How to Prepare Your Wood Floors for Winter

By this time of the year you've probably prepared your yard, deck, and car for the nasty winter weather that is just around the corner, but what about your hardwood flooring? Yes, even something as durable and long-lasting as wood floors can take a real beating during the winter months. From rain, snow, and dirt to dramatic changes in temperature and humidity, hardwood floors are up against a lot this time of year. Luckily, there are a number of simple steps you can take to prepare your floors for the winter. The following are 5 of our favorite ways to make sure your hardwood looks as good next spring as it does right now. Enjoy!

1. Keep the climate consistent.
Dramatic changes in temperature and humidity can cause your floor boards to shrink and swell, causing buckling, warping, and gaping. Keeping the inside of your home warm and dry during the winter months can cut back on a lot of climate-related problems facing your hardwood floors.

2. Keep it clean.
Next to temperature and humidity fluctuations, dirt and debris are the next biggest threat against your hardwood floors. Mud, dirt, dust, leaves, and other seasonal debris can build up on your floors and cause scrapes, scratches, and even wood rot. Keep your floors clean by sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping when necessary.

3. Know your floors.
Another great way to prevent winter-related problems is to know the specifics of your hardwood floors. How long ago were they installed? Do they have a warranty? What species of wood are they? Are they prefinished or engineered? What have they been treated with? Knowing the answers to these questions can help you make decisions about how much time and money you want to invest in protecting your floors during the winter.

4. Use floor mats.
They're not just to welcome guests anymore! Floor mats help trap all the nasty dirt and debris that you and your family will inevitably track in during the cold winter months. Use them at every entrance.

5. Train your pets.
Dogs don't often know to wipe their paws on floor mats when they enter your house. Use treats and plenty of loving attention to train your four-legged friends to stay at the door until you get a chance to wipe their paws clean.

How are you planning on preparing your hardwood flooring for the winter months? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Questions? Contact Fantastic Floor today to talk to one of our knowledgeable representatives. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

4 Ways to Reduce Winter Floor Gaping

Cold, dry winter weather can really take its toll on hardwood flooring, causing most species of wood to dry out and shrink. This shrinking inevitably leads to gaps between boards, and despite the fact that it is naturally occurring, it's still pretty unattractive.

While there's no way to prevent hardwood floors from gaping entirely, there are a few precautions you can take to limit the frequency and severity of the gaps. The following are four simple steps you can take before and after installation to reduce the amount of gaping you'll see during those dry winter months:

1. Use the right wood.
Not all hardwood flooring varieties handle fluctuations in temperature and humidity the same. Solid hardwood flooring is generally much more susceptible to these seasonal changes than engineered flooring. Additionally, narrow boards tend to shrink less than wider boards, as does quartersawn flooring. Dimensional stability - the measure of a wood's tendency to expand and shrink - varies from species to species, meaning some hardwoods are going to experience gaping much less than others.
The best way to avoid massive floor gaps in the winter is to pick the right flooring for your climate. If you're really trying to avoid the problem, choose engineered flooring from a dimensionally stable species that has narrow boards. (Visit Fantastic-Floor.com to view engineered flooring products that fit this description.)

2. Reduce ventilation.
A well-ventilated house may be cool and fresh in the summer, but during the winter it means more chances of flooring gaping. When cold air from the outside is brought into a house and heat it loses quite a bit of moisture, drying out your floor and increasing the likelihood of gaping. By reducing your house's winter ventilation, you reduce the chances of gaping.

3. Increase moisture.
But what if we can't reduce our home's ventilation? Good question. The answer to that, of course, would be to increase the moisture levels in air. This can be done by using humidifiers. There are two common types of humidifiers - stand-alone units and units that are attached to central air systems. Because hardwood flooring is sensitive to overly-humid environments as well as overly-dry, you need to be careful when using a humidifier. Contact a hardwood flooring professional before attempting to regulate your home's humidity levels.

4. Plan for gaping anyway.
Sometimes the best way to avoid disappointment is to accept the inevitable. Yes, your hardwood flooring will gap in the winter. Aside from the above-mentioned steps, there isn't a lot you can do to prevent it. You can, however, plan for the gaping. If you have a room that experiences gaping more than others you can add a rug or move some furniture around to cover the gaps. You can also just learn to live with it, resting in the knowledge that come spring your floor boards will expand again and the gaps will close up.

Have you experienced winter floor gaping before? How did you deal with the problem? Leave us a comment and let us know!