What Not To Do To Your Hardwood Floors

If you're getting hardwood floors installed in your home for the first time, then there may not be a lot of things you understand about them. Before your contractor installs this flooring, he or she should tell you how to properly maintain your floors so that you don't have to constantly repair or replace them. If for some reason your contractor does not educate you on proper hardwood flooring maintenance, then it is up to you to do your research so you know what is proper floor care protocol and what is not.

Here is an overview of some of the things you should not do to your hardwood floors if you want to keep them looking nice:

Get Them Wet

Obviously, spills will happen, and inevitably, one of those spills will happen on your hardwood floors. The occasional spill is okay, but you definitely do not want to get your hardwood floors completely wet, which means that you probably shouldn't be mopping them with a lot of water or using a steam cleaner on them.

If hardwood floors get too much water put on them, the water can seep underneath the flooring and build up, creating a moldy mess or even causing the floor to crack and break.

Wear Your Shoes On Them

You may think that taking your shoes off while indoors only applies to carpet maintenance, but it also is a rule for hardwood floors. When people wear their shoes indoors, they track in dirt and debris from outside that can be hard to get off the floor and that in some cases can even damage the surface of the floor if one isn't careful.

If there is moisture on someone's shoes from mud, rain, or snow, that can cause the moisture problem mentioned above, which can lead to floor warping. If there isn't a way to avoid walking on hard floors with one's shoes on (i.e. by an entryway), then a rug should be put down in the spot where the shoes need to go until the wearer is able to remove his or her shoes.

Let Your Long-Nailed Dog Or Cat Walk On Them

If you have pets in your home with hardwood floors, then you need to make sure that the animal's nails are well-manicured. If your dog or cat has long nails and walks around on the floor, their claws can leave scratches on the floor, which can not only damage the flooring but just looks rather unsightly.

These scratches can be very difficult to remove, and they definitely detract from the overall looks of the flooring. Therefore, if it is really important to you to have your four-legged friend have free roam of the house, you at least need to make sure that it's nails are trimmed properly so as to prevent a hazard.

Use Vinyl or Rubber Floor Rugs

Using vinyl or rubber-backed floor rugs is a major no-no for hardwood floor owners, because the ingredients that go into making the backing of these rugs may not mingle well with your floors. In fact, some of the components of the rug may actually cause discoloration of your hardwood floors over time, especially if the rug is left in the same area and never moved.

For this reason, if you want to use a rug to cover a particular area of your floor, it should be a traditional yarn, wool, or other material-rug that doesn't have vinyl or rubber in it.

Knowing how to maintain your hardwood floors is crucial if you don't want to spend the time and money it takes to constantly repair such a floor. Now that you know which things you ought not do to your floors, you will hopefully have a much better understanding of how to maintain them so that they last a while and keep looking nice for several years.

To learn more, contact a company like A B Cushing Mills Ltd with any questions you have.