Learning how to clean hardwood floors helps to protect your home investment. While it may seem daunting at first, caring for your floors is actually quite simple and only requires a few products.

This handy guide for hardwood floor maintenance will help you keep your floors pristine. With a few simple steps, you never have to worry about accidentally damaging your floors or needing to refinish them before their time.

Ready to make that hardwood shine? Read on!

How to Clean Hardwood With Preventative Care

The best advice for keeping hardwood floors in great shape is to practice good stewardship. Simple measures like removing shoes to prevent the tracking in of grime, using mats at the doors, and wiping up any spills or puddles will extend the life of your wood.

Additionally, keep scratches and scuffs to a minimum by using protective pads under furniture legs and rugs in high traffic areas.

A regular sweep with a microfiber or electrostatic dust mop is plenty for daily hardwood floor care. They help trap dust and particulate that has the potential to scratch the wooden planks. A vacuum with a special floor brush is perfect for a weekly or bi-weekly clean, as well.

Washing Hardwood Floors

For a deep clean, there are safe ways to mop hardwood floors that preserve the finish. High-traffic areas might need a weekly mop, while less-used areas are perfectly fine with a once-monthly wash.

Choose a mop intended specifically for hardwood floors, and use a wood floor cleaning solution such as Bona Hardwood Cleaner that is diluted to manufacturer’s instructions. Soak your mop in the cleaning solution, then wring completely out until it just feels damp. Make sure to mop with the grain of the wood.

When damp-mopping the floor, avoid over-saturating the wood or leaving any standing puddles that can warp the wood. If required per the cleaner’s instructions, run a damp mop with clean water to rinse away the cleaner. Use a dry towel to absorb any excess water, and run fans for expedited drying if the humidity is high.

There are many cleaning products intended specifically for wood floors, but you can make a simple cleaning solution yourself. Dilute one half cup vinegar in a gallon of water to make an inexpensive, effective floor cleaner.

Never use cleaners intended for other types of flooring, like vinyl or tile. These cleaners contain ingredients that can compromise the wood finish or leave residue on the surface. If desired, you can use a soft cloth in circular motions to buff the hardwood after mopping to bring out its shine.

Stain Removal for Hardwood Flooring

How you tackle stains depends largely on the finish of your hardwood flooring. Urethane coated floors are more protected from stain penetration, and often can be treated easily with a soft cloth and a wood-safe cleaner.

Oil-finished floors, common in older homes, are more prone to stains soaking into the wood. Washing hardwood floors without a durable finish may require additional steps to take care of pesky marks.

First, wipe the surface with a non-abrasive cloth to remove any top layers of stain. Then, take the following approaches depending on the situation.

For oily stains: Rub the stain with a soft cloth and slightly diluted mild dish soap to begin to break up the oils in the wood. Rinse with clean water, and repeat a few times if stain persists, as needed.

Pat dry afterward. Once the area is completely rinsed and dried out, be sure to smooth any raised woodgrain with fine sandpaper.

Dark stains, pet stains: Gently rub the stain with steel wool (#000) and floor wax for wood surfaces. You may apply diluted bleach or undiluted vinegar to remaining dark areas, letting the cleaner soak for up to an hour. Rinse thoroughly with a damp cloth afterward.

Heel or watermarks: Rub any scuffs or watermarks with #000 steel wool and floor wax to buff away the marks. If necessary, give the area a light sanding, followed by a mineral spirit wipe down.

These methods may have to be finished with stain, then followed by wax buffing to match the surrounding oiled wood.

Maintenance Keeps Floors Beautiful

Hardwood floors are an attractive, durable choice for any home. Not only can they increase the market value of any house, but they’re also a long-term investment for the life of your home.

While they may require occasional refinishing, hardwood floors are relatively easy to care for and maintain. And now that you know how to clean hardwood floors, you can take these simple steps to keep them beautiful for years to come.

Interested in other home flooring solutions? Visit us at My Affordable Flooring today to see your many options. We’ve helped thousands of homeowners maintain their hardwood floors in Milwaukee, Racine, and northern Illinois!

We’ve all come to expect sumptuous hardwood floors in our homes. Now it’s time to turn up the volume with some serious wood floor designs that will leave your visitors speechless.

Whether in the hall or the main living space, having on-trend wood floor designs can give your home the wow factor you’re looking for. So here’s a guide to the hottest wood floor designs in Milwaukee to help you find just the right one for your home.

1. Geometric Patterns

Taking parquet to the next level, parquet tiles are available in a number of striking geometric designs that scream class and individuality. Deceptively simple, with maximum impact, these tiles make use of pre-laid intricate designs on wooden tiles, interweaving light and dark woods to make stunning designs.

You can also use parquet to create highly detailed inlays to your custom geometric designs.

2. Herringbone Design

Chevron and herringbone designs are a fabulous way to take the same material and lift it to a new level of style.

Drawing the eye in, they may be a classic style, but some things never get tired. You can experiment with narrower and wider hardwood strips to create the look that will perfectly complement your space.

