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If your home has hardwood floors, you likely enjoy the beautiful look and the convenience that this low maintenance flooring option can offer. After all, you may not have to clean hardwood as much as carpet, and hardwood floors can even boost your home’s value and air quality.
If you want to keep your hardwood floors in good condition, you must perform some routine floor maintenance steps. Otherwise, your floors can wear down quicker and cost you thousands in replacement or repair costs.
Use these three maintenance tips to help prevent hardwood floor problems.
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Clean Your Floors the Right Way
If you have a liquid spill on your hardwood floor, act immediately. Moisture left behind can weaken and harm the wood.
Even if you don’t have a spill or noticeable dirt on your hardwood floors, you should still try to clean them at least weekly and do smaller touchups every day or so.
Whether you’re cleaning old hardwood floors or new flooring, get out a broom and do a quick sweep daily. This will help get up pet hair or dust that flies around your home. Get out the vacuum on a weekly basis for a more thorough cleaning.
If you decide to use any cleaning solution on your hardwood floor, check the label. You’ll need to confirm that it’s safe for your specific hardwood floor and its curing. Otherwise, it can leave a residue, make your floor really slippery, or cause damage.
Lastly, never try to use a floor steamer. These are ideal for tile floors, but it can potentially hurt your hardwood.
Apply a Hardwood Floor Treatment When Needed
Just because you had a properly finished hardwood floor installed doesn’t mean that you won’t need to have it refinished.
In fact, you should consider having a floor treatment at least every five years to keep your floor in good shape. If your floor starts to look dull sooner than that, then you can consider a hardwood floor treatment even sooner.
You’ll want to explore your options since there are many formulas that can fit your floor and lifestyle. For example, water-based polyurethane treatments dry fast and are easy to apply. However, oil-based treatments can last longer.
Avoid Scratches and Unnecessary Wear
To avoid hardware floor problems in the first place, treat your floors as gently as possible so that you can reduce scratches as well as avoid spills and dirt buildup.
You may consider putting furniture pads under your heavy furniture and you should avoid dragging rough shoes or other objects across the floor. Also, watch for leaks around your home and take preventative action so that your floors stay dry.
Hardwood Floor Maintenance Doesn’t Have to Be Difficult
Using these simple hardwood floor maintenance tips will go a long way toward keeping your floors looking nice and staying strong.
If you want even better results, you can consider adding a professional hardwood floor cleaning at least annually. Not only will the cleaning company restore your floors in a good condition, but they’ll apply a professional coating that can help prevent further wear and tear.
For more tips on home improvement and repair, check out our many other posts!
