our commitment to perfection ensures that your Carlisle wide plank or prefinished hardwood flooring will enhance your space for years to come.