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When we had hardwood floors installed a while ago, the company we bought them from said absolutely no steam or wet mopping. And yes there were solid hardwood. (I believe oak or cherrywood) I had hardwood more recently, I was told wet mopping was fine as it was sealed with something similar to bar tops. But no steam as it can cloud the finish. So I would really make sure you know exactly what type you have or just stick with dry or barely damp mopping,
Of all the flooring we've had in all our houses, hardwood is my absolute favorite for the easiest maintenance, durability, and longevity. With tile there's always dirty grout, and if the subfloor is slightly uneven or shifts, tiles crack. With carpet, one stubborn stain and it's ruined and needs replacement or a patch, and without a great padding, it wears out fast. Vinyl is a decent flooring, but drop anything sharp and it punctures, and it does require periodic rewaxing. Wood laminate is good, but cheap ones sound and act like plastic, and good ones do resist dog and cat claws, and liquid spills aren't an issue as long as they are cleaned up right away, but a spill that goes unnoticed can ruin the laminate (warping, staining, etc.) requiring a need to replace the section.
We have no experience with engineered wood, but we've had solid soft pine and oak floorings, both prefinished new installs and the sanding and refinishing of existing floors. The prefinished, especially the boards with beveled edges, seemed to scratch more easily than the on-site finished floors. Pine dents more easily than oak (which makes sense since oak is a harder wood).
Our parents' houses, built respectively in the 1950s and 1960s, both have light-stained oak floors. Both sets live in the northeast with the fluctuating temperatures of frigid winters and hot, humid summer months. They do nothing special for the sake of the wood floors (both sets have window ACs and forced-hot-air heating), and the wood floors have been fine. Both sets have endured multiple kids and pets, and certainly over the years there is some evidence of that, but nothing that screams replace/refinish the floors. Neither set has striped nor refinished the floors, and both houses still have the semi-shiny floors like they were when new. The floors have darkened a bit with age, but it's an overall change and not any different near windows where the sun shines in. Because area rugs have been changed over the years, there's no "rug outline" on the floors.
As for cleaning, for our parents it's been sweeping or vacuuming and periodic mopping with a damp sponge mop because the top finish is probably a varnish or shellac (rather than polyurethane) and resists dust and dirt.
A house we had in PA had waxed, not poly'd, oak floors. Although durable, we found that finish harder to care for since wax and water don't like each other, and wax is more permeable to allow dirt and stains to settle in. Had we stayed there we would have sanded the floors and refinished with oil-based poly (oil-based products sink into the wood better than water-based).
Our 73-year-old house here in the Charlotte area has dark-stained oak flooring, top-finished with a varnish, and is essentially in pristine condition except where 73 years of unprotected foot traffic can be seen if you look hard enough and marred in places where life left a mark, but in our opinion all that adds to the charm and warmth rather than being an eye-sore because the floors gleam with vacuuming and periodic mopping with a simple Swiffer. If we wanted to erase time we could sand the floors and refinish them. It wouldn't be cheap, but definitely cheaper than having to replace carpets multiple times over a span of 73 years. The house overall would benefit with a couple of dehumidifiers, but the summer humidity has not affected the floors at all. There has been no warping nor do we notice the shrinking and expanding that occurs with temperature changes.
But our favorite part about hardwood flooring is maintenance. Housekeeping is a least favorite task and happily it takes us less time to clean the entire first floor hardwood floors than it does to clean just the carpeted stairs. Personally, the less time we have a cleaning tool in our hands, the better we like it. Spill a glass of wine on the wood floor and it's history with a bunch of paper towels. Spill wine on a carpet and it's a toil to get out the stain remover products (Resolve or club soda or hydrogen peroxide or whatever) and the clean cloths and spend time dabbing and soaking it up and so forth. Pet scratches can be disguised with Old English (dark for dark woods, light for light woods).
So, what Wolf Howl said in a sentence (and this post much longer), that's our take on hardwood floors - definitely prefer them because they are the easiest to maintain and the most durable in our opinion.
In general, hardwood floors are much easier to clean and maintain vs. carpet. BTW, taking your shoes off is one of the things that will make the biggest difference in prolonging the life of your floors. Below is an article on how to prevent scratches in your hardwood floors. Also, you may want to consider a screen and recoat once every 3-4 yrs (see below).
In general, hardwood floors are much easier to clean and maintain vs. carpet. BTW, taking your shoes off is one of the things that will make the biggest difference in prolonging the life of your floors. Below is an article on how to prevent scratches in your hardwood floors. Also, you may want to consider a screen and recoat once every 3-4 yrs (see below).
I've found hardwood floors will keep their beautiful appearance if you do the following:
Don't wear shoes. High heels shouldn't be allowed within 100 feet of the house.
Put felt on all furniture.
Sliding anything is a no no.
Moving anything heavy requires the use of CLEAN inflated tires.
Never spill anything.
Don't have kids or a dog. If you do, keep them outside at all times.
Stick to these rules and hardwood floors should remain relatively unblemished for a week or so.
Excellent ideas! We plan to have a large backyard so the kids and dogs will be comfortable.
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