- Wipe up spills immediately. The longer you let spills sit on your hardwood floor, the harder it will be to remove and the better the chances it will do damage to your floors.
- Use doormats, both interior and exterior, to collect any moisture and dirt that is on the bottom of your guests' shoes.
- It is winter afterall; for those of us in the northern half of the US, it means there is snow and ice on the ground.
- Place area rugs in spots of your floor that are considered high traffic points.
- In front of food, sinks, fridges, etc. If you think a lot of people will be in an area, then put a rug there.
- Consider a dehumidifier because it will reduce the amount of humidity produced by all the moisture outside and the body heat inside.
- Do not let water, either being brought in from outside due to the snow or from spills, sit on your floors for extended periods of time (we have already mentioned this). However, in addition to it doing damage to the floors if you let it sit but it can also create a dangerous surface for your guests- they can slip.
Palatine Hardwood Flooring company Chicagoland Pro has been in business for over 25 years and is run by owner Wayne Warnicke. Wayne, a professional hardwood flooring expert, is personally involved with every project and oversees every job while participating in each part of the installation, sanding and refinishing processes.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Hardwood Flooring Cleaning Tips (for NYE)
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Winter Options for Hardwood Flooring
The options you have to solve the cold feet problem range from simple to more creative.
- The first option you have is to use socks and/or slippers. If you would rather not cover up your hardwood flooring at all and just wear socks and/or slippers in the house, then that is a good option.
- The second option you have to solve this problem is by purchasing some rugs. You can find rugs in any shape, size, and color. You can get your rugs to match any upholstery or just a nice general color that compliments your rooms.
- Your third option is to purchase carpeting tiles. Carpeting tiles are just what they sound like, tiles of carpet that you easily install and can then uninstall when you no longer want them in. The perk to these is that if there is a stain one of them, you only have to replace one or however many are stained.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Fixing the Scratches in Your Hardwood Floors
- Figure out how deep the scratch is. This is an important step in figuring out what to do next. Most scratches are only in the finish of the wood or at deepest, the surface level of the wood. Most scratches are not in the underpart of the wood, past the surface level, since those are considered cracks or gauges and they often require replacing that piece of wood or possibly a small section of the hardwood flooring. You will indeed know if the scratch is actually a gauge or a crack since they are such large imperfections in your floors.
- Clean the area. The scratch area, like a scratch on a person, requires cleaning before you can start to repair the area. The reason for needing to clean the floors is because you want to remove any dirt that is in the area that will inhibit the repair from going smoothly.
- Hide the scratch. If it is not time to refinish the floors and you would rather wait to fix the scratch until it is actually time to refinish the floors, then you have a few options.
- The first is to hide the scratch with a permanent marker; these come in a wide variety of colors at stores and so you can find one that is similar if not exactly the color of your hardwood floors.
- The second option is to find a stain marker. You can find these in flooring stores and hardware stores in colors that are going to match your hardwood flooring color.
- Reapply some of the stain from the staining. If you have some of the stain laying around, go ahead and reapply some. You can do this with a cotton swab, cotton ball, something that will gently apply the stain but not leave any of itself behind.
- Get a fix-it kit. Generally, flooring companies have fix-it kits they can give you to fix the scratch if you have a scratch that will not go away, even after you have tried the other home remedies.
- What if you have deeper scratches? To fix the larger or deeper scratches, get a fine grade sandpaper and rub the area. Make sure to follow the direction of the grain and move the sandpaper in a circular motion. After that, wipe the area with a damp cloth to clean the area, then allow it to dry. Once the area is dry, grab some stain and use a paint brush or whatever tool you used during the original staining and reapply some stain. Do it gently and then allow it to dry.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Keeping Your Hardwood Floors Clean During Fall
The first tip for keeping your hardwood floors clean is to vacuum them every few days or at least weekly. Dirt builds up on floors very quickly and so do things like leaves. Even when you have a floor mat to wipe your feet off, sometimes things like leaves can still stick to the bottom of your shoes and make their way onto your hardwood floors. This issue compounds when you have pets that go inside and outside, such as dogs. Dogs are shameless and so they do not care, usually, about having some dirt on them and especially on their paws. While having dogs is a blessing, usually, they can make keeping your floors clean a magic act if you do not take the time to vacuum them every few days or once a week. It may seem silly but consider this, the dust and dirt that is brought into the house from outside acts like sandpaper on your floors; as the dirt sits on your floors and is pressed into the floors by people and pets walking on it, it grinds its way into your beautiful floors and wears on the finish of your floors. Try using a vacuum attachment when you do the vacuuming so you do not have to bend over and hurt your back; also, using an attachment with a felt bottom can pick up the dirt and prevent scratching the floor as opposed to using just the metal pipe or a rotating attachment.
