5 Ways to Take Care of Hardwood Floors

Many homes have hardwood floors installed in them, and many homeowners dream of one day owning hardwood floors. Like all flooring materials, hardwood floors have special requirements to ensure that they’re properly taken care of. If a homeowner takes care of their hardwood floors correctly, they can help ensure that that floor lasts decades. Here are some of the different strategies Painted Desert homeowners can use to care for their hardwood floors.

Clean Spills Quickly

It’s no secret moisture damages wood. If wood is exposed to water for an extended amount of time, the wood can potentially warp. If the planks warp, it can cause them to stick up, which could make them a tripping hazard or cause them to not fit properly together. In order to prevent this, homeowners need to clean up spills as quickly as they can. The longer they let water sit on the hardwood floors, the more they risk something happening to the wood.

Use Furniture Pads

Many homeowners who have wood floors have scratched their floors while moving their furniture around. The bottoms of furniture can be rough, or something sharp can get dragged beneath the furniture while it’s moved and gouge into the wood. To help prevent this, homeowners can purchase furniture foot pads. These pads are typically made out of plastic or a soft material like felt in order to ease movement over the floor. The pads can adhere to the feet of the furniture, and some can be slipped under the feet and removed without any extra effort. With the extra layer of material between the furniture and the floor, it drastically reduces the chances of scratching, helping preserve the flooring.

Do Regular Care

Like a floor made from any material, hardwood floors need to be regularly maintained. This means sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping when they get dirty or dusty. Regular maintenance like this can help prolong the lifespan of the floors. Keeping dirt and grime off the floors can help preserve the finish of the wood and avoid scratching the surface.

Refinish the Floors Regularly

One of the advantages of hardwood floors is that they can be refinished when they’ve taken on too much damage, unlike other flooring types that need to be completely replaced. Refinishing hardwood floors removes a think layer of wood from the top of the boards, so it can only be done a limited number of times—typically up to six types. How often the floors are refinished is up to the homeowner, but it’s often recommended to do it approximately every seven years. However, homeowners can easily go longer than that without requiring refinishing if they take care of their floors.

Protect Floors from Pets

It’s common for pets to damage floors—especially large pets like dogs. Dogs get excited and run through the home, and their nails can easily gouge into the floors and scratch them. To help prevent this, homeowners can place rugs down on the floors where the animals like to run. While a rug may not fit the room aesthetically, it’s a much more cost-effective solution to the problem than refinishing or replacing the wood floors.

Hardwood floors can be a great addition to a home, but like any type of flooring, they need proper care to keep them looking good. Following these tips can help keep hardwood floors in good condition for years to come.