Unfinished hardwood flooring is just like it sounds, unfinished, raw wood is shipped to your house, installed, sanded and finished. Normally an unfinished floor job can be completed in 2 to 4 days. Unfortunately, some of those days, you will not be able to use those areas. The advantage of unfinished flooring is that this becomes a custom floor. You can stain the floors whatever color you want and the transition areas next to other rooms in the house can be custom made for a much smoother transition.

Pre-finished hardwood floors are today becoming more popular. The prices are very comparable to the cost of unfinished floors. The advantages are a perfect finish is achieved because a dust free atmosphere and after a floor is installed it can be immediately walked on. Its disadvantages are that most have a small v-groove between the boards. Transition strips adjacent to other floors are pre-manufactured stock items and do not allow for smooth transitions. Installation marks are common during the process of installing a pre-finished floor.