Decide if you prefer prefinished or unfinished wood flooring.

Most wood floors are available prefinished and in many cases carry a factory finish warranty of up to twenty five years. The factory applied finishes are far superior to any of the urethane finishes that can be applied on the jobsite. Given the quality of today's prefinished products along with the time and mess created with jobsite finishing it makes more sense to go with prefinished wood flooring whenever possible. There are some products and styles such as wide plank flooring that is not available prefinished or is better suited to a special on site finish application such as a tung oil, that cannot be factory applied.