Newstricky| Hardwood floors have always been seen as a sign of luxury, style, and wealth in Australia and around the world. Timber floors were trendy in the past, but due to their price, they got replaced by cheaper alternatives. Still, timber floors are making a great comeback, and people are much more confident in their abilities to take good care of them. If you are worried that your timber floors will suffer damage and would like to prevent it, read on to discover the main sources of damage done to your timber flooring and how you can prevent them.
Table of Contents
Scratches
Let us start with one widespread and simple damage done to all timber floors: scratches! Scratches are also virtually impossible to avoid, as annoying as they can be. This is because pretty much every activity leaves scratches on the floors: kids playing with toys, pets, walking around the house in heels, furniture being moved around, etc. There is always something going on around the house, and minor scratches are going to appear regardless of how careful you are. Also, when you decide to add timber floors to your home, remember that wooden floor maintenance isn’t something you can casually do every other day. While not much can be done about kids’ and pets’ habits, you should make it a point to use furniture pads whenever you move the furniture around, as this will protect the floors best.
Termites and borers
Sometimes, you notice that your timber furniture and floors show unusual signs of damage. If you spot tiny holes randomly located on the surface of your floor, or strange dust flying around, it might be that you have wood-eating insects in your home. The most common insects that cause severe wood damage are borers and termites. Unfortunately, this is not something you can take on yourself. Rather than attempting to find a DIY solution, we advise you to contact professional pest control in Sydney and have them deal with the issue. If you don’t take care of the infestation problem in your home, you might end up with significant damage that will make a considerable chip in your savings along the road.
Sunlight
We all want as much natural light in our homes as possible. Still, very few understand that too much sun exposure can have a terrible effect on your beautiful timber flooring, especially in Australia. When exposed to direct sunlight for a long, the color of your wooden floors can face and become uneven. The areas near your window will appear much lighter than those in the more shadowy corners of the room. Try to keep your drapes and curtains closed during sunny hours to prevent this from happening. If you don’t want to stay in the dark, you can lay rugs on the floor.
Moisture and humidity
Unlike ceramic tiles and concrete, when wood is exposed to water for an extended period of time, it is damaged to a great extent. Water will seep into the wood and cause irreversible damage, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t clean your floors with water. Always double-check that the mop you are using is only damp and that any kinds of spills are cleaned up immediately. A protective layer of oil will help protect the wood against moisture.
Too much liquid cleaner
Just like water can damage your beautiful hardwood floors, other types of liquid can do the same. When you use cleaning products that aren’t made to be used on hardwood floors, you are making a huge mistake. Damage done by liquid chemicals is much more severe than water damage. They severely affect the floor’s finish. As a result of the wrong liquid cleaner being used, permanent stains can be left behind. Still, there can also be some fading or even darkening of the colour of the floor. Don’t try to rectify it when it’s too late – always use cleaning products with neutral pH that are specifically designed for hardwood floors.
While some prefer to apply changes to make their room look bigger, others prefer to beautify it. Hardwood floors are also known for their long life, apart from being beautiful and adding a touch of elegance to a room. Of course, this long life is only possible if you manage to take good care of them and maintain them properly. You might not like the fact that there are certain practices and activities you should avoid. Yet, if you make such minor changes to your daily life and schedule, you will be rewarded with beautiful floors that will last for decades.
