Prevent Winter Weather Damage on Your Hardwood Floors

Is the winter weather making your skin feel dry and cracked? When the temperature drops, so does the amount of moisture in the air. Dry air leaves your skin parched and begging for hydration. The frigid temperatures can have the same effect on your hardwood floors. The lack of humidity in the air can cause the wood to dry out and contract. If this happens, gaps can appear between planks, changes in the finish may become noticeable and other problems may become present as well.

To avoid these issues and extend the life of your flooring, consider installing a whole home humidifier. A whole home humidifier will keep the finish of your hardwood floors from splitting and cracking and it can provide just the right amount of humidity in your home. Portable humidifiers can often only humidify one or two rooms, so if your whole house or downstairs consists of hardwood floors, it won’t protect every room. Portable humidifiers are also very noisy and time consuming. You will have to refill the water regularly and clean the humidifier every few days. No one has time for that.

Here are some other ways you can protect your hardwood floors through the next few weeks of winter:

• Take off those snow boots and rain boots before walking across your floors. It seems like common sense, but how many times have you neglected to take off your boots after a walk through the snow only to realize you have a trail of puddles behind you? The salt in the snow you just brought into the house is now all over your hardwood floor and if you don’t clean it up in time it will stain.
• Do not use water to clean your hardwood floors. Soaps, detergents and oil-based cleaners are also bad for your wood floors. Do not use tile floor cleaner or wax either. Make sure you are cleaning your hardwood floors with products recommended by your flooring manufacturer.
• Avoid dramatic temperature swings in the home and turn your heat down a few degrees. We understand that winter temperatures in the Midwest can get really cold, but blasting your heat is only adding to the lack of moisture in your home. The heat, combined with closed windows and doors is only drying out the air inside your home faster and will start to absorb the moisture from within your wood floorboards.

You can easily prevent winter weather damage on your hardwood floors. You invested a lot of money to install your hardwood floors, so you want to get your money’s worth. A whole home humidifier will keep your floors looking fresh all winter long. Not sure which floor cleaner you should be using on your hardwood floors? Call Tish Flooring at 317-879-TISH.