7 Tips to Maintain Your Hardwood Floors

Hardwood floors are a stunning addition to any home and can increase a property’s value. However, caring for them can be a little tricky, but if you are careful your floors will outlast you. Just keep the following tips in mind to maintain the lovely look of your hardwood floors.

1. One of the worst things you can do is start moving furniture around in a room with hardwood without lifting it. The heavier the furniture the more you tend to push it and the more scratches it leaves behind. So if you do want to rearrange furniture make sure you have a few strong friends to help you lift everything.

2. Avoid wheels. Yes, wheels in your home. You know, the ones from computer chairs, your kids’ toys or rollerblades, or even that serving tray. Either make sure your floors don’t see any wheels at all, or at least make sure they are the rubber type. Many children’s toys have hard plastic wheels which will scratch any hardwood floor beyond recognition.

3. Sand, dirt, grit and anything else that may be carried in the house on someone’s shoes can ruin your hardwood floors. Sand and grit are abrasive, and in combination with each other you may as well get a sheet of sandpaper and start rubbing it across the floor. Of course, the ideal situation would be for people to take their shoes off, but this is not a very practical approach. Therefore, make sure you have a mat just outside the doorway and you should consider adding a few high traffic rugs, just to make sure any other debris will fall off.

4. Never wash your hardwood without speaking to the flooring consultant first because wood is extremely sensitive and you may end up ruining your floors. Your consultant will tell you exactly which cleaning agents are good for your floors and which you should avoid.

5. Make sure you clean up any spill quickly, because hardwood floors stain easily. Additionally, water can infiltrate tiny cracks and you may end up with some warped hardwood.

6. Keep the sun away from your floors as much as possible, even if it is a wonderful feeling to have sunlight coming through the windows. In time, the sun can cause your hardwood floors to fade and lose that lovely, deep, rich color. Therefore, keep the blinds closed whenever possible to avoid this.

7. When vacuuming the floor, make sure to use a brush attachment. In fact, it’s preferable if you keep one attachment especially for your hardwood and have a separate one for other areas of the house.

Maintaining hardwood floors may seem difficult, especially since there are many more tips on how you should care for your floors. At the same time though, hardwood floors are so beautiful and charming that they are worth every minute. Everything will become a habit and you won’t notice all the things you do to take care of your floors.

David “Delta” Cooper was an F-14 Tomcat Pilot for the United States Air Force from 1990 until 2002. After he was discharged to civilian life once again, he took what the military had taught him and built his first house. He has since been keeping up with repairs and maintenance on his own and feels that his experiences would be wasted if he didn’t share them with the community. He has just finished installing Hardwood Floors in his sisters house and is currently dealing with his hardwood floors squeaking.