Care  and Maintenance

Here are some helpful tips to ensure your new hard-surface flooring stays looking its best.

Protection

Sweep, vacuum or use a dust mop on your floors daily or as often as necessary to remove grit and dust from the surface. Walking on dirty floors is the fastest way to damage the finish.

Place walk-off mats at exterior entrances to capture much of the harmful dirt before it reaches the hardwood floor. Shake out, wash, or vacuum mats and area rugs frequently. Rubber backed mats are not recommended as they can trap moisture underneath which could damage your floor. It is recommended to hold off putting rugs down until the tannins in the wood have had time to react to sunlight (approximately 3 months). If you do not choose to wait, you could potentially have lighter wood under the rug.

Keep high heels in good repair. An unprotected base could dent a hardwood floor. Stiletto high heels are not recommended on hardwood floors.

Use Glide n’ Guards or similar Teflon products under your fridge, stove and other appliances. The weight of a fridge, even with large rollers, can crush the wood, leaving permanent grooves in the floor.

Use a good humidifier to maintain a relative humidity between 35% and 50% in your home. In Alberta, our humid summers and dry winters make it very difficult to keep your home’s humidity constant—as recommended. When the relative humidity drops in the home, expect that the hardwood boards will shrink and create gaps between the boards. They should go back together in the spring as the moisture returns.

Routine Cleaning

Use the recommended cleaning system. If you run out of cleaner, use plain water or a cleaner that will not leave a residue which would inhibit bonding and recoating. Do not pour water on the floor to mop up. When using any wood floor cleaner, follow directions precisely.

Never apply wax or urethane your floor. Stay away from furniture polish, detergents and Murphy’s oil. These all leave a residue.

For further information, look to the National Wood Flooring Association website at www.woodfloors.org.

Sanding and Refinishing

All solid hardwood floors can be sanded down to the raw material, and be refinished. Generally at this time, you can change the color and gloss level if desired. You can read more about dust-free refinishing on our On-Site Finishing page.