Since unfinished flooring is basically raw wood, it's like working with a clean slate. In contrast, prefinished flooring comes straight from the manufacturer with stain and several coats of finish already applied, so there's no changing it.
There a number of different kinds of raw wood products. "Roundwood" refers to raw products such as sawlogs, veneer, pulpwood, and poles. However, there are a number of other raw wood products, such as chips, firewood, boughs, maple sap, and Christmas trees.
Shellac. In my opinion, shellac is the best natural wood finish for one main reason: it's the most protective natural finish on the market. Unlike other options, shellac forms a barrier on top of the wood, stopping water, dirt, and other things (*cough*crayon*cough) from reaching the pores of the wood.
While unfinished wood is cheaper than prefinished, you'll pay in time and money sourcing your stain and applying multiple layers. Does My Wood NEED to be Finished? The short answer is yes, absolutely. A proper finish helps seal the wood and protect it from elements like rain, sunlight, pest infestations, and dirt.
Unfinished wood furniture means the piece of furniture has been put together by craftsman, but still needs a finish (such as stain or varnish) to be applied.
The wood has be machined into planks of flooring but has been left 'unfinished' so has no additional stain or protective layer. A pre-finished hardwood floor has undergone a finishing process during the manufacturing stage of production and has a protective top layer of oil or lacquer.
Second, since bare wood readily absorbs water, wet cleaning methods are considered unsuitable, thus cleaning options are limited. Water and solvents can quickly swell wood fibres, raise the grain and cause unwanted dimensional change; they can also mobilize surface dirt, drawing it below the surface to cause staining.
If you paint bare wood such as cedar siding before priming, the paint can lift or peel off because it has nothing to adhere to. This will result in disaster, the paint will chip or flake off and will not stand the test of time. There are oils and tannins in the wood that can bleed through.
If you are deciding to paint bare wood, you should seal all knots (spot prime) with a shellac based primer. Shellac based primers are great for sealing wood knots and sap streaks. They do carry a pungent odour, but dry very quickly and will not let the knot bleed through the top (finish) coat.
The smaller the piece, the quicker it can dry out. In fact, expect most types of wood to take about one year per inch of thickness to dry out. If it's a two-inch log, that means you'll need to let it sit outdoors for two whole years before it's dry enough to efficiently burn.
All unfinished wood or bare wood surfaces should always be primed prior to painting. This goes for both interior and exterior paint projects. The reason you cannot skip bare wood priming is that wood is porous and has a grainy surface. Because primer contains high solids, it helps fill grains in the new wood.
Pine tar is one of the best protective products for any wood surface. It creates a breathable wood surface. One of its benefits is that it won't trap moisture. We recommend mixing authentic pine tar with purified linseed oil.
Linseed oil is one of the best oils to use for wood finishes because it penetrates deep into the grain of the wood, giving it a rich color and protecting it against moisture.
Rough cut lumber is untreated and cut into planks. It's different than treated lumber and isn't sold at hardware stores. Like any type of wood material, rough cut lumber has advantages and disadvantages.