Hardwood Floor Care
How To Take Care of Your Hardwood Floors
You can make your life easier if you:
Use throw rugs at entrances and exits to prevent dirt and dust from being dragged onto your wood floors. These will prevent scratches and scuffs. Over time the dust will dull the finish on your floor. In the kitchen put and area rug in front of the sink to collect water. If it gets real wet, move it right away and dry up and residual water.
Place soft plastic or fabric-faced glides under furniture legs to prevent scuffing and deep scratches. When moving heavy furniture, don’t slide the furniture across the floor. Pick up the furniture to move it safely across the floor. If it is heavy don’t do it by yourself.
Avoid walking on the floor with hard shoes, cleats and high heels. A 120 lb woman walking in high heels will deliver a force of 2000 lbs per square inch. And exposed heel will deliver up to 8000 lbs per square inch.
Never wet mop a wood floor. Standing water will dull the finish and leak through the urethane into the wood. The wood could swell causing expansion and you could get cupping. Wipe up water immediately or it will find it’s way in to the floor and cause a lot of damage.
Coat your floor every 3 – 5 years to maintain the wood finish and protect the floor. If you start to see some greying, you will need to get it re-surfaced right away. Our no-sanding techniques usually have you back in the room the next day with a good coat of urethane to protect your floor.
Last but not least protect your floor from the sun. The sun will cause localized discolouration. It will often appear as a dark or light area in the shape of the window or carpet that is affecting the area. To prevent this get UV window film on your windows. This will block 99.9% of the sun’s UV rays. In Nova Scotia we use Maritime Window Film Products. Visit them at