Hi all,
Since I started going out on my own I have been trying to find my niche in the market until I can afford to buy sanders. A local mill went I to check out does prefinished flooring, and an option we discussed is pre sanded. This mill is very high quality and every board is checked individually for quality and correctness. That being said, I have just sold a cherry pre sanded floor. The plan is to install as usual, then hit it with a 120 grit with an orbital or buffer (job is only 300 sq/ft) just to remove any scuffs marks from installation. Then two coats of commercial catalyzed or emulsions depending on the look the customer wants, and two coats of street shoe. The goal of the presanded floor is to have the ease of a prefinish install (no sanders or dust) with a nice flow to the floor that doesnt look like typical prefinished. The wood has soft edges so I am not worried about finish sitting in between boards...it should pull just fine.

I was wondering if any of you out there can chime in and tell me your opinion(s) and/or experience(s) with this method of installation and finishing.

Thank you for your time, I look forward to hearing from you.

Clarence R. Carper III
Smooth Finish Flooring

If your looking to go that route with "pre-sanded"...be cautious of products that are square edge with overwood. Won't be as simple as a screen and coat.

Love the idea of pre-sanded wood!

What I am looking at doesn't have "square" edges. One company I looked at had pre sanded that had square edges, but still had to be hit with 120 grit. This product has a soft edge, which when I put together matches up nicely. I'm thinking if there are any slight issues, an orbital sander will be able to work out any minute kinks. I will post and let you all know how the job goes, I am not buying big brand or box store products, I am working directly with the mill. I shouldn't have ANY installation issues with the floor not being true.

Thank you Floorologist and Floorme for your replies. Any other would be greatly appreciated.

Clarence R. Carper III
Smooth Finish Flooring

I'm gonna nickname you the Rubio Man

Clarence, looking forward to hearing what you think. And maybe let us know the mill.
Been wanting to get more into pre-sanded myself. Few years back I installed an Owens pre-sanded square edge that worked out really nice. Not sure how Owens is now..but at the time their milling was second to none.

I put some rubio monocoat on some of that mesquite recently, looks fabulous

When you think about it...it's so much nicer and smarter than poly.

Hi all,
Thanks for the thread hijack! LOL.....Is Rubio similar to waterlox? I know waterlox may need more than one coat?

Rubio mono coat is a bit different than waterlox.Monocoat is meant to be a one coat system. You buff one coat into the wood and that is it.

As for pre sanded flooring , I did a pre sanded pine that came out great . I don't remember the mill as I didn't' install the floor but it was a floating , engineered floor and was square edged. Floating it prevented over wood. But generally, nailing or stapling down any other floor will almost always result in some over wood and buffing isn't enough to take that sort of thing down.

One other thought . A lot of people don't mind micro beveled edges on pre finished floors but some do. I'm curious as to how you might go about selling pre sanded floors to a customer. I imagine that the cost is less than pre finished ?