3. Painted Hardwood

Giving your hardwood floors a new lease on life or a distinctive look needn’t cost the earth. You can choose to have your hardwood floors painted in a tone to match your decor or choose a whitewashed or pastel shade to create a chic beach house feel wherever you are.

If you dare to be bold, consider painting a pattern onto your tiles (such as a checkerboard) or design your own stencils to leave a truly individual mark on a room.

4. Au Naturel

After years of stains, vibrant hues, and smoldering blacks and grays, the au naturel look is quietly undergoing a resurgence. It promises to be a major style in the years ahead.

Applying a protective coat of lacquer or oil enhances but does not alter the natural shades and variation found in hardwood. This helps the wood’s simple, natural beauty to shine through.

Choose a timeless classic such as oak, and your floors will pair well with the changing decorating styles in the years to come.

5. Bleached Wood

Your goal with a bleached wood floor is achieving a sun-bleached, naturally distressed look to your floors. This may scream summertime and elegant escapes by the sea, but this effect can look great year-round and is great for smaller rooms. Its light color reflects light and creates the illusion of space.

You can buy bleached wood or existing hardwood floors can be bleached to remove the natural color from them. Whatever you choose, it takes skill to get it right. Make sure you use a contractor you can trust.

Find Your Own Unique Style

Everybody may have hardwood floors these days, but that doesn’t mean yours need look like everyone else’s. These are just a few of the many great options available to personalize your floors and put your stamp on any room.

Head over to MyAffordableFloors.com to see our great range of products and services for all of your flooring needs. Or contact us for a free estimate today!

Wooden floors give a heart to your home, with their warm tones and rich woodgrain complexity. The problem many find with traditional hardwood floors, though, is they can be expensive, tricky to lay, and fairly high in maintenance.

If you want the look and feel of real wood without the restrictions and upkeep, then engineered hardwood flooring may just be for you. This floor type has the same qualities as timber but is easier to install, and it is more stable when in contact with heat or moisture.

Keep reading to find out what to look for if you want the best engineered hardwood flooring for your next floor.

Finding High-Quality Engineered Hardwood Flooring

1. The Thicker, the Better

Engineered hardwood is made up of two separate wood-based materials: the inner core consists of several layers of either hardwood, plywood or high-density fiberboard that are layered cross ways with each new board; and the finished surface is a thinner layer of hardwood.

Lower quality floors might have as few as three layers, while the best engineered hardwood flooring may boast up to 12. The more layers you have, the more resilient and durable your flooring will be, so bear that in mind when choosing your floor, with five layers being the minimum.

2. A Variety of Durable Hardwood Species

The purpose of engineered hardwood is to make your home both beautiful and functional, with minimum fuss. To this end, the best engineered hardwood flooring will only use durable, quality hardwood in its top layer.

The harder the top layer, the less resistant your floor will be to dings and scrapes, so choose an engineered flooring type that has a high Janka rating. Durable red oak is a favorite with wood-lovers and has a Janka rating of 1290, which is a good reference point to judge your engineered hardwood flooring choice against.

3. A Choice of Edges and Finishes

Once you’ve picked your wood, you’ll need to decide how it should look. A high patina means shiny floors, but it’ll also mean higher maintenance and more caution. A high-gloss finish will show up scratches and dents more easily. So, if you have pets, kids, or tend to walk around with your shoes on, you might want to choose a matte finish instead.

You can also choose the edge finish of your floorboards. Choose between traditional square edges, beveled edges to make each floorboard stand out, or micro-beveled edges for less deep and easier to keep clean.

4. A Long Lifespan

Engineered hardwood is one of the most durable flooring choices out there, with an estimated lifespan of 40 to 80 years for high-quality products.

The beauty of high-quality engineered wood is that, while it acquires those inevitable scuffs and scratches over time, you’ll be able to sand and refinish it. Low-quality versions will only take one refinish, but quality products can be refinished at least twice.

Choose the Best Engineered Hardwood Flooring

Engineered hardwood flooring is a popular choice for many homeowners and families today because of its durability, resistance to heat and moisture, and beautiful finish.

As homes with hardwood flooring are worth more in the real estate market, and engineered hardwood is still considered to be “real” wood, choosing this floor type will add value to your home when you come to sell it. So, when you’re ready to choose your engineered hardwood floor, keep these four key features in mind and you won’t go wrong.

Want to know how to maintain your hardwood floor? Take a look at these five key hardwood floor repairs you need to know about.

Are you considering hardwood floors for your home? Wood flooring has been used since 1600 AD. But, it wasn’t until the Baroque era that people began finishing them and using a variety of trees to create elegance and style.

Quality wood flooring is favorited by many as the preferred choice in today’s homes. The modern-day wood that is used in homes today comes in a wide range of types, shades, and sizes. And, there are a number of additional benefits associated with wood flooring that you may not realize. While hardwoods might cost more than your other options, there are several advantages that come with this investment.

Read on to find out more about the benefits of hardwood flooring!

Why Quality Wood Flooring is the Preferred Choice for Homeowners

Hardwood floors can enhance any home’s appearance with their natural, timeless beauty. But that’s not all. There are so many more reasons to consider quality wood flooring for your home.

