Wooden floors (hardwood, bamboo, and engineered wood) have specific vulnerabilities that make them more appropriate in some rooms more than others. Careful attention to the needs and vulnerabilities of wood can help homeowners properly maintain their floors for a lifetime.
As much as you think a home would look good if you chose to have much of your home be covered in hardwood or tile, there are times when something that looks good isn’t always the best material for the room. Sometimes, flooring material is too noisy, or too slippery, or too difficult to clean. There is a reason why tile and linoleum are popular in kitchens while wooden floors are more commonly found in living rooms.
The type of flooring you would choose for the rooms of your home would depend heavily on various practical considerations. Foremost among these is maintenance. Ideally, a room’s flooring material should be chosen to reflect how often the floor would need to be maintained. Some types of flooring are favored in some rooms due to how easy they are to clean and how long they could last under these conditions.
Maintenance services are a key part of maintaining the appearance and integrity of your floor. Tasks like refinishing should be left to the experts. Experts on hardwood floor refinishing are on call in major metro areas like Kansas City, ready to help homeowners and property investors breathe new life into their floors.
More Than Aesthetics Advantages
Durable, beautiful, and easy to clean, wooden floors tend to be very visually appealing. Hardwood floors, in particular, can add value to your home in ways that other forms of flooring cannot. Wood only needs to be cleaned and occasionally waxed to maintain its shiny, sleek appearance daily. Kept clean, hardwood floors can maintain their luster for more than a lifetime with only occasional large-scale maintenance.
The innate beauty of wood makes it a compelling flooring choice for many people. Even engineered hardwood panels and bamboo can automatically bring a touch of class to a bedroom. Made of solid wood, bamboo and hardwood floor panels can last for quite a long time, with the latter adding value to the home provided that it is kept well-maintained.
Vulnerabilities
A well-maintained hardwood floor can last for a lifetime and then some… provided it’s kept dry. Among the chief drawbacks of wooden floors is their innate vulnerability to water damage; they should, thus, be used only in generally dry areas. Water spills and other potential hazards should immediately be dealt with.
As wooden floors age, they tend to lose their luster. Over time, wooden floors show the wear and tear of years of foot traffic, with wood in high-traffic areas aging much faster. To cut back on maintenance, wood floors are almost typically reserved for low-traffic areas as a result.
Maintenance and Placement
To remedy the wear and tear left by the march of time (and foot traffic), hardwood is typically refinished. This involves sanding and buffing out the surface layers of wood to reveal a less weathered layer underneath. Depending on the state of the floor, refinishing may either involve re-applying oil or lacquer.
While traditional hardwood and bamboo floors can be refinished multiple times, engineered hardwood cannot. All engineered hardwoods have a very thin layer of wood that acts as a veneer. Because of this thickness, the surface veneer can only ever be refinished once, and through specific means.
Mopping wood floors should only be done while the floor is dry. Applying wood-safe cleaning products and floor wax can help maintain the lustrous appearance of a shiny wooden floor. Non-abrasive cleaners should be avoided. Wooden floors should never be cleaned through steam cleaners or wet mops, as that would invite warping.
Because wood is noisy, it should not be used as a flooring material for areas that require silence. Wood typically works best in dry, low traffic environments. It is an excellent material for living rooms and dining rooms, where their impressive aesthetics can be put to good use.
