Why Choose Hardwood Flooring

Many Americans are also choosing wood flooring for investment purposes. A survey of real estate agents estimated that wood flooring could add 10’s of thousands of dollars to the value of your home. Ninety percent of the agents believed a home with wood floors would sell more quickly and for a higher price than a comparable home with any other type of flooring. According to Old House Journal, “there is little wonder why the phrase ‘hardwood floors’ is such a magnet in the real estate market.” In today’s world, the savvy consumer is concerned with the growing trend in “green” building as well as energy efficiency. Wood flooring stands up to both of these demands. Wood, a natural insulator, is 16 times more efficient as an insulator than concrete, 415 times as efficient as steel and 2,000 times as efficient as aluminum. It is a sustainable, renewable resource that can be supplied indefinitely.
Hardwood floors are a desirable asset for prospective buyers, and newly refinished surfaces greatly enhance your home’s charm and readiness for new inhabitants. The increase in resale value along with the remarkable visual improvement are convincing motives for homeowners to consider investing in the refinishing of their hardwood floors.

Prefinished vs. Unfinished

Some common myths and questions about prefinished vs. unfinished wood:

In the market today, many consumers decide to have prefinished wood installed because of fear of mess and cost.

The mess involved in sanding unfinished wood is minimal compared to the investment in your home. It takes a couple of hours to clean up dusts from sanding; don’t you think it’s worth it to have the best looking most dependable product for your money?

Did you know? Unfinished wood and prefinished wood run about same price for material and labor, and in most cases unfinished wood is less expensive. If you already have wood in your home, refinishing your wood is equal or less expensive than a top grade carpet or other types of flooring.

This is not what I bought? Customers have called Strictly Hardwood and asked for their newly installed prefinished wood to be sanded, because it did not look like they thought it would when they saw it in the store. For instance, prefinished wood has grooves in between each plank.

Bottom line is that those who sell prefinished wood only do so because they do not have the expertise to provide the customer with a custom finished product. Most builders in South Carolina prefer real unfinished wood in their personal homes, and our customers say they would never go back to the “faux” product after having unfinished wood.

Spills can lead to bigger home problems. Prefinished wood stands for a greater risk of mold with spills, wet feet and even moping over the floors seeps into grooves and onto the sub flooring and if this happens, it can be quite costly to the customer.

Why unfinished wood is safer? Unfinished wood has polyurethane across the top and serves as a barrier to that moister cannot slip through the grooves.

A Superior Product: Unfinished wood can be less expensive and superior to pre-finished flooring. Sanding and on-site finishing makes for more uniform, stable and even floors, while allowing for personalization of colors, inlays and more. Unfinished wood is also easier to match to existing home floors.

How does our process prevent the dust associated with sanding and finishing. Our equipment has come along way in the past 10 years and the mess is not nearly what it use to be.  The machines catch the majority of the dust.  We have a vacuum system that can be used if the customer requests but they tend to pull a lot of power and some electrical boxes don’t allow the use of them.  Older floors tend to make a little more dust but for the results you get by having real unfinished wood, most people would not have anything less.  We are very seldom in a home for more than a week.  The color of your floor determines how long the job will take.  Darker stained floors have a lot more prep time so they tend to take 1 to 2 extra days.  During the sanding and finishing of a natural floor, there will be 2- 3 days in which no traffic can be on the floor.  Stained floors take an extra day because most stains need to dry overnight.