Thursday, January 2, 2014

Protecting Hardwood Floors

Here are Berkeley Central, our residents enjoy a wide range of great features, and one of them is our beautiful hardwood flooring:


While hardwood flooring is certainly designed to withstand all the wear and tear you and your family puts it through, there are a few steps you can take to make sure that your floor always has a lustrous sheen—and, of course, is clean.

Whether it’s beverage spills, heavy furtinure, or your pet, there are a number of ways that your beautiful floor could get damaged, dirty, or otherwise soiled. Design and architecture website Fresh Home has a nice guide on protecting your hardwood floors, featuring some simple, cheap tips. Here are some of them:

Protect your investment from moisture damage.

Homeowners often think of moisture damage as flooding incidents in their homes or large amounts of liquid being spilled on their hardwood floors. While these are possible and should be dried up immediately, moisture damage can stem from spills, but also climatic changes in the humidity levels in your home in the summer time. Ensure that your home is kept at a reasonable level for air conditioning and humidity control throughout the season. In the wintertime when it is dryer in the air, heat can cause the opposite affect and cause wood to pull apart at seams of planks. Once again, keep humidity levels constant to keep your wood flooring from reacting drastically.

Keeping your wood floors looking shiny:

There are several products, theories and suggestions for how to care for your hardwood flooring. From wood soaps and cleaners to waxes that you can buff on. To clean your floors, suggestions of water and vinegar sprayed on a sponge mop will clean your floors effectively while also protecting the finish, without stripping. For making your floors shiny, many hardwood flooring experts suggest natural products such as olive oil as opposed to wax-based cleaners. If you do decide to use these, alternate the use with natural products to give your floor a healthy break from the waxy products.

Protecting your hardwood floors from a day-to-day basis.

To protect your floors from getting scratched daily, consider using cloth furniture protectors under the feet or legs of your tables, chairs, and heavy furniture. Also consider removing shoes, especially high heels and shoes that can scuff and scratch the floor. For pets and kids that regularly track through your home, you will have to be more diligent for keeping up with sanding and maintenance. While many homeowners feel scratches and natural wear can add to the character of the flooring.


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