Hardwood Care Instructions

Homebuyers are most satisfied with their new home purchase when their expectations are met or exceeded. A custom-finished hardwood floor is both a luxury item and a durable investment designed to last the life of the home. By educating the homebuyer early as to the nature of hardwood flooring, we can better shape their expectations to be consistent with industry standards.
Hardwood flooring is fundamentally different from furniture, cabinetry, doors, etc. These wood products typically contain 1-10 different pieces of wood and are fabricated in a factory under controlled conditions. A custom hardwood floor is produced by hand, on-site in the home, and may contain hundreds or thousands of different pieces of wood. These facts lead to establishing different standards for evaluating hardwood floors compared to other wood-finished products.

The customer should expect…

• A truly unique hardwood floor. No two floors have the exact same appearance. The naturally occurring characteristics of real wood give each custom-finished floor its own individual character. This is the primary appeal and beauty of custom hardwood floors.
• The overall appearance of the floor’s finish should be uniformly smooth and attractive. If some defects are present in the finish, they should not appear extensive or prominent when viewed from a standing position.
• A low maintenance floor. With routine care and attention such as vacuuming, dusting and removing spots and spills, the beauty and life of the floor’s finish can be greatly enhanced.
• The use of quality flooring materials and finishes. With proper care and maintenance, these will last the life of the house. The polyurethane wear-coat may require periodic re-application every three to six years, depending on individual usage and maintenance practices. The need to completely refinish hardwood flooring (i.e. sanding down to raw wood and applying new stain and finish) should only be required if the flooring sustains extensive surface damage or if a change in color scheme is desired. If refinishing is ever necessary, the hardwood floor has enough material thickness to be re-sanded up to three or four times.

There are some things customers should not expect, however...

• A tabletop finish. Each oak board responds differently to the staining process, depending on its grain pattern and structure, making it virtually impossible to achieve a completely smooth surface.
• A dust-free finish. Since custom flooring is finished on an active job site, it is not possible to obtain the same results achieved in a “clean room”, factory environment. Some dust will always settle in a freshly applied top finish.
• A monochromatic floor. As a natural material, wood coloration can vary considerably from board to board depending on density, grain pattern and structure, the part of the tree it was cut from and the specific parent tree.
• A hardwood floor that will not dent. In spite of the “hardwood” designation, oak flooring will indent from falling objects and high heel traffic. The type of finish applied to the floor’s ome of the boards in the floor. Certain stain colors, such as white, will show these cracks more than others.
  
  

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