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Hardwood Flooring Looking Its Best

Hardwood Flooring Options

Hardwood flooring remains a popular choice in home decorating. The warmth and beauty of hardwood adds to the value of your home. You have a variety of choices in colors and styles of wood. There is an option for every home from traditional to contemporary.Hardwood

Choosing Hardwood Flooring

You have several choices in styles for the overall look of your hardwood floor.

  • Plank style flooring material is wide and resembles several strips of wood together in one plank. The planks are between three and six inches wide. The benefit of planks is the installation is a bit faster, since the planks cover a wider area than individual strips.
  • Strips are smaller, up to three inches wide at most. These are beneficial for making the room appear larger.
  • Solid flooring is one large piece of wood. These vary in thickness and are a custom made floor. They can be refinished many times over the life of the floor.
  • Parquet floors are squares of hardwood that resemble ceramic tiles in size. Some are glued and others are nailed down. The squares can be arranged in a geometric design for a unique look.

Your other major choice in hardwood flooring is to get one that is unfinished or come pre-finished. Pre-finished floors come with a factory finish. These are very popular and easier to install. However, they are more expensive. Many find the additional price worth the money, as it saves time in staining and sanding.

Unfinished hardwood flooring must be finished after the floor is installed. You stain and coat the wood with urethane to protect the finish. The sanding and finishing process takes several days. You need to allow sufficient time for the surface to cure at each stage in the process before sanding. The floor must be sanded after each stage of the finishing process. Floor sanders can be used for this process.

Installing Hardwood Flooring

Proper measurement is essential when ordering materials for your room. You will need a saw to cut the planks of wood to fit around corners and through doorways. For a more professional look, remove all the baseboards and trim before you start. Replace these after the installation is complete. The seams should be staggered as the planks are laid.

Before the installation process is started, be sure the subfloor is level. This should be done for any floor including hardwood, bamboo flooring, cork flooring or pergo flooring. If the floor isn’t level, use asphalt tiles to level it prior to beginning the installation.

Special paper can be used under the hardwood to avoid squeaking sounds when you walk on the floor. The planks should be nailed through the sub-floor and into the joists for a stable floor that won’t move. Start the installation in the center of the room and move outward for the best, most even look.

Once the hardwood floor is laid, it needs to be sanded. Floor sanders can be rented through home improvement centers or any store that rents tools. Sand the floor evenly and don’t stay too long in any one area of the room. This can cause uneven spots.

FYI. A great place to include a hardwood floor into your house plans is to the master bedroom suite. Nothing adds elegance and class to a master suite like plans for a hardwood floor. We’ve all been in master suites that feel a little bit like a kids room because they are covered with carpet that you’ll find throughout the rest of the home. Perhaps the better choice is to set your master suite apart by having a hardwood floor throughout the room and the bathroom. This way your room feels special and sacred at the end of a long day.

Keeping Hardwood Flooring Looking its Best

The care needed depends on the finish on your particular floor. Refer to the manufacturer’s directions regarding the care of pre-finished hardwood floors. If your floor is finished with urethane, sweep a few times each week to remove dirt and dust. Wipe spills with a damp towel, but don’t use a very wet mop. This can damage the floor.

If the hardwood floors are waxed, you will need to buff occasionally and wax the floor. Using area rugs and door mats can help keep the floor from becoming very dirty. Protect the wood with pads on the legs of all your furniture. This will help prevent scratches and damage to the wood.

Hardwood Flooring

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Flooring Care Tips for Hardwood and Laminate Floors

Flooring Care Tips

Here are some tips and ideas for the care of both hardwood floors and laminate flooring. These tips are from Lumber Liquidators. It is important to keep your flooring clean, as dust, dirt and sand particles may scratch the surface of your flooring over time in high-traffic areas. Flooring care should also make sure that there is no sitting water/moisture that can cause the planks to swell, warp, etc, though some brands are equipped with water-resistant coatings.

HARDWOOD CARE

Protect the natural beauty of your hardwood flooring

Most major manufacturers of hardwood flooring products, with their advanced aluminum oxide or ceramic finish, provide superior wear; easy, no-wax care; plus superior resistance to staining from all common household products such as coffee, wine, shoe polish, lipstick, mustard, and more. However, a few simple maintenance steps will help protect your investment and keep your hardwood flooring looking like new.

