The beauty of a hardwood floor with fantastic color, aesthetic wood grain, and shining polyurethane finish is well known. The choice to either replace or refinish a hardwood floor, however, might not be so simple. Refinishing has drawbacks like creating a ton of dust. It also doesn’t fix other problems like some people expect it to.

Some homeowners believe they can refinish a wood floor by themselves at a much lower cost than hiring a flooring expert. However, the commercial tools required and the time polyurethane takes to cure can make this a much more cost-prohibitive and arduous process than most DIYers realize.

What Refinishing Hardwood Doesn’t Solve

Over the years, your wood floor expands and contracts in response to heat and cold, creating gaps between the floorboards. The refinished panels will still be in need of alignment, and the age of the floorboards could make this hard for the DIYer. In addition, the boards may be squeaking, and refinishing won’t fix this especially if the squeaks are from the wood the floorboards are resting on. Continue Reading →

Hardwood floor maintenance doesn’t require a lot of time. You do, however, want to be careful to fully protect your investment. The number one rule is to make sure you always use a wood floor cleaning product when it’s time to clean. Contrary to belief, other cleaning products for surfaces like tile and vinyl will not get the job done and may even damage the floor. Cleaning the floor regularly is actually quite easy. Learn the proper way of wood floor mopping to keep the surface spotless.

Wood Floor Mopping and Important Suggestions

Don’t mop a wood floor when the surface is wet. If there’s a spill, immediately wipe it up with a lightly moist cloth. You won’t want a full wet cleaning because it may dull the finish and leave a wet residue that could affect the color of the wood. Continue Reading →

Do you have wall-to-wall carpeting and are contemplating changing to a hardwood floor? Keep in mind, though, that wood flooring may not be appropriate for certain rooms. These rooms may be too humid or just get too much traffic, leading to eventual spot repairs and even some plank replacement.

In the Whatcom County area, we have our fair share of rainfall. Some people consider only the looks when choosing new flooring and even want hardwood in the vestibule or an enclosed porch. The dampness of year-round weather, however, may make it better to have a laminate flooring product in these kinds of areas.

Laminate vs. Wood Flooring

Laminate planks are made primarily of fiberboard and heated resin with the texture of wood grain embedded on the surface to mimic wood. In a large area, you can see repetitions of these patterns over and over. A smaller room like a vestibule will afford minimal chance to notice this. Hardwood planks and engineered hardwood both keep the natural wood grain and texture, so they will look better in those larger rooms. Continue Reading →