Hardwood made easy: Prefinished floors among the top choices

Wood has consistently been a popular choice for homeowners looking at replacing or putting in new hard surface floors in their home, and there are plenty of options to consider.

Justin Stromberg, owner of Basin Wood Floors in Moses Lake, one of many sources of help with flooring in the Columbia Basin, discussed some of the items he’s seen customers choosing and some of the options that come with each.

About 60% of the projects he’s handled in the past year have been with prefinished flooring as opposed to unfinished flooring that is actually sanded and finished by his crew on site. Typically, he said they have put in more hardwood.

“In the last year, we’ve probably done a little bit more of the prefinished as opposed to the LVP (luxury vinyl plank) style, engineered hardwood that’s been refinished, the click-together stuff versus the actual onsite finishing,” Stromberg said.

Prefinished flooring requires less job time for installers or homeowners who elect to do the job themselves. Customers can get the hardwood look, whereas laminates or luxury vinyl plank flooring typically have a more repetitive pattern, with only five or six different “pictures” of wood.

He said he recommends the LVP flooring over laminates, as it’s better looking and works well for most scenarios.

While a lot of customers go toward the prefinished hardwood due to lifetime warranty claims, Stromberg said most prefinished flooring will sometimes only last about 10 years or so. He said he’s never seen a lifetime warranty claim honored once the flooring is installed and it always comes down to how the installer put something in.

“You can go completely by the book and make everything perfect, but if there’s an issue with the floor, I’ve never seen it covered by the warranty,” Stromberg said.

Stromberg said he tends to be biased toward flooring that is finished on site, as it allows for the job to be catered to the customer’s needs and lifestyle with more room for customization.

He said this hardwood flooring has more longevity and “bang for your buck” with a better appearance to boot. This option does typically take more time for the job, he said.

In regard to style, Stromberg said he sees pretty much solely grays being chosen with LVP and laminate flooring options. Even with hardwood flooring, he said about half of the jobs are with grays. The next most popular option is the darker brown wood shade, while other customers tend to go with the natural wood colors.

Stromberg said material availability is still an issue with certain lumber, as he said he’s actually seen the wait time for unfinished hardwood increase in recent months. Prices are going up on the daily scale where it typically fluctuates a bit, he said.

With hardwood materials, he said the wait for orders coming in from Spokane or Seattle can be long. Some types of wood have been pushed out six to eight weeks, and the wait often depends on a lot of factors.

For homeowners with hardwood flooring already in their home, Stromberg said a big thing he recommends is doormats inside and outside to help keep out materials that might scratch or damage the flooring. He said he also recommends not using any product based for wood floors with the flooring he finishes. With the protective plastic layer on the outside of the wood, he said any oil or polish put down meant to rejuvenate the floor will actually build up more residue and track more dirt atop the flooring.

“We recommend you wipe distilled vinegar and water solution to clean your floor,” Stromberg said.

Keeping up with maintenance is key and he recommends anyone with actual hardwood floors to reach out to someone every four or five years to look at it and help figure out what is needed.

Casey McCarthy can be reached at cmccarthy@columbiabasinherald.com.