Floor Care

Proper maintenance extends your floor's life

If you own your home, then you probably spend a significant amount of time on cleaning and maintenance activities - and why not? It's a well-known fact that proper home maintenance will make your house more attractive to prospective buyers should you choose to sell it, and it simply enhances your family's enjoyment of the home while you live in it. What's more, cleaning and maintaining your home can save you money by preventing more costly repairs.

One of the major areas of maintenance is often the floor. Whether you have a hardwood floor, carpet, ceramic tile, cement or even something as exotic as bamboo or cork - flooring tends to see a lot of use. From bare feet to booted feet to the "feet" of tables, chairs and other home fixtures, our floors see much harder use than most other parts of our homes. And since there's so much to be done to adequately maintain your carpeted or hardwood floor, these areas are among the most frequently neglected as well.

Taking care of your flooring isn't so difficult, though. Aside from basic vacuuming, there are other floor cleaning options, such as steam-cleaning or commercial cleaning services like professional vacuuming. When steam-cleaning a carpet, it's always advisable to have a professional do the job, as they may have access to higher-grade, "industrial" equipment, rather than the consumer-level steam-cleaning machines available for rental at many grocery stores.

For hardwood cleaning, there are hardwood cleaning solvents and soaps available. Ask a handyman what floor cleaner is right for your floor (be sure not to get the wrong chemicals!). Ceramic and laminate floors can be even easier to look after, only requiring periodic vacuuming and mopping to minimize wear and tear while helping them retain their "brand-new" look.

Floor Protectors

Preventive maintenance for all types of flooring is important. For example, it's often a very good idea to purchase some type of floor covering for areas in your home that get high foot traffic. It makes sense - if you put some kind of cheap rug or carpet on your floor, that will be the thing that wears out over time (rather than the floor underneath).

Also, don't forget to close the blinds or window shades in order to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting your flooring at the brightest times of day. Ultraviolet (UV) rays can rapidly age wood or carpet fibers, fading and breaking down your floors or floor coverings.

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