We are building a new home and will be putting hardwood floors in most of the house. What are the pros and cons to having a bevel edge?

A beveled edge is used primarily in pre-finished flooring. Because a pre-finished floor isn't sanded flat after installation, the bevel masks slight differences in the height between boards.

Some people prefer the bevel and some prefer site prepared floors, with no bevels. I find that that they add character and depth to the flooring. Others don't like the beveled edge feeling on their bare feet. Its really all in ones tastes.

If you are planning on putting the floor in yourself, then you will want to go with pre-finished. If you are hiring out, then you will probably just want to go with site finished. Sanding and staining is usually done best by the professionals.

Beveled Edges on prefinished wood help the wood not chip, splinter on the edge. It basically makes it stronger when installing. Notice i said WHEN installing. After the floor is installed it doesnt matter about the edge as far as strength.
Beveled edges look ridiculous. A wood floor should be smooth and level looking, such as all of the boards joined together to look like one smooth finish. Dirt & grime get stuck in the beveled edges as does pet hair.
If you are building a new home you 100% should go with site finished flooring. Prefinished is good if your doing a small room and dont want the hassle of dust and more time involved.
One more thing to consider. Even though hardwood may be refinished over and over again many floor people do not like to sand prefinished. For a bunch of reasons such as releasing the aluminum oxide particles in the air and another reason it they pretty much all have micro beveled edges. So to refinish the floor evenly you need to aggressively sand them out. Not to mention a common maintenance of buffing and coating every couple of years is not practical with a prefinished floor.

One last thing to consider particulalry when installing the wood in a new construction home. There is work going on constantly. You install the floor, the trim, do the painting & other finish work. Sand & throw a coat or 2 on, then more finished people come in like countertops, plumbing fixtures, etc. Then buff and 1 more coat. Dont have to worry too much about construction. With pre-fisnihed you better cover it with plywood to protect it. lol
good luck

What is cost difference between prefinished hardwood and hardwood finished on site on a square foot basis.

It ends up costing about the same. Prefinished: material and installation cost more but you don't have to sand and finish.

Go with the site finished.

Prefinished:
After installation, you can move right in, and not worry about scuffing a soft finish. You don't have to evacuate all pets, and people. The finish on most prefinished these days, cannot be matched in durability, by site finishing. Some look like furniture finish.

Site Finished:
The wood is less expensive. You get to choose custom stains, alone with finish sheens. The floor is hand crafted, so it will have character. You won't have a furniture finish. You may or may not have to find another place to stay while the dust and fumes settle down.

Lets use Box Store prices for a guide.
Installation is approx $4.50 a sq ft for prefinished and the wood is going to range from$2.75 - +++. I would say the avg is about 3.25 - 4.50 a sq ft range for strip. So figure 8-9 bucks a sq ft installed with no extras.

Site finished can range very much. You can pick Select grade wood, common 1, common 2. Those are the norm. Common 1 in my opinion is adequate in an average home. This means it has more knots and color variations than the select grade wood which is virtually clear. Com 1 red oak can be had by floor distribution stores for about the 2.35 range. As far as install goes this ranges greatly but lets say an avg would be 2 bucks and i would say an average natural finish would be 2 bucks.

So to answer your question site finished will and can always come out cheaper.

I'm not getting your new math???

Prefinished: The wood is going to cost 3.25 - 4.50 or more as you say is average. I agree. The good stuff is going to be up around $7-$8 a foot. But lets keep the $4.50 for the wood, $2 for the install(I'm higher then that, especially strip flooring) That's $6.50 Not $8- $9 bucks a foot.

He said $4.50 / sq. ft. for installation and you used $2.

Steve

Steve, are you from Concord?

I was just quoting the install prices stated. Why is prefinished $2.50 a foot higher? If you work for a retailer selling your worth, he thinks your only worth $1.25 a foot here.

Our house is new construction, and we are purchasing our floors and having them installed by a local flooring company. We have chosen a prefinished Bruce Dundee Plank as our hardwood which has a micro bevel. If we do not want a bevel, we were told to go with Fulton Plank and the total cost is 3K more. Is it worth paying an extra 3K to not have a bevel on a prefinished floor? This flooring company only offers prefinished floors. If we do not get a prefinished floor, we don't know what to do because our builder has only recommended this particular flooring company.

get carpet everywhere, then after inspections rip it out and have a floor installed and sanded. I dont know why the builder wouldnt know/recommend and flooring companies that also sand

With all due respect....I don't advise to go this route. First off the dust will be brutal and second...who do you think will be paying for the carpet?

Bevels are perfectly fine LCC and can be sanded to show no bevels in the future if you wanted to. However, if you know that you don't want a bevel, then I would go to your builder and demand a site prepared floor. All builders have the ability to find a flooring company to do site-finished flooring. It sounds to me like you need to stand up to your builder and make some demands. You are the one that is going to live in this house.

Too many times people are led around with a leash by their builders. Last time I checked they don't have your money until closing Its cheaper to walk away from $1500 earnest money than it is to sell the place after a few years because you aren't happy with it.

A site finished floor would be optimal, but the builder only (apparently) works with a flooring company that only offers prefinished flooring.

so options are

#1 get prefinished with the bevel edge, and like it
#2 get prefinished without beveled edge (apparently 3k more) and I think its safe to say that it wouldnt be flat, and you would be able to feel the difference on your feet.
#3 get either of the first two options, then pay a different florring company to come sand the floors flat, and or remove all the bevels, huge costs involved in that, or accept the big bevels here/small ones there/ none in areas
#4 get the cheapest carpet they offer, remove it after the fact, install and sand a new floor, maybe use the carpet in the basement
#5 tell the builder if he doest give you the floor you want, you will walk

ovbiously choice 5 is the best, but none of the options are exactly easy to accomplish