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Care and Maintenance for
Engineered Hardwood Floors
Engineered hardwood flooring has
many advantages, however, possible it’s biggest
advantage is its ability to be installed over countless
types of sub-floors as well as below grade. In addition, many brands of engineered hardwood flooring does
not require that the boards be nailed or glued to the
sub-floor, making it possible for it to be installed over
concrete slab sub-flooring.
Another great benefit of
engineered flooring is that it can be used with radiant
heating, which can drastically affect other types of
flooring. For
example, radiant heating can dry out solid hardwood
flooring causing the boards to warp and cup. However,
because of the design of engineered hardwood flooring,
it is more stable thus resist expanding and shrinking
making it more suitable for homes with radiant heating.
The following is a list of
things to help you keep your engineered hardwood floors
looking new, for years to come.
- When
installing engineered hardwood flooring, do not
install it in areas where there will be high levels
of moisture, such as bathrooms and kitchen areas as
high levels of moisture can damage the flooring.
- If
you have radiant heating, then make sure that you
inform your installer of this, or if you are
installing your flooring yourself, make sure that
you read any information about your particular
heating system in order understand the best method
of installation. With some systems how the engineered hardwood boards are
place does not matter, whereas with other systems
the boards have to be installed in a particular
pattern.
- Regularly
clean engineered-hardwood floors with either a dry
or damp mop, sweeping, or vacuuming.
Keeping your flooring clean will help reduce
the risk of dirt and grim scratching the finish.
- By
using rugs and runners in all of your high traffic
areas, such as kitchen doors, back doors, and main
entrances you can reduce the amount of dirt and
moisture, which is tracked into the home. This will also reduce the amount of cleaning you will
have to do to maintain your flooring.
- When
cleaning your floors, never use wax-based cleaners,
harsh detergents, abrasives, or steel wool, as this
will drastically damage engineered hardwood
flooring.
- Do
not apply any finish to an engineered hardwood floor
that has a factory finish, unless the manufacturer
for that particular style of engineered flooring
recommends it.
- Never
soak or allow engineered hardwood flooring to become
overly wet when cleaning.
Water will damage the flooring, just as it
would solid hardwood flooring.
- Never
allow anyone to walk across engineered hardwood
floors while wearing golf shoes with spikes, or
athletic spikes, you should also avoid wearing metal
tips, such as on tap shoes as this could mar the
floor’s finish.
- Keep
your pet’s nails clipped to help reduce
scratching.
Engineered wood floors can be refinished, however
because the top layer is thin, the flooring cannot be
sanded more than once.
If you take proper care of your flooring, whether
it is engineered, or solid hardwood flooring, you should
not have to worry about having it refinished—even if
you have pets and very rambunctious children.
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