Tips to Prevent Dents and Scratches from your Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood floors are the most popular choice among most homeowners, offering durability, classic looks, and versatile design options. Besides these benefits, hardwood floors are susceptible to dents and scratches and require extra care.

The best part is that you can clean hardwood floors easily, thereby adding resale value to your home. With a few simple tools and supplies, you can fill the dents and scratches and blend the surface to match the surrounding wood color.

Tips to Prevent on Your Hardwood Flooring

Choosing a suitable hardwood flooring from Nexus Flooring in your favorite color and finish will help hide the possible dents and scratches and enhance the aura of your interiors.

However, it looks much better along the way if you adopt some precautions and keep the flooring in the best shape. Here are some ways to prevent hardwood flooring from scratches.

Sweep and Vacuum Regularly

Removing debris is the first and essential step to eliminating scratches. You must invest in a vacuum cleaner designed specifically for cleaning hardwood floors and keep it on the hardwood or linoleum setting.

Avoid using carpet vacuum cleaners on hardwood floors, as they might scratch the floor’s surface. When purchasing floor cleaners, invest in a floor cleaner designed specifically for hardwood flooring.

Installing Area Rugs

Laying down area rugs in high-traffic areas such as hallways, entryways, living rooms, and underneath large furniture items helps prevent scratches and dents.

Often you might need to change the position of your furniture. Lift your furniture instead of dragging it, as dragging heavy furniture causes dents on the hardwood floor.

Avoid Wearing Shoes Inside The House

When you wear the same shoes indoors and outdoors, it brings a lot of debris and grit, resulting in scratching. As a practice, you can keep your shoes at the entrance, so that your floors look as good as new.

Avoid wearing high heel shoes indoors, as these cause unsightly scratches and dents. Also, avoid wearing shoes with stiff or rubber soles that create friction against the floor.

It’s better to keep a shoe rack beside the door, a bench for the guests to sit and a basket to keep their shoes. For additional precautions, place doormats outside the door, which aids in trapping dirt and debris and prevents water and mud from entering the house.

Training and Grooming Pets

Homeowners with pets need to be extra careful about their hardwood flooring, as pets can scratch hardwood floors. Train your pets by marking certain areas as “no-go” zones. Doing so reduces the possibility of your floors experiencing awful scratches.

Ensure to clip their nails regularly. Besides protecting your floor from dents, it also keeps your pet healthy. Take your dogs out for regular walks. Walking them on roads and other rough surfaces keeps their nails naturally trimmed.

Choosing the Right Finish

Some hardwood finishes help protect your floors better than others, and some help hide the appearance of wear and tear over time. Engineered hardwood floors and pre-finished hardwood floors are excellent choices, as these floors come with more durable finishes than on-site ones.

Choosing a lighter stain color with a satin or matte finish helps hide the dents and scratches, as scratches are more prominent on a glossy surface and wood having a dark stain.

Regular Maintenance Routine

For better maintenance of your hardwood floors, opt for yearly floor refinishing. Besides giving your floors a brand-new look, it also protects them from regular wear and tear and everyday traffic.

Refinishing your hardwood floors is a beautiful way to increase your home’s value and enhance the elegance of your interiors.

Conclusion

These preventive methods will help prevent scratches and increase your floor’s longevity. Most importantly, keeping your floors clean every time helps maintain your floors’ durability.

If you have pets and children at home, choosing hardwood flooring that offers more texture and prominent graining to camouflage the dents and scratches is best.