For cleaning your flooring, make sure you:

  • Use a damp cloth to blot spills and spots as soon as they happen. For tough spots, such as oil, paint, markers, lipstick, ink, tar, or cigarette marks, use mineral spirits on a clean white cloth, then wipe with a damp cloth. Always avoid allowing liquids to stand on your floor.
  • Sweep, dust, or vacuum the floor regularly with a soft floor attachment (not the beater bar) to prevent accumulation of dirt or grit that can scratch or dull the floor finish.
  • Occasionally wipe the floor with a damp mop or cloth.
  • Periodically clean the floor with products safe for urethane finishes

While cleaning your flooring is easy, there are a few things to avoid:

  • Don’t use oil based, wax, polish, or strong ammoniated or abrasive cleaners.
  • Don’t use steel wool or scouring powder.
  • Don’t wash or wet-mop the flooring with soap, water, oil-soap detergent, or any other liquid cleaning material. This could cause swelling, warping, delaminating, and joint-line separation, and void the warranty.
  • Don’t use any type of buffing machine on the flooring.
  • For spots such as candle wax or chewing gum, harden the spot with ice and then gently scrape with a plastic scraper, such as a credit card. Be careful not to scratch the flooring surface. Wipe clean with a damp cloth.
  • Use protective mats on your flooring

Good quality entry and exit mats will help collect the dirt, sand, grit, and other substances such as oil, asphalt, or driveway sealer that can otherwise be tracked onto your flooring. Do not use petroleum based rubber-or foam-backed plastic mats as they may discolor the flooring. To prevent slippage, use an approved no-slip rug underlayment.

Use flooring protectors on furniture

Use flooring protectors and wide-load-bearing leg bases/rollers to minimize indentations and scratches from heavy objects. As a rule, the heavier the object, the wider the flooring protector should be.

Maintain relative humidity level in your flooring environment

Maintain a normal indoor relative humidity level between 30% - 50% throughout the year to minimize the natural expansion and contraction of wood.

  • Heating season (Dry under 20%): A humidifier is recommended to prevent excess shrinkage due to low humidity levels. Wood stove and electric heat tend to create very dry conditions.
  • Non heating season (Wet over 55%): An air conditioner, dehumidifier or periodically turning on your heating system can maintain humidity during the summer months. Avoid excessive exposure to water during periods of inclement weather.

Watch your feet while walking on your flooring

Don’t walk on your flooring with stiletto-style heels, spiked golf shoes, or cleats. They may cause indentations in your flooring.

Watch your pet’s feet on your flooring

Keep pet’s nails trimmed to keep them from scratching your flooring.

Rearrange your rugs and furniture on your flooring

Periodically rearranging your area rugs and furniture will allow the flooring to age evenly. UV sunlight will soften the tone of different species of hardwood to varying degrees.

Laminate flooring care

Laminate flooring is naturally durable; learn how to keep it looking great while standing up to the toughest household conditions.

Follow routine maintenance guidelines to clean your laminate flooring:

  • Use a damp cloth to blot up spills as soon as they happen. Never allow liquids to stand on your floor.
  • For tough spots, such as oil, paint, markers, lipstick, ink, or tar, use mineral spirits on a clean white cloth, then wipe the area with a damp cloth to remove any remaining residue.
  • Sweep, dust, or vacuum the floor regularly with the hard floor attachment (not the beater bar) to prevent accumulation of dirt and grit that can scratch or dull the flooring finish.
  • Periodically clean the flooring with cleaning products made specifically for laminate floor.
  • Do not wash or wet mop the flooring with soap, water, oil-soap detergent, or any other liquid cleaning material. This could cause swelling, warping, delaminating, and joint-line separation, and void the warranty.
  • Do not use steel wool, abrasive cleaners, or strong ammoniated or chlorinated type cleaners.
  • Do not use any type of buffing or polishing machine on the flooring.
  • For spots such as candle wax or chewing gum, harden the spot with ice and then gently scrape with a plastic scraper, such as a credit card. Be careful not to scratch the flooring surface. Wipe clean with a damp cloth.
  • A more frequent dust-mopping or vacuuming schedule may be required in very sandy areas such as a beach home.

Protect your laminate flooring to keep it looking like new:

  • Entry mats will help collect the dirt, sand, grit, and other substances such as oil, asphalt, or driveway sealer that might otherwise be tracked onto your flooring.
  • To prevent slippage of area rugs, use an approved vinyl rug underlayment.
  • Use floor protectors and wide-load bearing leg bases/rollers to minimize t he chance of indentations and scratches from heavy objects. As a rule, the heavier the object, the wider the flooring protector.
  • Maintain a normal indoor relative humidity level between 35% and 65% throughout the year to minimize the natural expansion and contraction of the wood.
  • Heating season (Dry under 20%): A humidifier is recommended to prevent excess shrinkage due to low humidity levels. Wood stove and electric heat tend to create very dry conditions.
  • Non heating season (Wet over 65%): An air conditioner, dehumidifier or periodically turning on your heating system can maintain humidity during the summer months. Avoid excessive exposure to water during periods of inclement weather.
  • Avoid excessive exposure to water during periods of inclement weather.
  • Keep your pets nails trimmed to prevent them from scratching your flooring.
  • Never try to slide heavy objects across the flooring.
  • A protective mat should be used for furniture or chairs with castors.
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