17 May 2009

7 Basic Tips to Protect Your Hardwood Floor

To protect your hardwood floor, clean the surface regularly, always wipe away spills, use area rugs, attach felt protector pads on your furniture legs, keep pets away, keep high heels away, and regulate the humidity inside the house.

Hardwood floors are a beautiful feature to any home. Apart from their aesthetic value, hardwood floors also offer several practical benefits to homeowners. They are a good insulator of heat and can keep a room's occupants warm and snug. This type of flooring is also relatively easy to clean and maintain. With adequate maintenance and hardwood floor refinishing Birmingham, hardwood floors can remain durable and last for years. You will need to protect your hardwood using a number of floor maintenance items and following these basic tips:

Clean the surface regularly

Dirt, dust, grime, grit and sand not only affect the appearance of hardwood floors, but they can also cause significant damage to it. Don’t allow these foreign substances to sit on the floor as they might become caked on the surface and become harder to remove later on, or worse, they could become embedded deeper into the floor as people walk around and ruin the wood itself. Part of protecting your hardwood floor involves cleaning the surface regularly by sweeping or vacuuming.

Always wipe away spills

Similar to the previous tip, don’t allow stains caused by spilled liquids to settle on the floor for a long time. Water stains are messy and unpleasant to look at, and water damage can lead to warped floors. Clean spills right away.

Use area rugs

Area rugs are useful for protecting your hardwood floors as they can keep away dust and dirt from settling on the surface. Additionally, when hardwood floors are exposed to sunlight, they can become discolored. Area rugs are an effective solution to this problem. Use them to cover floor areas which are directly exposed to the sun.

Attach felt protector pads to your furniture legs

The legs of your furniture can scrape, scratch and gouge your hardwood floor. You can prevent serious damage by using felt protector pads. Attach them to the legs of tables, chairs and other furniture. When rearranging furniture, lift the pieces up and don’t drag them over your floor.

Keep pets away

If you have dogs or cats, it might be a better idea to keep them off your hardwood floor completely. Your pet’s nails can damage the surface of the hardwood floor. But, if you can’t keep your pets away, you can be meticulous in making sure that their nails are trimmed.

Keep high heels away

Your own shoes can also be the worst enemy of your hardwood floors. If you wear shoes inside the house, make sure that high heels are not worn. Heels, especially stilettos can cause dents in the wooden surface.

Regulate the humidity inside the house

Extreme changes in the weather can cause damage to your hardwood floor. You can use a humidifier to maintain the humidity from 40% to 50% inside your house, or you can just boil water on the stove during the cold winter months.

To get the most out of the durability and longevity of your hardwood floors, learn to do your part in protecting it.

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