One of the most popular architectural features many people desire in their homes is hardwood flooring. In Toronto, it’s not surprising that many homeowners love the timeless, classic, inviting, warm, and traditional appeal of hardwood floors.

However, while hardwood can lasts for many decades, it is not impervious to damage. Time, weather, and accumulated wear and tear can affect the overall look of your hardwood flooring.

Since hardwood is an organic material, the cellular structure of its wood will break down more quickly than its ceramic and vinyl counterparts, especially when exposed to frequent moisture.

How to Protect Your Hardwood Floors

What makes hardwood a popular flooring option are its beauty and durability. Because of its sturdiness, many believe that hardwood floors can take all the abuse that homeowners can dish out.

Wrong!

You may not even realize that you are damaging your hardwood floors.

Your hardwood flooring deserves proper care to maintain its beauty and quality for decades.

Here are some helpful ways to protect hardwood floors from damage:

1. Limit the Traffic on Your Floor

Hardwood flooring is durable enough to endure heavy traffic and impact. Over time, it requires protection from eventual wear and tear. Be wary of the following issues to maintain the pristine condition of your hardwood flooring.

Keep away indelible markers from your children's hands to prevent them from making your hardwood surface their canvas.
Be alert and keep wheeled toys, such as bikes and toy cars, out of the house. When used outdoors, wheeled toys may pick up tiny pebbles in the treads, which can cause scratches on the hardwood floor.
Leave your shoes outside the house, including high heels, which are notorious for causing significant damage to hardwood floors. Like wheeled toys, the soles of your shoes can pick up small pebbles. Make it a habit to remove shoes before entering a home to protect hardwood floors from scratches.

2. Avoid Using Water to Clean Hardwood Flooring

Water and wood do not go well together. As an organic product, the wood's cellular structure will immediately respond when exposed to moisture, causing swelling and decay.

Since the surface of the hardwood floor is sealed, the problem often occurs on the side of the floorboards' unsealed raw wood and bottoms.

Use only a dry damp mop that is thoroughly wrung out to clean hardwood floors. Flooring experts do not recommend using any water on the hardwood.

Instead, use a soft-bristled broom and dustpan to clean the floor. You can also use a vacuum that is designed for hardwood and carpet cleaning.

Bonus Cleaning Tip:

If you choose to use liquid cleaning agents, make sure they are formulated for hardwood floors. Spray lightly and wipe it with a soft, dry mop. Even steam-cleaning can be damaging to your hardwood floor.

3. Quickly Wipe Any Spills

While keeping your floors clean is essential, so is wiping spills immediately on the hardwood floor's surface. Leaving pooled liquid on your hardwood floors causes the wood to absorb moisture quickly. Frequent exposure to water can result in swelling and warping of the wood.

In addition to spilled liquids, look out for sink and dishwasher leaks, dripping, rainwater, or even melted snow from your clothing and winter boots.

4. Establish a Cleaning Schedule

With our busy day-to-day routines, we often put the task of cleaning our hardwood flooring on the back burner. Taking time to clean our hardwood floors should be a priority.

Sweep the hardwood flooring once a week, but it is also crucial to have it deep cleaned to keep it looking great year after year. However, be cautious when mopping the floor—only use a small amount of water and make sure to dry mop as well.

5. Prevent Sun Damage

It often takes a couple of years for hardwood floors to become damaged due to the sun's ultraviolet rays. The discolouration of the wood can only be noticeable when you move a rug or furniture after a long time.

The colour change is due to the chemical process known as "photochemical oxidation," which causes certain types of wood floorings to fade and others to darken in colour.

Luckily, there are a few ways to protect your hardwood floors from UV damage.

Install window treatments, such as curtains or blinds
Block UV rays by applying films to the window
Invest in a wood floor finish with UV protection properties

Your hardwood floors are not the only ones at risk of UV damage. Even the fabrics of your furniture can become discoloured after years of exposure to the sun. However, you can still keep your home beautiful by protecting them against UV rays.

6. Use Area Rugs

Protecting your hardwood floors can be as simple as placing down area rugs and carpets in high-traffic areas. It prevents damage and adds colour, pattern, style, and a soft underfoot sensation.

Also, placing doormats at your door's entrance helps remind everyone to stop and take off their shoes before entering your home.

7. Groom Pets

As much as we love our pets, they can cause some serious damage to our hardwood flooring. The best way to protect hardwood floors is to trim your pet's nails and clean up pet hair regularly.

Hardwood flooring is pet-friendly since it is hypoallergenic and does not harbour allergens. Make sure to protect your hardwood flooring from scratches.

If you notice scratches on the surface, do not panic! You can have your hardwood floors sanded and refinished and start from square one.

8. Refinish Hardwood Floors When Needed

Hardwood protection and maintenance prevent the need for refinishing. Refinishing requires the removal of all the finishes, repairing damaged wood, and applying a new coat of finish on the floors.

If you have damaged hardwood floors, refinishing helps prevent the need to replace the entire flooring. Make sure to have your floor refinished before the floor becomes seriously damaged.

The best protection for hardwood floors does not need to be expensive. It only requires proper care and regular maintenance to prevent common hardwood flooring issues and keep it beautiful for years.

If hardwood flooring is the best option for you, call TEAM Hardwood Floor Ltd at (416) 879-8266 to book a free consultation for our professional hardwood flooring installation services.

8 Tips to Protect Your Hardwood Flooring