Maintaining A Wooden Floor

Solid wood floors are in general very hard wearing and they do not mark easily, however you still do need to take care of them to avoid unnecessary damage.

Firstly a wooden floor is best suited to a room that does not get very hot or it may expand and begin to buckle and push up against itself, resulting in ridges arising in the floor, which can result in the floor having to be taken up and re-laid. To prevent this happening you can use cork expansion strips around the edge of the floor and a thin strip in between boards (Approximately every 4-5 metres) for large areas.

If your flooring is going to be placed in a high traffic area then it is a very good idea to apply at least one more coat of varnish or oil than the manufacturer recommends to give it that little bit more protection.

Place a dirt barrier mat down inside your front door to stop people walking grit on to the wooden floor. Little bits of grit and stone are one of the major causes of damage as they scratch the flooring badly. Ideally get people to take their shoes off. This last point most definitely applies to high heels, as high heels and wooden floors do not mix, as they can cause irreparable damage to the flooring.

If you are going to place plants on the floor then ensure that they have a suitable tray underneath them to collect any excess water that might seep through when they are watered, as if not over a period of time you will get watermarks appearing that will be very hard to even sand out of the wood.

If you have dogs or cats ensure that their nails are kept short, as pets scratching at the floor by a doorway are one of the other main causes of damage.

Weekly maintenance should consist of vacuuming the floor, followed by a light mop over with water, avoiding using excess water otherwise this will result in smears showing up on the floor.

Whilst your wooden flooring will not need sanding down and re-varnishing for many years, you may occasionally need to put another layer of varnish down, however you will not always need to sand the floor. To check if it needs varnish, drip water on the floor, if it stays as beads then it does not need varnishing. If it soaks in slowly it may need varnishing, but not sanding, but if it soaks straight in then it will need sanding and varnishing.