Why Do My Hardwood Floors Scratch So Easily

Many of my customers in westchester county ask me how to prevent scratching in hardwood flooring so i thought i would provide some tips.

Why do my hardwood floors scratch so easily.

Insufficient drying equals delamination and easily scratched floor. While you probably don t have the time to tackle a detailed floor cleaning more than once every week or so you should give your hardwood some tlc throughout the week to keep it. Wood floors are a prized element in many homes because of their beauty warmth and durability but some homeowners may be concerned about how easily wood flooring will scratch. Besides vacuuming and mopping the only other maintenance i do is to fix the occasional small scratch.

Anyone that tells you the hardwood won t scratch isn t telling the truth. These finishes easily absorb water and water can warp wood floors so use only solvent based cleaning products instead of water based ones on floors with penetrating finishes. Drying is much faster so if allowed to dry overnight there is a low to no risk of adhesion issues. We have wood floors that were installed 5 or 6 years ago.

But like wood bamboo can be scratched and it is prone to cracking in conditions where humidity levels swing dramatically. Hardwood floor finish is peeling off. First let me caveat this by saying that all hardwood scratches. The hardest and most scratch resistant species such as ipe cumaru and jatoba come from the tropics and they typically score 3 000 pounds or more domestic hardwoods and raw bamboo on the other hand are about half as hard.

Softwoods such as pine fir and carbonized bamboo rarely score more than 1 000 pounds making them particularly vulnerable to scratching. I love having hardwood floors. We have them in every room but the kitchen and bathroom and they are generally very easy to keep clean. It s just a matter of time.

As a flooring material bamboo has many of the same benefits and drawbacks of hardwood flooring like wood flooring bamboo is an attractive natural material that generally adds real estate value to a home. The flooring company advised that cleaning products such as murphy s oil soap which i used on my floors will penetrate the finished wood in scratches and deep. Duraseal quick coat which has a 2 hour drying time has ethanol denatured alcohol. It s a big job and one best left to hardwood floor pros who will charge about 1 50 to 4 per square foot to refinish the floor.

Start by busting dust. I had them recently recoated and the coating is peeling off. Hardwood floors are always in style now seemingly more so than ever. I would never suggest a homeowner rent a sander and do this.