Easy to Clean

When you have a spill, unlike carpet, it wipes up easily. And, unlike other types of flooring, wood floors rarely absorb stains. You can easily sweep away dust and dirt. And when you have accidents, even those abhorred offenders such as wine or mud will disappear almost instantly with a damp mop.

With carpet, similar spills might result in visible stains even after hours of scrubbing. And, if the accident was to go unnoticed, it may take a heavy-duty effort to make sure it won’t show on linoleum or other types of floors.

Increases Your Home’s Value

The investment quality is a convincing reason for anyone who is considering wood flooring. If you decide to sell your home in the future, you are more likely to see a greater return for wood floors. It is the most popular pick among buyers for all the reasons listed here and more.

According to USA Today, one study shows that 54% of buyers are willing to pay more for a home with hardwood floors. And over one-fourth of buyers up to age 54 consider wood flooring to be a “very important” factor when looking for a home.

Improved Air Quality

All of those stains and spills accumulated on carpet can produce odors and collect bacteria. Dust particles, pet dander, odors, and bacteria invade the air we breathe. Over time, these invaders can cause health hazards such as allergies, contagious illnesses, and cause breathing and respiratory issues.

Since hardwoods don’t absorb this type of buildup and they can be swept easily to eliminate particle accumulation, you tend to have improved air quality. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) even reports that wood floors are hypoallergenic, which is a huge advantage for anyone who suffers from allergies.

Long Lasting

One of the reasons that hardwoods have been trusted in homes for centuries is because of their strength and durability. Quality wood flooring can last a lifetime.

Scratches and dents tend to be rare with hardwoods, but it does happen. Fortunately, a scratch or nick can be easily fixed without replacement. In contrast, if a tile cracks or linoleum is torn or lifted, often it requires extensive effort to remove the damaged area and replace it with an exact match or re-do the entire floor.

As your floors age and begin to lose their luster, you can refinish hardwood. After refinishing, your floors will look brand new again. This can be done multiple times, which is how old wooden floors can continue to maintain their beauty.

Pick the Perfect Wood Floor for Your Home

If you’re ready to take a look at the beautiful hardwood flooring options available, we can help. We offer a variety of wood colors, sizes, types, and prices to fit any home’s style and budget. The natural wood grain designs offer a unique element that nothing else can match in comparison.

Check out our site to take a look at available options, schedule a free estimate, or send us a message. We want to help you find the perfect, timeless hardwood floor that you will want to come home to!

Over half of all homebuyers are willing to pay more for a home that has hardwood floors.

Expanding hardwood floor coverage is often a great idea because it increases the value of a home. But, if your existing floor is more than 5 years old, its appearance has likely changed due to oxidation and wear.

Unfortunately, awkward transitions between preexisting and newly covered areas create an inharmonious look.

Read on for a quick guide on how to match hardwood floors!

What to Consider

It’s difficult to match hardwood floors by eyeballing floorboards. Here are the three factors you should look at if you want a consistent floor throughout your home:

Thickness of the Floor

For aesthetic purposes, you want to ensure that your new floor is the same thickness as your existing floor. A hardwood floor is generally 3/4″ thick, but you can opt for other sizes. However, make sure the thickness of your subfloor doesn’t vary.

If your new boards aren’t pre-finished, you don’t have to worry so much about the thickness.

New floorboards tend to have a thicker profile, and you can always sand them down so they match. You just need at least 1/32 of an inch to work with in order to sand them properly.

If one floor is only slightly thicker than the other, you can use transition strips to introduce a smooth slope between the two floors. In particular, reducer transition strips work well for this type of situation.

Type of Wood

When attempting to match hardwood floors, you want to find out the species of your current hardwood.

Oak is the most popular hardwood flooring species, but there are two types of oak: red oak and white oak. Other common flooring wood species include hickory, walnut, maple, yellow pine, and mahogany.

Even after you figure out the species of the wood, you need to determine the grade as well. For example, the four most common grades of oak are No. 1 Common, No. 2 Common, Clear, and Select.

Width of the Planks

The width of the planks also plays a significant role in the appearance of the floor. Wider planks make a room seem larger, but they often look out of place when paired with thinner planks.

The standard width of oak flooring can range anywhere from 2 1/4″ to 5″. Use a tape measure to find out the width of your existing planks.

That said, you can use wider planks in one room if you’re trying to distinguish it from another.

Refinishing or Finishing

Due to its photosensitivity, wood reacts to sunlight. As a result, some types of wood become darker over time, whereas other types become lighter. This means that it will be difficult to find wood that perfectly matches your existing floor.

Hardwood floor refinishing may be a necessary step. You’ll need to strip your old floor and finish both of them at the same for the best results. If you cannot strip your old floor, you also have the option to use a custom mixed stain on the new floor to match the look of the old one.

Final Thoughts on How to Match Hardwood Floors

In some cases, contrasting floors can also work well. Just make sure to use transition strips, or t-moldings, to accomplish smooth transitions. However, reach out to a professional installer first. They can help you find the right species, grade, thickness, and color to match your existing floor.

If you want your hardwood floor to have a seamless appearance, don’t hesitate to contact us today!