Your toddler playing with his favorite toy is so sweet. But then he starts banging it on your gorgeous hardwood floor. Your five-year-old daughter playing dress-up in mommy’s heels? Adorable. Except she’s stomping in them, right on the hardwood floor. Your middle schooler with soccer cleats? Death to the floor. Then there’s all the smears of goodness-knows-what, spills, accidents, and hundreds of other culprits—all out to ruin your lovely floor.
So what’s a parent to do?
At Floor Craft Sanding, we know the pain of this. Here are a few helpful tips for families who love their children—but also love the health of their hardwood floors.
Time to Show Off the Socks
It’s an old classic: remove shoes as soon as you enter the home. This goes for the whole family. Kids have “excited feet”, and those excited feet tend to stomp, run, jump, and track mud inside. By removing shoes instantly inside the home, you’ll save your hardwood floor from years of damage. If your kids have a hard time remembering to do this, try using colorful cubbies or a special bin for shoes where they can exchange outside shoes for slippers or fun socks.
Mat It!
Although you may get the no-shoes rule down pat, there will always be visitors who still wear shoes inside—especially when you have a family. