As summer draws to a close and autumn/winter approaches, it’s important to take the right steps to protect your floors before it’s too late.
Hardwood floors are more important to protect because the temperature changes can be particularly tough on this type of flooring. Although we are going to talk about how to protect your floors as a whole, we will focus a lot on how to protect your hardwood floors.
Tip 1: Invest in a good doormat
This tip is simple but effective. It will help reduce the amount of dirt and debris brought into your space. Having a doormat or something protective at your entrance will help minimise the amount of dirt trodden inside, especially if you have a lot of people entering and exiting your building. If you have delicate flooring, a floor mat will help remove debris from your shoes that cause damage to your floors.
Dints and scratches are a lot hard to disguise on certain types of flooring. Minimising the risk of damage from your entry point is the first step we recommend that you take. Having a doormat on both the exterior and interior entry points will help reduce the damage to your floors.
Tip 2: Use a humidifier
A humidifier is the opposite of a dehumidifier, it ADDS moisture back. Whether you’re targeting one specific room or the building as a whole, a humidifier will be beneficial. When the weather gets considerably colder, the humidity levels drop. Due to the humidity levels dropping, your floorboards can contract, causing them to shrink. Around 40%-60% humidity should be just right to prevent your floorboards from shrinking.
Over time, the constant change in temperatures over the seasons can cause the wood to warp. This is something that you can’t change once it’s done. To prevent this damage from happening it’s important to take action as soon as the weather changes. This will help prevent any permanent damage to your hardwood floors.
Depending on the current ventilation in your building, your humidifier could need anywhere between 1.5 to 12 gallons of water per day to keep the humidity at a normal level and make up for lost moisture. This amount is for an average-sized home, so you can imagine the water a large commercial building would need to make up for lost moisture.
Tip 3: Sweep, hoover and then mop
Sweep, hoover and then mop. The order of this is really important. If you begin to mop over an area that isn’t clean, you are just going to drag and scratch the debris over the floor you’re cleaning. It ultimately does more harm than good.
Depending on the size of your building and how high traffic it is, would determine if this would be a daily job or not. The longer you leave it the more likely it’ll cause damage to your floors from daily traffic throughout your premises.
This isn’t necessarily just for hardwood floors, this goes for vinyl and carpets as well. Obviously, you won’t be mopping the carpet, but keeping on top of the hoovering will stop dirt from making a permanent home in your nice carpets and take away from their plushness.
If you’re in need of timber floor restoration or perhaps completely new flooring to look after this Autumn and Winter, contact our team today who will be sure to help you pick your perfect floor.
