FLOORING PLUS ROCHESTER
The winter months bring holiday cheer. However, winter in most places also brings snow, low temperatures, and wood floor deterioration. One of the main issues that individuals with hardwood floors have to deal with is scratches from snow-melting materials and gaps in the flooring.
However, the concerns are not limited to homeowners. This is the time of year when hardwood floor contractors get calls from irate or perplexed clients who are having problems with their floors because of the winter.
Fortunately, there are steps you may take to prevent issues before they arise.
Take Care to Avoid Damage Caused by Water, Sand, or Salt.
People will bring snow and items that melt snow indoors when the weather outside is scary. These can lead to a variety of issues. If abrasive snow-melting particles are dragged over the floor, they will cause scratches. On floors, dried salt leaves an ugly white coating. Snowmelt water can harm a floor’s polish. Where does it stop?
During the winter, placing mats by all exterior doorways is the best approach to prevent damage to your hardwood flooring. These will lessen the quantity of salt, sand, and snow that is carried into your home. Better yet, request that visitors remove their shoes and place them on a waterproof mat close to the entrance. You should not be timid when it comes to safeguarding the integrity of your floors.
For business owners it’s not quite appropriate to request that their staff remove their shoes, therefore, purchasing a number of high-quality waterproof mats and promoting their use are particularly crucial. However, you can’t rely on a few mats to take care of everything for you. Throughout the winter, your floors will need to be protected with a little elbow grease. Vacuum frequently to get rid of sand and salt, especially around entrances.
Do Not be Alarmed by Gaps. In Fact, They are Normal.
The heating is turned up during the winter, and the air’s relative humidity decreases. Floors react to this. Solid hardwood floors adapt to changing environmental circumstances by moving in unison. When the humidity rises, they swell, and when it falls, they constrict. Thin cracks or spaces between the planks are frequently left by contracting floors throughout the winter. This is particularly true in harsher winters when the air is particularly dry and more heating is utilized indoors.
These gaps don’t really have a solution, but they’re usually not a reason for alarm. Contraction and expansion are wood’s natural reactions to the conditions in its environment. In fact, you risk having damaged floors if you don’t give wood the space it needs to move.
To try to raise the humidity in a room where gaps have emerged, you can install a humidifier. Alternatively, you might try raising the relative humidity in the whole house with a furnace humidifier. This might not be sufficient, though, to cause your floors to enlarge. Homeowners usually have to cope with flooring gaps caused by winter until spring returns. The flooring will expand once again after the heating is switched off and the relative humidity rises.
Consider putting laminate flooring if you or your clients don’t want to take the chance of gaps showing throughout the winter. Compared to solid wood, laminate hardwood floors move less and are less sensitive to their surroundings. Additionally, some wood species react less strongly to moisture than others.
The Key to Avoiding Excess Damage is Education.
Contractors that install hardwood floors should inform their customers about what to anticipate in the winter. Tell them that certain cracks and gaps are quite normal. Exhibit appropriate cleaning methods.
Owners of businesses and homes should also take responsibility for preventing excessive damage to their hardwood floors. Make it simple for visitors to leave sand, salt, and snow outside, where they belong, and clean often.
We welcome you to contact us to discuss your flooring options.
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