The second tip for keeping your hardwood floors clean is to keep the rain out of your house. When you have a lot of rain, it is bound to make its way into your house via feet; people are outside and then they come inside or your pets are outside and then they have to come in, etc etc. The point is, rain is hard to keep out of your house and the frustration to win the battle is often high. The reason you want to keep the rain out of your house is because the water can ruin the finish on your hardwood floors. Another reason you will want to keep the rain out of your house is because if the water is left on your floors or is constantly there, then the water can seep its way into your floors and stain them, or worse, warp them. What you can do to help reduce the amount of water getting into your home is to have a mat for people to wipe their feet, encourage people to take off their shoes as soon as they step inside and wipe up any water that is on the floor. Have a designated spot for people to leave their shoes that are wet and make sure the area is able to handle water or at least keep it dry enough so the water does not ruin that spot.
The third tip to keeping your hardwood floors clean during fall is to keep the residue off the floor with a wax-free floor cleaner. This is something you can keep on hand for those quick fixes. For example, say someone spills a little juice on the floor, you can wipe up the juice with a paper towel or something but there is still some residue left on the floor from the juice; what you do is grab the wax-free floor cleaner and then spray a bit on the spot where the residue is and then clean. It may sound like more work than is necessary but the truth is, just wiping up a liquid that can leave a residue with a paper towel is not completely cleaning the area and so your floor finish can get ruined by the left-behind junk.
The fourth tip to keeping your hardwood floors clean during the fall months is to use a couple doormats. Now, early I mentioned how things can still get into your house and onto your hardwood floors even with the doormats but the truth is that things will be much worse if you do not use them at all. One thing you can try doing is to have extra long running mats on the floor; these mats are great for keeping things off the wood floors since by the time the person is done walking on the mat, they have walked at least 10 feet! Any dirt left on their shoes at that point is going to stay on their shoes.
The fifth tip to keeping your hardwood floors clean is to refinish the floors. If all else fails and the floors lose the battle against the elements, you may have to simply refinish the floors. You can either hire a service to do it or there are DIY ways to do it.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Refinishing Your Hardwood Floors 101
Have you been wondering how to do hardwood restoration at home? Well this blog will give you a few quick tips that can help you handle your hardwood floors .
The first tip is that you have to pick the right hardwood floor sander. If you are new to this sort of thing, then choosing any orbital sander is your safe bet; while these kinds of sanders do take longer to remove finish than drum sanders, they are more user-friendly. The reason orbital sanders are better for novices is because you can move them with or against the grain of the wood, it doesn't matter. The only precaution is that you keep the sander level while using it or you can have uneven sanding.
The second tip is to be careful & take precautions. Because of the amount of dust that is generated while doing hardwood refinishing , you should have plenty of dust masks, earplugs, and eye protection. Please, do not do the sanding without these things or the dust can get in your eyes, lungs & airways, ears and the sanders can be loud and damage your hearing. When applying the finish liquid, make sure to wear appropriate respirators, gloves (neoprene or vinyl).
The third tip is to be gentle. Don't be too aggressive with your hardwood while sanding them. Generally, you want to start with a lower grit count and then move them up as you progress your sanding and reach the desired fineness.
The fourth tip is to the careful while applying the finish. A good way to make sure you do the finish evenly is to go row by row on your hardwood floors . This way, you minimize the risk of over-coating while doing the floors . It is better to use thinner coats than thick coats while doing this stage.
Enjoy doing your own hardwood flooring refinishing and consult a pro if you run into any problems or questions.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Dogs and Hardwood Floors
If you have a pet, you will want to get pre-finished hardwood floors. This will keep dirt and such out of the fibers in your floors. An option for pre-finished wood floors that will tolerate your pets will be laminate floors, such as pergo.
Another thing to remember is to get hardwood floors, not softwood. No matter what you do to softwood floors, such as pine, you won't be able to prevent the floor from getting destroyed.
