Hardwood floors in Toronto homes are about to experience an increase in foot traffic with the arrival of summer. Summer brings all kinds of opportunities for fun and adventure, but that also means there’s more opportunities to accidentally damage to your hardwood flooring.
While it’s always important to be mindful of damaging your hardwood flooring, we’ve compiled a list of some specific summer maintenance tips to help hardwood floors in Toronto homes continue to look their best.
Summer Maintenance For Hardwood Flooring
Between sun, water, humidity, and extra dirt and debris tracked through the house, hardwood floors can be more vulnerable to water stains, scratches, and fading in the summer months.
Humidity
It’s normal for wood floors to swell and shrink from humidity, but repeated exposure to high humidity can crack or cause cupping to the floor boards. Hardwood flooring in Toronto can certainly be affected by humidity, as we tend to have many humid days in July and August.
During periods of high humidity, you can use a dehumidifier to remove moisture from the air. In addition, your air conditioner will also play a part in maintaining an ideal humidity range for your wood floors, so consider turning it on during peak periods of hot and humid weather. If you do notice significant cupping, contact a hardwood flooring expert for assistance.
Water Spills
Between pools, hot tubs, sprinklers, and surprise summer storms, it’s hard not to track in a water during the summer months. Unfortunately, water puddles can cause water damage to hardwood floors.
To keep the extra water off of your hardwood, put breathable rugs by all your exterior doors. It is a good idea to keep a soft towel by the door to clean up spills as soon as possible. And for homes with a pool or a hot tub, make sure that family members and guests dry off before entering the house.
Sand And Dirt
Sand and dirt that gets tracked in from shoes, clothes, or skin can damage your finish and may cause scratches your hardwood flooring. While it’s impossible to keep all small debris off of your floors, you can minimize the damage by asking everyone to take off their shoes at the door. Putting a door mat outside your front door will also encourage people to wipe their feet before entering.
For debris that is tracked in, vacuum or sweep it immediately so it’s not dragged across your floor.
Find Luxury Engineered Hardwood Flooring in Toronto
In addition to properly caring for your flooring, one of the best ways to ensure that you’ll have beautiful looking hardwood floors is to start with a high-quality product. European Flooring offers a wide range of woods in different product widths and surface finishes that will augment any type of space and style. To get a true understanding of our quality flooring options, visit our designer showroom in Toronto and explore our engineered hardwood collections or contact us to request a design consultation.