Maintaining Your Wood Floor

Wood floors are so expensive and laborious to install, you definitely want to keep them well-maintained. Even though wood floors seem to go on and on...and even though you can walk into historic homes on top of 200 year old plank...wood flooring is surprisingly delicate and fragile. Here's how to keep it looking its best.

Be sure to vacuum the flooring once a week (sweeping will only move dust and dirt around, scratching the surface), or at least use a dust mop. If you're unfortunate enough to have a floor that needs waxing, don't do this more than twice a year.

Wet Mop Your Wood Floors?

Wet mopping is a big problem. Mop with a very "wrung-out" damp mop every couple of weeks. When water seeps between boards, into the seams, you're in for trouble if the boards begin to warp. Do this too often, and your floor is headed for disaster down the road.

Sanding Wood Floors

When all else fails, hardwood floors can be sanded. Light sanding with a drum sander is always preferable, because heavy drum sanding can strip off wood and weaken the flooring. Most wood floors can be sanded lightly 6-8 times, or drum sanded a couple of times, in their lifetimes.