Hardwood Floor Care

Hardwood floors add charm and beauty to almost any room, but like any other flooring, they need regular care to maintain their quality appearance. If you've been planning to perk up your hardwood floor, but you thought you'd have to pay someone to refinish it, think again. There are several minor fixes you can make yourself and with regular maintenance your old hardwood can continue to age gracefully.

All wood floors start with a wood base, whether pre-finished or not. The two most popular surface materials are solid planks or parquet tiles. Solid plank-type wood, which fits together in tongue-and-groove fashion, is thick and allows for more wear and tear. Parquet flooring, a popular choice about 20 or 30 years ago, is thin and less resistant to damage. The layout of the wood pieces on parquet make it hard to refinish as well.

The most important factor to consider before caring for your floor is figuring out which type of finish it has. The hardwood floors in older homes are more likely to have varnish, shellac or lacquer finish while newer floors are more likely to have used polyurethane. Here's a quick way to determine what type of finish you have: Take a cotton ball and soak it in acetone-based fingernail polish or straight acetone, then lightly rub the cotton ball in an inconspicuous place on the floor. Examine the cotton ball and the floor. If the floor is tacky to the touch and the cotton ball has stain on it, the finish is probably varnish, shellac or lacquer. If the floor is not tacky and the cotton ball remains clean, it's probably polyurethane.

Daily Maintenance
For all types of floors, regular sweeping and mopping is best. Keep in mind that water and wood don't mix, so keep the moisture on the floor to minimum. One thing you shouldn't do is damp-mop waxed floors. For added protection, keep area rugs at entryways and in heavy-traffic areas. Also, remember that high-heeled shoes and boots are deadly to wood floors. Since wood is a natural product, it can be indented if it endures too much pressure.

Cleaning Polyurethane Floors
For spills on polyurethane floors, use a nonabrasive liquid cleaner and soft cloth. Shoe marks and scuffs can be removed by applying a liquid cleaner to the spot. Let it sit for a few seconds, then buff it out lightly with a very fine "0000" steel pad. Complete the cleanup by applying a nonwax finish product that the manufacturer of the floor recommends.

Cleaning Shellacked, Lacquered or Varnished Floors
Cleanup jobs on shellacked, lacquered or varnished floors require a special paste wax. Simply rub the scuff or mark with the paste wax then allow it to dry. Buff the area with a clean, soft cloth. You'll probably want to apply a new coat of wax every four to six months, depending on the traffic on the flooring.

Repairs
Scratches and scrapes come with the territory when owning hardwood floors. But if treated correctly, you will never know any of the blemishes existed. Here are a few options to repairing unsightly marks:

• A touch-up stick that is made of wax can be used to color in the affected areas. Simply color the scratch with the stick, and then come back with a putty knife or credit card and gently scrape away the excess. Finish by buffing the area.

• Home improvement stores sell markers that are similar to colored markers but contain wood stain instead. Use these markers to color the scratch and keep in mind that since wood consists of several shades of a color, you don't have to match the wood exactly.

• If you have flooring that is badly damaged, put masking tape along the boards around the area. Remove the existing finish with furniture stripper and then restain the wood and apply a new finish. Apply the new finish to floor, feathering out strokes to blend into the existing finish. It probably won't be a perfect match, but it will definitely look better.