Wooden flooring is a strong trend nowadays. More and more people are incorporating wooden and hardwood floors into their spaces. The love for wooden floors is pretty justified as they look gorgeous, and give a warm look to the room. They are also fairly more comfortable in comparison to basic floor tiles. The large array of shades, finishes and grains that the wooden floors come in give the option to pick as per the space you are developing. Wooden floors come in ready to install planks, and the installation is fairly easy as well. However, they do require attention to detail while installing to ensure that the floor has a perfect finish. 

While wooden floors are certainly aesthetically pleasing and amp up the look of a room, they can be a challenge to maintain. Properly maintaining and caring for wooden floors are key to ensuring that the look remains at its best. Proper care also reduces wear and tear and the need for constant replacement, ensuring longevity. Wooden floors are delicate and require the right kind of cleaning and maintenance. 

Wooden flooring in living area 

Here is a simple guide to maintaining your wooden floor’s look as well as preserving its durability.

SAVE IT FROM SCRATCHES

Preventing scratches and scuffs from denting your wooden floor is a tough yet important task. Especially on floors with a darker tone, scratches become easily visible to the eye, disturbing the look of the floor. Subsequently, deeper scratches can form a space for dust and moisture to accumulate, making it harder to clean and maintain. In order to avoid scratches one of the simpler things is to avoid strutting on wooden floors with pointy or rough shoes that could scar it’s surface. It is preferable to opt for softer footwear in rooms to avoid regular scratching by shoes. In areas where there could be high foot traffic, protecting the floor with a rug could be a good decision. 

Scratched wooden floor 

Protecting the floor from scuffing also means protecting it from the furniture. Protection from furniture has to begin right from it’s installation in a room. While installing, care must be taken that furniture is not dragged onto the floor as that could cause deep damage. In case carrying it is not feasible, ensure using a protective sheet of plastic or felt underneath while moving so there is a barrier between the floor and the furniture. On settling it in, placing felt or glue protector pads underneath the furniture is essential. Doing so ensures that if you move around furniture, either to redecorate or simply by accident, the floor does not get impacted by it. These protector pads could be placed underneath the legs of chairs,desks, sofas, under the corners of your bed etc. Preventing your floor from scratching will help it last longer and look better. 

AVOID THE MOISTURE

Protecting your wooden floors from moisture is the most important factor in it’s maintenance. Moisture is one of the greatest enemies of wooden floors. Regular exposure to moisture can swell up and destroy a wooden floor very easily. It is thus recommended to ensure that the floors are not installed in places with regular and continuous exposure to water and moisture. In case of spills or accidental exposure, it is important to act right away. The spill must be cleaned immediately and not be left for long periods of time as that would allow for the moisture to penetrate through the floor, destroying it. 

Water damaged wooden floor

Constant exposure or uncleaned spills can also cause your floors to discolor over time, affecting the look. It is thus essential to completely dry the floor and be wary of exposure. Wooden flooring is also sensitive to weather changes. In terms of impact from too much moisture in the air, it can also cause your floors to puff up and dislocate. In such a season, or if you live in an area where the weather is constantly such, installing a dehumidifier which absorbs excess moisture in the air may be a good idea as that would prevent your floors from damage. 

KEEP IT COOL 

Preventing your wooden floors from continuous and direct exposure to heat is another essential factor in its maintenance. Much like moisture, heat can also take its toll on your wooden floors. Continuous direct heat can cause your wooden floors to shrink up over time. Shrinking of the wood plans in the floor eventually forms gaps in between which not only look bad but also creates challenges in cleaning and maintenance as dust and bacteria can easily accumulate in these gaps. 

Damaged wooden flooring 

Another negative impact of constant heat exposure is that it can cause your floor’s color to slowly fade over time. The portion directly exposed to heat can overtime begin to lose its color and fade away. Uneven fading can also be a problem as some parts of the floor remain covered with no exposure to heat while others color lightens over time. To prevent heat from affecting your wooden floors, ensuring that it is safe from constant exposure is important. To do so, you could use curtains that absorb some of the direct heat, reducing the impact that falls on the floor. Using a rug or carpet to cover up certain portions directly under sunlight can also help prevent damage. In times and places of warm humid and hot weather, using a humidifier to maintain some amount of moisture in the floor can also prove to be useful as it prevents the floors from drying up and shrinking, preserving your floor. 

CALL IN CARPETS

Enlisting the help of carpets is a great and clever way to protect your wooden floors. Having carpet padding not only adds to the look and texture of the room but also protects your flooring. It acts as an extra layer of protection between furniture, objects and spills and your floor. Carpets soak up spills to a large extent preventing it from seeping into your floors, saving it from damage. They can easily be washed by hand or through machines, keeping both the floor and the carpet clean and pretty. Having carpets also reduces the risk of scratch damage as placing it underneath furniture ensures that no impact reaches the floor, ultimately protecting the floor. 

Carpeted wooden floor

CLEAN IN ROUTINE 

Regular and proper cleaning is pivotal to maintaining your wooden floors well. Not just cleaning, but cleaning them the right way is what helps keep it pristine and clean. Unlike ordinary mopping using water, wooden floors can not be regularly exposed to water. Therefore, to clean your wooden floors, the easiest way is to use a dry broom or mop, preferably made of microfiber,  to clean up the dust.  It is also important to make sure that you use the right cleaning products. Stick to cleaners designs assigned specially to cleaning of wood floors and steer clear of abrasive harsh cleaners. For a more deep cleaning, vacuuming them once in a while can help keep it clean as mopping alone cannot get rid of the tiny particles of dust that may accumulate in small corners, gaps or lines. Regular and careful cleaning of your wooden floors can make it easier to preserve the look and maintain it’s life. 

Vacuum cleaning of wooden floors

PROTECT AND STYLE WITH PAINT

Painting your wooden floors is a dual advantage idea. Painting your wooden floor to the color of your choice can help you to best match it with the theme of the room. You could go into light and dark shades of the natural browns or even use paint to add a pop of color by picking a unique and bright shade. Apart from adding to the look of the room, painting the floors also adds a layer of protection to the floors. The water resistance quality of oil based paints can help prevent water and moisture from being absorbed by the floors to a certain extent, reducing the amount of damage caused. Using paint can also help give your floor the desired finish, whether glossy, matte or natural, making no compromise to your ideal design. 

Coating light colored wooden floor with dark brown paint 

COAT IT UP 

Coating your wooden flooring is key to maintaining it well. Applying wooden floor finish all over your floors helps lock in the look, color and finish of the floor to a large extent. The coating also acts as a barrier to some extent by protecting the floor from absorbing moisture or collecting dust in small definitions. Coating also comes in anti skid variants which helps in terms of safety by giving it a rougher texture, preventing one form slipping on the otherwise smooth floor. Coating it occasionally is also equally important. To ensure that the floor looks and performs well, it must be recoated over time. Coating once done can slowly wear off over time with impact and thus would need to be replenished every few years to prevent damage and save it’s look. Recoating also helps conceal minor scratches and scuffing.

Coating of wooden floor in progress 

To conclude, wooden floors are an amazing choice for your space. Be it in homes or offices, they look and feel great and add a touch of warmth and luxe appeal to your space. Wooden floors can last for a decade and more if given the right care and attention.The above tips can certainly come in handy to maintain a flawless and gorgeous floor that lasts the test of time.