Caring For Your Hardwood Floors
by Pete Anderson
Congratulations on having made hardwood floors a part of your decorative environment. They are one of the best investments you have ever made because, with proper care, they will stay beautiful and last for a lifetime.
So how do you keep your floors as beautiful as the day they were installed or refinished? This online brochure is intended to help you. Follow these easy steps and you will have beautiful floors on which your furnishings and oriental or modern area rugs will always look their best.
We encourage you to print out this page for your own records.
NOTE: Keep rugs off of floors for 3 weeks after being finished or refinished.
Preventive Maintenance
Appliances
Be careful when moving appliances. You should use a dolly or lay down plywood and move in the appliances over it. This is so the casters on the appliances won’t leave indentations in the finish.
Furniture
Put fabric-faced glides on the legs of your furniture. They allow furniture to be moved easily without scuffing the floor. Clean the glides regularly because grit can become embedded in them. Some furniture may require barrel type roller casters, as ball type casters may cause damage. Grey, non-marking rubber casters are the best. Avoid any type of plastic caster.
Color Changes
Certain chemicals in wood oxidize in strong light, causing the wood to change color (weather or age) i.e.; develop patina. To avoid uneven appearance, move area rugs occasionally and drape or shade large west-facing windows.
High Heels
Keep high heels in good repair. Heels that have worn down or lost their protective cap, exposing the steel support rod in the heel, will dent any floor surface, even concrete.
Animals
It is recommended that you clip your pets nails monthly or walk them on concrete to dull their nails.
Caring for Your Floors
Vacuum
Vacuum regularly, as often as you vacuum carpets. A brush attachment works beautifully. Sweep or use a dust mop daily or as needed, but DO NOT use a household dust treatment as this may cause your floor to become slick or it may dull the finish.
Cleaning
We recommend using a Bona Swedish mop kit. Call us for more details about this product.
Do not use an oil soap or any cleaning product that mixes with water. Ammonia will damage or dull many surface finishes and should not be used to clean your floor.
Waxing
NEVER WAX a surface finish. Wax will, in most cases, be slippery. Once waxed, the floor will not be able to be re-coated to rejuvenate it. It will have to be completely sanded down to raw wood to restore the floor.
Cracks and Squeaks
All the wood in your home will contract or expand depending on the moisture in the air. Doors and windows may swell and stick during rainy seasons. In dry, cold weather, cracks and fine lines of separation may appear in wall cabinets and furniture. This is characteristic of wood because wood is a product of nature, and its natural quality is what makes it desirable.
Cracks
Reaction to humidity, or the lack of it, is happening constantly in your wood floors. Tiny cracks between the edges of boards may appear when dry conditions are produced by your heating system. This can usually be REDUCED by installing a humidifier. With a proper balance of moisture in the house, both family and floors benefit from a healthier environment.
Squeaks
When interiors become damp, the boards in your floor may expand and rub together producing a squeak. Improper fastening of the floor or sub-floor can also cause squeaks. To correct this, one solution might be to sift a small amount of powdered soup stone, talcum powder, or powdered graphite between adjacent boards where the noise occurs. Another method is to drive triangular glazier points between the strips using a putty knife to set them below the surface.
If that doesn’t work, drive 2 finishing nails through pilot holes drilled into the face of the flooring. Nails should go through both edges of the boards. Set them with a nail punch and hide with matching color putty.
The best solution requires more work and can be accomplished only where there is access to the floor from below (crawl space or basement). Wood screws are inserted through the sub-floor and into the finish floor to pull the finish floor down tight.
Periodic Care
Re-Coating
When luster does not return in traffic areas such as doorways, kitchen sink, stove area, or hallways, the floor may need re-coating. When this happens it’s time to call Anderson Hardwood Flooring for re-coating.
Refinishing
Wood floors that have become unsightly from years of wear or neglect can be restored to their original beauty. Machine sanding removes the old finish and exposes new wood. With the application of a finishing material, floors are like new again. We highly recommend you call us to have your wood floors professionally refinished.
The Floor Finishes of Your Rooms
Room 1
Room 2
Room 3
Room 4