The secret to beautiful floors is proper maintenance and the one key procedure common to all types of hardwood floors and finishes is Preventive Maintenance.

Preventive Maintenance includes the following:

Use protective walk-off mats at the exterior doors to help prevent sand and grit from walking onto the floor. Also, if your kitchen has wood floors, you may want to place a throw rug in front of the sink to catch spills and splashes.

Install proper floor protectors on furniture legs used on hardwood floors. Protectors will allow chairs to move easily over the floor without scuffing. Clean the protectors on a regular basis to remove any grit that may have become embedded. We carry a complete line of floor protectors to fit any size furniture.

Vacuum regularly. A soft bristle brush attachment works beautifully. Do not use a household dust treatment as they contain oils that can harm the floor. Simply sweep the floor as needed.

Never wet mop a hardwood floor. Excessive water causes wood to expand, possibly damaging the flooring. Finishes are to protect the stain and face of the wood. They are not bonding or waterproofing products.

Keep high heel shoes in good repair. Heels that have lost their protective cap, thus exposing the fastening nail, will exert over 8,000 pounds per square inch of pressure on a floor. That's high enough to damage any type of floor covering.

Specific Finishes:

Waterborne finishes
We have cleaners that are specifically made for waterborne finishes and are easy to use. Just spray and wipe clean. We do not recommend the use of furniture dusting products, oil soaps or other harsh cleaning products. Waxing is not necessary or recommended on waterborne finished floors. When it becomes time to recoat, we recommend calling our office so we can follow up as needed on your specific floor.

OSMO hardwax finished floors
Properly maintained, a Hardwax oil finish will last indefinitely. As with any floor finish, vacuum regularly, using a soft bristle brush. Wipe away sticky spills and dirt with a cloth or mop dampened with OSMO Wash and Care diluted in water. Be sure to wipe the floor dry, and don't let water stand on the floor. Over time, high traffic areas such as kitchen, main entries and stairways will show wear. Timely attention restores the original finish. We can provide the service of cleaning and restoring your hardwax finished floors.

Trip Trap finished floors
It is common to all floors that they have to be cleaned at regular intervals with Trip Trap Soap. With its high content of solid matter, the soap prevents the oiled surface from drying out and covers the floor with a protective shield in the upper layer of the pore system. When needed, we can provide renovation with a maintenance oil. This is easily done with Trip Trap Maintenance oil in natural or white or Ecological Oil. The oil is worked well into the wood surface, either from hand or with a floor machine. The wood floor will absorb the required quantity of new oil to guarantee saturation.