Hardwood is a favourite flooring material among homeowners. It is durable and visually appealing, but requires minimal maintenance. Unlike engineered and laminated wood, we can refinish hardwood floor many times, to preserve its beauty and add new colors. Hardwood has poor heat conductivity, which make it relatively warmer during winter months. Homeowners can increase the value of their house and speed the resale, if they have hardwood flooring inside the house. Although hardwood floor is durable, it still needs to be maintained regularly. As an example, we should know how to properly clean hardwood floors. The bane of any hardwood flooring is girt and dirt, which can cause fine mark and scratch if not removed immediately. Fortunately, it is much easier to see dust on wood floors than on carpet.
Basic hardwood floor maintenance may include regular dusting and sweeping. We should do this at least twice a week or after there’s an event that leaves grit and dirt behind. It should be noted that we need special cleaning products and dusting tools, because regular ones could cause damages. There are products designed primarily for hardwood. Alternatively, we could vacuum the hardwood floor to quickly suck all the dust particles and small rubbish. However, we shouldn’t use the beater bar attachment because it could damage the wood. However, we may need an in-depth cleaning in some situations. In this case, we should choose cleaning methods that are appropriate for our floor. For hardwood floor with glossy finish, we may need polyurethane. This chemical should provide a barrier over our hardwood.
If our hardwood flooring is based on matte finish, then it should be protected by wax or oil. However, any hardwood flooring can still be mopped with soft, damp cloth. However, we shouldn’t use too much water, because it can penetrate the wood pores, causing blemishes and unsightly marks. We shouldn’t use regular household cleaners, floor cleaners or ammonia on hardwood flooring. In some cases, our hardwood flooring could be affected with damages and it could be important to remove the finish with oil stripper or wax. After we complete the repair, w could re-oil or re-wax the area. Surface damages may less likely to happen on polyurethane-protected hardwood. Even when it’s damaged, the damage may not be so obvious. After we may our repairs, we could re-finish the surface.
When there are water marks, we can remove the protective finish and use fine grade steel wool to rub the marks. Then, we could clean the surface and refinish it. When there burn marks, we need to sand the area lightly and pick up the grit with damp cloth and then refinish the surface. If there are deeper gouges and scratches, we need to conceal them with wood putty with matching color. The, sand and refinish the area. In general, it should be quite easy to repair the hardwood flooring. We just need to be careful and do the right things.
