Guidelines for Maintenance of Wood Floors

Allow one week before placing any rugs or carpets on the newly finished floor.

Do not use rubber or latex rug backings. They tend to stick to the wood floor and when taken up, they will destroy the finish underneath, or leave a rubbery residue.

Install felt covered floor glides on all furniture at floor contact points. Movement of chairs and tables can cause excessive wear on your floor finish. Felt protectors help to minimize the wear.

The floor should be dust mopped, vacuumed, or swept with a soft bristle broom as often as is necessary to remove grit and dust from the surface. Walking on a dusty or dirty floor is the fastest way to damage the finish.

Place walkoff mats at all exterior entrances. This will capture much of the harmful dirt before it reaches the hardwood floor. Shake out or wash mats and area rugs frequently.

Kitchen floors experience the most traffic in the home. To prevent premature wear of the finish, place an area rug in front of the sink and stove areas.

Avoid walking on floors with high heels or with any sharp objects protruding from shoes.

Immediately wipe up spills with a lightly dampened cloth.

Damp mop your floors regularly with one part vinegar to 15 parts water, or a floor cleaner especially formulated to clean hardwood floors that have been coated with polyurethane or waterbase finishes. TULIP sells one brand of cleaner, and others are sold at most hardware stores.

Do not use "self polishing" wax, i.e. Murphy's oil, or vinyl floor products. These will leave an oil or wax residue which discolors over time, and will not allow future recoatings of the floor.

Recoat the floor every 3 to 5 years. Recoating is a relatively inexpensive one day job, which will greatly increase the time period between this refinishing and the next, and consequently stretch (significantly) the life span of the floor in general.

In case of any questions or concerns, please feel free to call us.