Preventative maintenance                                    

What not to do?                                                                                             

Never damp mop a wood floor. Just wipe according to your favorite hardwood floor cleaning label directions. Don't let sand, grit or other abrasives build up. Vacuum or sweep your floor regularly. Avoid high heeled shoes. They can severely damage the surface of any floor covering. Always keep heel caps in good repairs. Do not use wax, oil soap, or other household cleaners on your polyurethane finished wood floor. The use of these products can dull today's floor finishes and make refinishing difficult.

Maintaining the hardwood floor finish                                                             

The latest developments in finish technology and innovative products have made wood one of the most easy-care flooring materials today. By taking a few preventive measures, you can preserve a beautiful finish and keep maintenance to a minimum.

• Sheet vinyl or tile floor care products should NEVER be used on wood floors. Self polishing acrylic waxes cause wood to become slippery and appear dull quickly. The only remedy in this situation is to sand and refinish the floor.
• Place mats and throw rugs at doorway exteriors and interiors to help prevent the tracking of grit, dirt and sand.
• Never wet-mop a wood floor. Standing water can dull the finish, damage the wood and leave a discoloring residue. Only use a cleaner specified for hardwood floors.
• Wipe up food and other spills immediately with a slightly dampened towel.
• Never wax your polyurethane finish floors.
• Put soft plastic or fabric-faced glides under the legs of furniture to prevent scuffing and scratching.
• Remember that cleats, sports shoes and high heels can dent any floor surface. When a 125 pound woman takes a step in high heels she exerts 2,000 psi (pounds per square inch). An exposed heel nail can exert up to 8,000 psi.
• When moving heavy furniture, completely pick up the furniture and carry rather than slide to best protect the wood flooring.
• For wood flooring in the kitchen, place an area rug in front of the kitchen sink.
• Use a humidifier in the home throughout the winter months to keep all wood movement and shrinkage to a minimum. In the GTA area, maintain 40-50% humidity indoors.

Maintaining a polyurethane finish                                                                     

• The best way to clean and maintain a hardwood floor is to dust mop, sweep or vacuum regularly. Always clean with a manufacturer's recommended cleaner. Hardwood Flooring cleaners may be purchased at your local "big box" store or just contact us.
• When cleaning no longer restores the shine, recoating the floor is recommended. By recoating your floor when required, further wear and the subsequent need for resanding is avoided. Recoating your floors entails only a fraction of the time, trouble and cost of resanding them. The frequency of recoating depends on the amount of traffic.

Maintaining a penetrating stain or wax finish                                                   

• Dust mop or vacuum regularly. Buff to restore shine. Waxing may be necessary when buffing no longer restores shine.
• Apply a cleaner and liquid wax specifically for wood floors. Apply the wax evenly, allow the floor to dry and buff to the desired luster. If the wood floor has dirt build up or the wax is discolored, use a combination liquid cleaner/wax made specifically for wood flooring. Make sure it is solvent rather than water base. Spread the liquid cleaner/wax with a cloth or fine steel wool and rub gently to remove grime and old wax. Wipe the floor clean, let it dry for about 20 minutes and buff.
• Depending on the traffic, a properly maintained wood floor should need waxing once or twice a year. Remember, it is extremely important to always use the floor manufacturer's cleaning and finish products and recommendations when known.

Scratches and stains on surface finished floors                                                 

Wood flooring is very forgiving when it comes to surface wear and minor damage. Most problems can be prevented simply by keeping the floors free of dirt and grit. Usually, it's as easy as vacuuming and dust mopping regularly and by wiping up spills immediately. However, when trouble does strike, here are some corrective measures you can take to repair the damage.

Scratches: Repair with a touchup kit made for urethane finishes which are available from any wood flooring retailer.

Food, water or dark spots (dog spots): Use a cleaner developed specifically for urethane finishes to remove the spot or stain. More stubborn spots may require additional scrubbing with the cleaner and a wood flooring scrub pad made for urethane floors.

Greasy spots: Rub the grease, lipstick, crayon or oil with a cleaner developed for urethane.

Cigarette burns: Most common burns can be treated with a touchup kit made for urethane finishes (rub with sandpaper, stain and refinish). For burns that reach deep into the wood, individual plank or parquet boards may need to be replaced.

Chewing gum, crayon, wax: Apply a plastic bag filled with ice on top of the deposit until it is brittle enough to crumble off. Clean area with a product made for urethane finishes. Again, always use the wood flooring manufacturer's cleaning, repair and finish products when known.

Environmental issues                                                                                      

Does wood flooring promote a healthy indoor environment?

Yes! Bacteria, dust and dirt do not embed themselves in wood flooring, as they do in other flooring options. Simple regular maintenance - such as dust mopping, sweeping, or vacuuming - keeps wood floors sanitary.

My client suffers from allergies. Is wood flooring hypoallergenic?

Millions of people suffer from sensitivity to chemicals and toxins. Tests by leading allergists have proven that wood flooring provides a healthier environment for these allergy sufferers. Wood doesn't harbor irritating dust and microorganisms.

Is the natural environment protected during the harvesting and manufacturing of wood flooring?

• Yes. Far from a depleting resource, hardwood is sustainable and commercially more available now than ever before. On the 486 million acres of forest land in the United States classified as commercial, substantially more wood is added in new growth each year than is harvested. For hardwood species, 86 percent more wood is added annually in net growth than is removed through harvest.
• Manufacturers of glue-down wood flooring meet Clean Air Act standards for construction adhesives. A national environmental standard for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) is anticipated in the next few years, but manufacturers are already offering VOC-compliant wood flooring products.

Once installed, how often must wood flooring be replaced?

Every hundred years or so. In fact, the heart pine floors in historic Bacon's Castle in Virginia are more than three centuries old and counting.
Simple care and maintenance keeps wood floors looking beautiful for a lifetime. Instead of laying an entirely new floor when the original is worn, wood floors can be rejuvenated with sanding and refinishing. When done by a wood flooring professional, wood floors need only to be refinished every 10 - 15 years or 10 - 12 times during a floor's life. When a wood floor's useful life is over, it's completely biodegradable.

Is recycled wood flooring available?

Yes. Wood salvaged from a variety of sources, including old barns and factories, is a popular high-end design trend. Wood recovered from riverbeds is another growing segment of the wood flooring industry. Logs that sank during logging operations years ago are being recovered by a number of companies and used to create truly unique flooring.

Today's only significant source for heartwood from longleaf pine is through reclaimed timbers from warehouses and factories constructed during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Chestnut, hemlock, poplar, walnut, and cypress are other options.

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