Most homeowners don’t think much about the flooring in their home or take the necessary steps to maintain them over the years until it comes time to repair or replace them. Instead of saying “I wish I took better care of my floors over the years” when having the replace them prematurely due to damage, start maintaining your flooring now! By taking the maintenance steps, you’ll allow your floors to last longer and look better throughout their lifetime.

Maintenance

Over time, your floors will begin to degrade from natural elements and foot traffic on the flooring materials. When dirt, dust, and other debris fall to the floor and people are walking through the space, the natural drag of the foot will pull these particles over the flooring material, acting as an abrasive grit creating microscopic scratches. When this process is happening over long periods of time, these microscopic scratches become more noticeable, giving the flooring an aged appearance.

By reducing the wear of shoes in the house as well as vacuuming and sweeping regularly will remove these particles, alleviating regular wear and tear on a daily basis.

Protection

Hardwood flooring is durable but is still sensitive to abrasive materials, like we mentioned above. Being proactive about cleaning and stopping dirt at the door, there are also several ways to protect your floors at all time. When you first install your hardwood flooring, it is sealed with a layer of polyurethane to protect the wood below. If you are going through a refinishing project, you’ll need to make sure a new layer of polyurethane is applied.

Other ways to protect your hardwood flooring:

• Place felt pads on the legs of furniture to reduce scratching the floor when you move furniture around
• Place doormats at entries to collect the majority of debris that gets stuck on the bottom of shoes from outside
• Avoid cleaning products that include ammonia, vinegar, wax, polish, or oily soaps as they will wear down the top coat of your floor, leaving it looking dull

Pets

Our beloved furry friends can start to experience sharp nails beyond their cute furry paws, which can cause scratches on your floor. Since we aren’t normally inspecting the paws of our pets, it’s common to forget to give their nails a little TLC each month but it’s important to keep the nails trimmed in order to avoid damage to your flooring.

Area Rugs

Not only are area and throw rugs a great decor piece, but they also protect your floors, especially in high traffic areas! If there are areas in your home where the floor sees water damage, surface stains, and regular wear, find a cute rug or two to place down. When they get dirty and need to be cleaned, simply pick it up and throw it in the laundry!

Replacement Pieces

Even if the flooring material you have installed or will be installing is manufactured, there will be slight variations in coloring from batch to batch, especially when you’re dealing with natural pieces such as wood. To prepare yourself for any damage that could happen in the future, hold on to a few pieces of flooring to keep as replacement pieces just in case something comes up! This way, if your floor does get damaged in specific spot, you’ll be able to fix it up with the exact same wood.