Protecting and prolonging the life of your hardwood floors does not have to be complex nor difficult to accomplish. Hardwood floors are arguably the most demanded floor material for homebuyers. By following these next few tips, you can begin making sure that your expensive and hardwood floors continue to shine for years to come.
Regular Cleaning
The best way to keep your hardwood floor looking its best is to simply conduct regular cleanings. This can be accomplished by sweeping away dirt and pet fur as well as giving it a good mopping afterward. Kitchens with hardwood floors may require more work, as they are prone to catching small liquid spills and crumbs throughout the day. Note that it is extremely important to dust before mopping, as dust and heavy fur can scratch most kinds of wood flooring during the mopping process. You should also inform family members of a wet floor since a simple fall can really hurt. Lastly, it must be said that homeowners should adhere to their hardwood floor manufacturer’s guide for a complete list of appropriate chemicals that can be used on their particular type of flooring.
Avoid Liquid Spills
Although wood floors go through special treatments to make them look great within your home, at the end of the day, they are still natural materials. Therefore, any spills that remain on your wood floor for a prolonged period of time can damage it very quickly. This damage can be seen in the warping of the material and eventual rotting of the wood.
Protect Against Furniture
Homeowners love wood flooring, but they will also be the first ones to admit that preventing furniture scratches can be a headache. Often, scratches occur when owners have a guest over. These guests may not be used to hardwood floors and thus move their chairs without thinking about how it affects your floor. Therefore, one of the best things to do is place rungs under your furniture to avoid scratches. Those with pets should also note to keep their nails trimmed, as they can also easily scratch your floors. Most homeowners will not tend to notice this until it is too late and scratches have been left all over the home.
Close the Curtains
A less often spoken about issue that affects the quality of a wood floor is natural light coming in from your home windows. Natural light and its ultraviolet rays can damage a hardwood floor if exposed to it for hours on end. Therefore, homeowners should consider closing their curtains as much as possible in order to deter this type of damage to their hardwood floors.
Hardwood floors within a house can be the cherry on top for most homebuyers. They can also increase a property’s value over time if they are well taken care of. Therefore, it is recommended that homeowners adhere to the list of tips above to help prevent any damage from occurring during the lifetime of their floors.
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