Holiday Tips for Floor Care
The holidays are just around the corner and as you begin making plans to do all kinds of activities, shopping and celebrating, you may also want to think about your floors. Yes, that seems a bit peculiar, but stop for a moment and think about the increase in challenges that they face with the holidays:
• Winter mess – No matter where you live, the arrival of winter weather (wet, muddy, dirty and grimy) brings some challenges to the condition of the floor. If you are anywhere there is snow and ice, it means salt, sand, dirt, leaves and debris are tracked in at an almost endless pace. This can lead to the finish being damaged or entirely removed. It can cause scratches, fading and staining. The solution? While outdoor mats can help with tracking, area rugs are a fantastic solution. They serve as a temporary block or barrier and can be removed or updated as the seasons change. They can even serve as holiday décor and bring seasonal colors into the décor, but only for that most wonderful time of the year.
• Indoor heating – Did you know that the use of heating systems can also cause problems with flooring throughout the winter? It can, and especially for hard surface flooring like wood and laminate that dry out and crack or shrink in the long-term use of heating. A good solution is to consider running a humidifier in rooms where such flooring exists or to speak with a flooring expert about replacement flooring that is not so sensitive to winter heating.
• Stains – We’ve all watched in classic “slow motion” horror as something sure to stain starts to tip and then spill. The red wine, tomato sauce covered food, the hot chocolate or the sugary sweets…they leave a permanent record, and not only at the waistline. Because of this, it is best to be ready with a rug expert’s recommended kit for stain removal (microfiber towel and cleaning solution) on hand. It is also advisable to think about booking a post-holiday rug cleaning by a team of professionals, and discussing whether or not a flooring update is the answer if years of stains or winter damage have taken a toll.
• Mind the décor – Another issue that requires attention during the holiday season is the decorations all around. From the garlands of evergreen boughs to the full-blown tree all gloriously decorated in the living room, it is important to pay attention to the damages that might be done to the flooring by the water used to maintain the tree, the sap that leaks from the real boughs and branches, and the problems that needles might create.
If you fail to prepare for the arrival of the holiday season, and all that it means for the floors throughout the home, you may find yourself with a lot of post-holiday clean up and repair. If you do, and you are eager to roll the experience into the installation of a new floor rather than days struggling with cleaning, get in touch with Ottawa Diamond Flooring and learn about the hardwood, laminate, vinyl, ceramic and carpeting available.
