Maintaining Your Solid Wood Floors

Hardwood flooring is easy to clean and adds a level of sophistication to almost any home. This style is easier to maintain than many other types of flooring, but does require maintenance to look its best and fight against wear and tear. Some of this maintenance should be completed daily, while other tasks are only required once every few months.

Preventative Maintenance

Having high-quality mats available at every entrance of your home is a great way to minimise the amount of dirt, stones, and mud that must be cleaned off your hardwood surface. Many people do not allow anyone to wear shoes in their home so that cleaning does not have to be done so often. Using area rugs in large rooms with hardwood floors or busy areas of the home causes less wear and tear than having bare flooring exposed.

Daily Maintenance

Maintaining your solid floor should begin with daily cleaning. This cleaning doesn't need to be any more thorough than vacuuming or sweeping, but it is a very important first step because grit and dirt tend to act like sandpaper. This can then mar the beautiful surface of the hardwood flooring. Mopping the wood floor regularly is a great way to remove debris that may be sticky or difficult to remove with a broom. It is important that the mop used to clean hardwood flooring is damp, but not dripping wet. Water and other liquids can cause solid wood flooring to become discoloured if they are not removed from the flooring quickly.

You should also keep an eye on the humidity level of your home each day to ensure that is remains between forty percent and fifty five percent. Humidity changes are known to cause solid wood flooring to expand and contract, which may cause cracks in the

floor.

Monthly Maintenance

Applying an oil or wax that is specifically designed for wood flooring about once a month is a great way to ensure that the floor's finish stays intact and continues to resist water and stains. The floor should be thoroughly cleaned before the wax or oil is applied, and the product may require you to stay off of the floor for a few hours so that it can soak into the flooring and be able to protect the wood.

Repairing Damage

Light scratches that have appeared on the solid wood flooring surface can usually be removed using a buffer, but deeper scratches should be removed by a flooring specialist who has years of experience with wood flooring.

If wood flooring has not been maintained and the finish is no longer present, the floor will need to be sanded down and a new finish should be applied to the surface. Floors that are maintained properly should not ever require sanding down because a new coat of finish has been applied every month or two.