Ways to Maintain Hardwood Floors
Without proper care, your hardwood flooring will look faded and worn over time. Fortunately, we’re here to offer our tips on how to protect engineered and real wood flooring so it looks beautiful for years to come.
Here are a few ways to protect your hardwood floors:
1. Clean Spills Immediately
Hardwood flooring isn’t waterproof like vinyl or tile, which is why you’ll need to clean up spills immediately. Use a clean towel to wipe away the spill after gently blotting the wood flooring surface. To catch dirt and moisture before installing hardwood flooring in your living room, we advise putting mats there.
2. Move Furniture to Avoid Faded Color
The color of your wood flooring may deteriorate over time due to UV rays. Thankfully, there are techniques for preventing your hardwood flooring from looking overly faded. For instance, you might want to install awnings over your windows if a room receives a lot of natural light. Since some sun exposure cannot be avoided, we advise moving furniture occasionally to ensure that the floor ages uniformly. If not, when you decide to rearrange your furniture in 5 years, you'll clearly see the outline of your couch.
3. Reduce High Humidity
Since hardwood is a natural material, humidity causes it to expand and contract. Wood boards may cup when the humidity is at its highest (typically in the summer). When the wood fibers take in the airborne water vapor, cupping results. You might notice that the edges of the wood boards are higher than the middle because the wood boards have nowhere to go as they expand. Utilizing your heating and cooling system is the best way to shield your real wood flooring from humidity. The longer your air conditioner runs, the less humidity it produces while still keeping your house cool.
4. Avoid Low Humidity
Low humidity draws out the moisture from your hardwood flooring so it contracts over time, resulting in gaps between boards. Fortunately, using a hygrometer to measure the humidity in your house is not too difficult. Even some thermostats display humidity. We advise maintaining your home's humidity level all year long between 35% and 55%. You'll be appreciated by your solid hardwood flooring.
5. Hire Reputable Contractors
You don’t live in a haunted house, so why do your hardwood floors squeak and creak? The manner in which your hardwood flooring was installed may be the key to the solution. On occasion, builders will install a subfloor made of thin particle board or place the floor joists too far apart.
You won't have to worry about dishonest or inexperienced contractors when you choose Jewls Flooring, Remodeling, and Design for your flooring installation needs. The floor installers on our team do excellent work.
Every type of flooring has benefits and drawbacks. In addition to increasing the value of your home, hardwood flooring is fantastic for bridging spaces in an open floor plan.
