Hardwood flooring is considered as one of the best choice for flooring any home. Hardwood has an amazing durability and installing one on your floor ensures no flooring problems for at least 15 years. But durability means proper maintenance and investing in good refinishing from time to time. Ignoring your hardwood flooring will lead to a premature lifespan. Also, it is imperative to know that different seasons and weather conditions may affect your flooring differently, meaning you should lookout for different signs during different seasons of the year. How do you take care of hardwood floors to avoid a premature lifespan? Keep reading to find out.
1. Clean spills immediately
Splitting, cupping, and gapping are notorious ills that plague wood. Avoiding them totally would help your hardwood floor enjoy its lifespan. Moisture causes wood to swell and shrink, which damages the floor. To avoid all of these ills, it’s advised to keep your home’s humidity level as low as possible. You’ll achieve this by cleaning spills as soon as they occur. Keep a mop nearby so it becomes easier to quickly take care of all sorts of spills. Also, don’t use hardwood for your bathrooms or any space that’ll be exposed to water and moisture.
2. Dust daily
It may seem as if hardwood floors require a lot of maintenance and that is becoming annoying. Well, good things last because we take care of them. Hardwood hardly recovers from scratches unless you repaint or refinish, which makes it imperative to keep dirt off your floor. Dust or sweep daily, or as often as you can. This habit will help keep your home clean and improves your health in general.
3. Use furniture pads
Like we mentioned earlier, scratches are the most notorious enemies of hardwood flooring, with hardwood not being forgiving. But how do you manage having a hardwood floor and furniture in your home. Install furniture pads to the legs of your furniture, which includes Cahors, table, sofas, bed, etc.
4. Vacuum weekly
Vacuuming weekly is a way to keep your home clean but it also helps your hardwood floor. After dusting or sweeping daily, vacuuming is to make sure leftover dirt is eradicated and doesn’t scratch the hardwood. Vacuuming doesn’t have to a tedious task as you can purchase a semi-autonomous vacuum.
5. Refinish every 5 years
Hardwood has a long lifespan but it can become dull during its lengthy years. To bring it back to life and make it look cool again, invest in refinishing from time to time.
