When you’ve spent your hard earned cash on a nice new floor, its particularly annoying when you start to notice imperfections. Whether you’ve dropped something and caused a dent or just noticed some general wear and tear, the appearance of your floor will always be affected by everyday occurrences. While all floors have a general life span, there are definitely ways of helping to increase the usability of your floor over the years.
Cleaning Regularly
If it is solid wood, engineered or any other type of floor, sweeping regularly will help to remove dust and debris that could scratch your floor. For a more in depth clean, use a hoover. Hoovering once a week can really help to stop dirt from settling on your floor and will further improve the air quality of a room. Similarly, any kind of liquid spill should be immediately dealt with as any long standing spillage can cause moisture damage or even stain the floor.
Everyday sweeping and vacuuming won’t be enough long-term. Its a good idea to get a good mop in to your routine too. Every month or so, take a damp mop to your floor to, not only improve hygiene, but to keep your floor looking and feeling brand new. Never use an excessively wet mop since, as we mentioned earlier, too much liquid can cause damage to more natural products such as a solid or engineered wood.
Finishes and Sanding
When looking for a new floor, its crucial that you look out for the finish. Different finishes have different looks and textures, so picking the right one for your home is imperative. You can either buy your floor already pre-finished or opt for an unfinished product and do it yourself if you’re a DIY fan. If you have a parquet flooring for example, then a lacquer finish might be your best choice. A lacquer sits on top of the product where as an oil finish soaks into the grains of the wood. A lacquer finish will help to make the floor every so slightly water resistant, but only by a marginal fraction. Do not consider this finish waterproof by any means. It is a good idea to keep an eye on your floor as it may need sanding after a decade or so. Re-sanding and finishing your floor will, again, keep it looking and feeling fresh.
Tricks for extra protection
Aside from your general maintenance, there are also a few other ways of helping to increase the life of your floor. Using rugs for example will help to protect your floor against scratches which is ideal if you have pets and or kids. Some floors are susceptible to UV light which can lift the colour over many years. To avoid this, try drawing the curtain or blinds when your floor is in contact with direct sunlight. This only really applies to some solid wood floors, but its very important you check all of manufactures guide when buying a new floor for any of these particulars.
