What kind of experiences do you have with the presanded hardwood product? I am assuming that once installed this product won't need any sanding, but just a finish coat--possibly two coats? I plan to install the product myself but let pro do the finishing.

Thanks in advance.

Sorry, I don't have experience with that.

But, my main question would be, if you want the look of onsite finished, will you get that with a presanded? I understand you would be able to get the finish to look like onsite, but i you don't sand in place, you'll still get that somewhat not-quite-level look that I find is easy to tell on prefinished floors.

Depends on how flat your substrate is. But even the flattest floor will result in some overwood. It was extremely easy to sand, though.

I thought about just hard-plate sanding and screening it, but decided that sanding with 80 grit and then 120 grit, followed with 150 grit tape would be faster and result in a overall better end product.

Only presanded product I have worked with was
A. Carlisle wide planks floors, It comes pre sanded, But usually in 12 ft lengths and the but ends have to be cut on both sides because they are jagged. If you manage to cut all the ends with out mangkeing the wood, and do a carefull install, It is possible to get away with a quick buffing, then coating.
B. Pre hand scrapped material, but we would stain all the peices on the site as they went in.

If the floor is presanded, and you plan to install it. Any marks left on the floor (shoe marks from blak rubber, pencil marks, sweat drips, moisture from you hands ect) all need to sanded out. My professional opinion, you may be better off saving the difference in material for presanded wood, and applying it towards actually sanding the floor. It may actually work out cheaper that way. and IMO definatley look better

Thank you for all the responses.

I decided against the pre-sanded floor. I am going to go with pre-finished. Sanding and finishing are beyond my DIY skill level.

You could always do the install yourself and call in finishers. That way you'd get the beauty of onsite finishing, but save money with self-install.