What is the perfect finish for your project?

One of the biggest choices our customers have to make when embarking on a DIY project is whether to purchase pre-finished or un-finished products. Most timber products such as doors, flooring, mouldings and cladding are now available pre-finished, so it’s worth considering the pros and cons of the product when planning your job.

Un-finished products are exactly what the name suggests – products made from timber that have not been treated in any way, in its natural form. These products can be great for customers that want to paint the timber a certain colour, or require the use of a specialist treatment. However un-finished timber requires a significant level of care to protect the wood and maintain the quality of the timber, which can involve painting multiple layers of varnish or paint at the beginning of a project and every couple of years thereafter.

A time saving alternative to this would be to go for a pre-finished timber. This is timber that has been factory lacquered up to six times to create a perfect finish, without the brush marks and tiny imperfections that often occur when customers do it themselves. Not only does pre-finished timber create a lot less hassle, it can be cost effective in the long term, particularly if you are employing a decorator.

At Atlantic Timber, we stock a range pre-finished timber products available in a variety of colours and finishes:

• Flooring – we offer a range of flooring with clear oil, lacquer and grey oil finishes.
• Doors – oiling or varnishing can be tricky, especially on glazed doors with intricate beading. Pre-finished doors are perfectly finished without any imperfections or brush marks. We also offer them in a range of colours, including the increasingly popular grey and black painted doors.
• Mouldings – preparing, sanding and applying knotting solution and top coat to your mouldings can be extremely fiddly and time consuming. We offer Smart Timber mouldings which are pre-finished and ready to go. Simply cut to length and fit – job done!
• Cladding – for all external applications a good protective finish is critical for maximising the lifespan of a product. Poorly protected timber can fade quickly under the suns powerful UV rays and heavy rain. Cladding is now available pre-painted and comes with a 10 year colour fade guarantee.

The good news is that, as the popularity and variety of pre-finished timber increases, the difference in price between pre-finished and un-finished timber is narrowing, making it a viable alternative for many DIY projects.

Call into our store or check out our website to see the vast range of pre-finished products we offer: www.atlantictimber.co.uk