Hardwood floors are beautiful, durable, and expensive. Many people think that once the floor is installed, that is the end of it however, there is maintenance involved, and you may also need to keep an eye out for other problems. No two hardware floors are alike because no two trees are exactly alike. Some planks will come out lighter than others depending on how that take and display the stain and other variations that are minute and nearly impossible to spot until the floor is laid in your home.

Be on the lookout for…
– Difference in color
– Splintering edges
– Dings and dents
– Knot hole damage
– Highs and lows
– Loosening Nails

Expansion And Contraction

Over time, the floorboards in your hardwood floor will expand and contract with differences in weather, humidity, and the passing of the seasons. As your home settles under its own weight, you will begin to find soft spots in your floor where it creaks under your weight. The nails that at first held tight their embrace of your hardwood floor become loose and move up and down as you put your weight on them. There is no way to stop this outside of replacing the boards and resetting the nails.

Variations In Color

There is not much you can do about the slight variations in color from board to board. In fact, it is these differences that give your floor its unique look and character. Everyone\’s hardwood floor is unique to their home and all of them begin beautiful. If you take care of your hardwood floor, keeping it clean and scratch free, it will remain beautiful for many years. Never put wax on your hardwood floor to try to recapture the shine.

Splintering

Over time, the edges of the individual boards may crack and splinter. This happens from natural damage before they were installed, or by dragging heavy furniture over the floorboards. You can purchase repair kits to fix most of these minute problems or you can fix them yourself. You will need to strip a section of the floor, sand it down; sand the splinters smooth, re-stain the floor, and apply a new coat of polyurethane.

Dents And Dings

Hardwood floors are tough. Their surface is as hard as nails; however, they can be damage by heavy weights. If your floor receives a ding or dent, there is nothing you can do outside of having the board replaces. This is a difficult and expensive process and you might be better off just ignoring the dent or perhaps covering them with an area rug.

Hills And Slopes

If you walk over your floor slowly in your bare feet, you will find areas that rise gently slope slightly. These small rolling curves are only natural and occur with the settling of the house. If they become big enough to cause a problem, the floor will have to be repaced in that area. It might be necessary to plane the floor joists under those areas or place risers, which are small strips of wood to build the spot up.

A Floor With Character

Natural wear and tear occurs and you will notice that the high traffic areas show the signs of this wear over the years. It is another sign of the character of your home and should be cared for as needed. If you never apply wax to your floors, they can be cleaned with a hardwood floor cleaner sold at flooring stores and large hardware outlets. Using these products is much easier than stripping the floor or having it replaces.

Author Bio: For more information please visit our Area Rugs website.

Category: Home Management
Keywords: hardwood floor cleaner ,Hills,hardwood floor ,Area Rugs