How to take care of hardwood floors

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hello team,
My family and I bought our first house six months ago. The main level has dark brown hardwood floors throughout. I've been using a floor cleaner on a monthly basis. I was wondering if there is any wax/sealer that I should be using on a regular basis. Are there any products out there that can help maintain the wood as well as protect it from daily wear That I can apply by hand? I am afraid that both of my dogs combined with my baby son will make a mess of the floors within short notice if I don't protect them as best as possible!

Thank you
 
Don't use wax. That will make the floors slick.

Are the floors the regular hardwood strips that get sanded and refinished or the prefinished strips or planks that are available?
 
Nothing except for rugs will protect the hardwood from scratches from dog nails. Get some sliding saucers to put under furniture when moving. Ask wife to use them rather than dragging. My wife likes to rearrange. (Often). Felt under legs of chairs. Slippers in the house that never go outside. Or socked feet.

Look for Bona floor products. We use that brand. They have cleaner and polish. Never wash the floors. Just clean with the Bona cleaner that gets them slightly damp.

Runners & rugs.
 
I put engineered hardwood in a condo of mine several years back. I cleaned (mopped) them with the Zep hardwood cleaner from Home Depot periodically and they always looked great, and it was low effort. Lots of runner carpets and area carpets in high traffic areas. Also makes nice contrast and looks good besides protecting those zones.

Dogs will kill any hardwood quickly if their claws are long and the dogs are heavy. Nasty gouges, engineered or solid. I OTOH had two dachshungs at the time and no issues. My parents' Goldens would ravage them, though.

Quote
Felt under legs of chairs.


Oh yeah, that, too. Felt under any furniture standing on the wood - beds, tables, chairs, magazine rack, etc.
 
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You can decrease dog claw damage by using one of those rotary (dremel like or even a dremel) sanders to get rid of sharp nail edges. It won't eliminate wear but will reduce it.
 
How often should polish be used? Is it similar to car polish where it takes a thin layer off the top?
 
Originally Posted by FirstNissan
How often should polish be used? Is it similar to car polish where it takes a thin layer off the top?


I've never polished mine. Don't do anything except clean them with hardwood floor cleaner from the local grocery store. They look great after 16 years.
 
Engineered floors are designed to be replaced, not maintained. You can't really immerse wood floors in liquid, so that rules out "waxing" them like you would linoleum, tile or terrazzo. The best thing you can do is keep them clean and stop heavy, pointy things from falling on them.

They will take their beating and then when they are worn out and out of date they can be replaced. That's why you never see solid floors anymore, I'm not sure you can change their colour very easily.
 
How would they fare with those old fashioned paste waxes? That's assuming they could still be found.
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We at least vac/dust weekly, if not more frequently and use Bona cleaner with a microfiber pad once a month. Not much can be done for protection of hardwood floors. We had runners and carpets in the past, but those too caused damage to the floors with time.

It would not be unexpected to refinish floors in 10,15,20 yrs depending on traffic and usage. The best is keeping them clean regularly (avoiding grinding in dirt) and removing outdoor footwear inside.
 
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My folks use this on their hardwood floors to keep them looking great and to stand up to the wear/tear from their big dog. They have real oak hardwood that are finished.
https://www.amazon.com/Rejuvenate-Restorer-Scratches-Protects-Restores/dp/B000LX892C

I haven't used anything on mine since we got them sanded and refinished 6 years ago when we moved in, we have the older thin strip wood floors. Floors look great still.
Just cleaning them with mild floor cleaner and that's it for me. We also treat them with care etc.
 
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re: baby son.
-make sure spilled liquids don't stay (more than 30 minutes).
-none of your tools in his hands
-none of the kitchen tools in his hands
-none of the grandparents give him pointy/corner-y toys
-no seashells in his hands
-no things/stuff higher then 3 feet of the ground that he can knock

or protect to your best, use sacrificial runners + rugs (with non-slip pads under!!!) and budget for a refinish when you sell or kid's grown up.

Experience: solid bamboo and two kids and their friends....
 
I clean our hardwood with tea. I boil a couple litres of water and let it cool to room temperature with two bags of black tea. I then submerge a micro fiber cloth in the cooled tea and wring it out so the cloth is moist, not super wet. It does an amazing job and doesn't leave a greasy residue.
 
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When we tore up the carpet from the bedrooms and hall way to put down new carpet I couldn't believe how beautiful the wood floors were so instead of putting carpet down we had a guy come in and sand it all down and he used a product called gym floor, I think that's what he called it but we are very happy with it and you can barley see the scratches from the dogs nails. It wasn't cheap but that was 15 years ago and it still looks great. For clean up we just use a wet cloth, it's some tuff stuff.
 
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Originally Posted by Duffyjr
When we tore up the carpet from the bedrooms and hall way to put down new carpet I couldn't believe how beautiful the wood floors were so instead of putting carpet down we had a guy come in and sand it all down and he used a product called gym floor, I think that's what he called it but we are very happy with it and you can barley see the scratches from the dogs nails. It wasn't cheap but that was 15 years ago and it still looks great. For clean up we just use a wet cloth, it's some tuff stuff.




Probably gym finish. The cost is just a little more than the usual Swedish finish that is applied but the durability and shine are worth it.
 
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