Many people agree that hardwood floors are among the most beautiful of flooring options. Additionally, they are known to add a great deal to the resale value of your home. They do require routine upkeep to keep them looking their best like any other home investment. There are several contributing sources that can transform the vibrant hardwood surface into dull and lifeless surface. Today, we at Mike’s Custom Flooring would like to discuss the reasons why the wood floor looks dull.
Sun Damaged Hardwood Floors
The sun’s damaging UV rays are a threat to many surfaces, and the wood floors especially. Direct exposure to sunlight can bleach and discolor your floors and even lead to warping in more severe cases. Fortunately, there are preventative steps you can do to prevent the sun from stripping the luster off your hardwood floors, and they include the following listed below.
1) During the daytime, close drapes, shutters, and curtains.
2) Install on the windows UV resistant tint.
3) To help block the sunlight, plant trees or shrubs in front of windows.
Abrasive Shoes Can Damage Hardwood Flooring
Those who frequently wear heels or even cleats and other abrasive shoes may notice the floors not looking their best. Though durable, high heels can easily scratch, dent, and puncture holes in your wood floors. Avoid wearing abrasive shoes while walking on hardwood floors.
Dog Nails Scratching Wood Floors
Like high heels, your pet’s nails are dangerous to the surface, particularly in medium to large breeds of dogs. Because they are just too light to cause much damage, scratches and dents are less of a concern when allowing your pet cat on hardwood floors, but it can still occur. Minimize these issues by maintaining your pet’s nails routinely clipped and trimmed.
Pet Urine Damage to Hardwood Floors
Urine of your pets are among the worst substances to make contact with wood floors. The two organic enzymes that can eat away at your floors’ gloss and cause the wood to look dull are the uric acid and ammonia contained in pet urine. To keep damage to a minimal, promptly clean up all accidents.
Wrong Hardwood Floor Cleaner
A significant impact on how they look and how long they will last is how you clean your floors. Wrong cleaning practices can cause more harm than good. Make sure you use wood-safe products and paraphernalia. Stay away abrasive cleaning pads and chemicals, harsh cleaners, inappropriate polishes, as well as oil soaps. When it comes to sweeping the dust and debris, avoid stiff bristles and make sure to deactivate the beater bar
Excessive Moisture on Hardwood Floors
When you clean your hardwood floors, resist the water bucket and mop. Unsightly stains to appear on the surface and wood rot from the inside out. Water should rarely make contact with surface and when it does, it needs to be immediately dried.
Furniture Feet Protectors on Hardwood Flooring
Sliding around furniture can also cause the surface to be come scratched and dull, always lift the furniture you need move and put felt protectors on the bottom of chairs and other furniture that may slide easily.
Hardwood Flooring Installation & More in Charles Town & Eastern Panhandle of Berkeley & Jefferson Counties in WV | Winchester & Frederick County | Round Hill & Loudoun County | Berryville & Clarke County | Herndon & Fairfax County VA
When you need the expertise of refinishing a dry and dull wood floor surface, call Mike’s Custom Flooring to do the rest. We use a dustless sanding and refinishing process that can make old floors look new again.