Brazilian walnut floors are good for pets as well since it is dense. This floor is so dense that people have even been known to use it for exterior decks.
Another option to have nice floors that can take a beating, look to hard maple. You can count on this type of flooring being able to handle what you can dish out because it is often used for basketball courts.
An option that is durable that not many people have caught onto yet is bamboo flooring. This is a durable type of flooring because despite actually being a grass, not wood, it has resin mixed with the strands of bamboo that make the flooring very hard.
Hope you enjoy your great new floors and your pets!
Monday, June 24, 2013
Hardwood Flooring Textures: Brushed, Bandsaw and Tumbling
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Summer Hardwood Flooring Maintenence
summer when humidity is high, air conditioners are running, and we're constantly cleaning muddy shoe prints up. The constant heat, cold, and wet conditions can take their toll after a while, but there are ways to keep your
Hardwood Floor Refinishing and Repair is the best way to keep your hardwood floors looking as good as new, and Chicagoland Pro, a Palatine Hardwood Flooring Contractor, is the way to go.
Our hardwood flooring company recommends that you seeks Chicagoland Pro as for Palatine hardwood flooring maintenance company. Maintenance during the summer months in more important than most people realize. This is because the floors tend to wear out more and even the most carefully installed floor can expand during the summer months and cup or buckle due to the high moisture and the humidity in the air.
One of our other hardwood flooring tips is that we do recommend that you vacuum your hardwood floors. Vacuuming the floors allows for dirt or dust that is trapped to be sucked up and disposed of which a broom cannot reach. However, if you are vacuuming your hardwood floors we strongly recommend that you use the bare floor attachment and not to roll the vacuum across the floors because this could also damage your flooring.
Also, the strong summer sun is very damaging to hardwood flooring. Many of our calls are for hardwood flooring restoration due to sun damaging the floors from the shades of blinds never being drawn down or closed. Direct sunlight to hardwood flooring can lead to discoloring the floor.
If you want to protect your floor and keep it looking beautiful for as long as possible, have one of our Palatine hardwood flooring installation experts tell you what the best products are to clean and care for your floor. We want to advise you against using wax, detergents or any oil based soaps which will or could damage the finishing on your floor. Hardwood flooring refinishing is a great option for anyone interested in getting the beautiful luster and charm back to the floors. Our hardwood flooring company can tell you exactly what products to use that are designed for your flooring. Do not just rely on any product or water alone because when certain products evaporate, they can cause hardwood flooring stains.
If you have any questions about your hardwood floors, or if you are interested in hardwood flooring maintenance or hardwood flooring restoration, comment below or contact our Palatine hardwood flooring company.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Why You Should Choose Walnut Flooring
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Considerations with Hardwood Flooring Refinishing
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Radiant Flooring
Can make for a more comfortable room
Perhaps you or someone you know has a home that is constantly cold. No matter how much you turn up the heat, the house remains cold. Having a drafty house happens. Cold homes are typically the result of a home that isn't insulated very well. Radiant, or heated flooring, can make a room much more comfortable without the need to jack up the heating. Homeowners that have radiant flooring talk about how nice it is to step onto warm bathroom tiles on those cold winter mornings. While we may not be radiant flooring people ourselves, we can see how it would be a nice edition to a cold, drafty home.
Resale value
Every upgrade you put into your home gives it the potential to have a higher resale value later on down the line. With this in mind, radiant flooring could be a nice addition if you plan on selling your home later. An upgrade like heated flooring could certainly usher in some bids on your home for those buyers who want heated floors.
Quiet operation
One of the most commonly asked questions in regards to radiant flooring is "Is it loud?" Surprisingly many homeowners and radiant installers alike report little to no sound from the flooring. Compared to forced-air or radiator systems, radiant flooring is considerably quieter.
Gives homeowners the ability to use forced-air and radiator systems less often
Rather than continually running the heat all winter long, radiant flooring gives homeowners the ability to run their heat less, which is nice for homeowners looking to save some money on heating bills. It also eliminates the dust and allergens that are associated with forced-air.
Have radiant flooring in your home? Let us know what you think of it in a comment below or contact us.
Palatine Hardwood Flooring Company
Palatine Hardwood Flooring
Chicago Hardwood Flooring Company
Chicago Hardwood Flooring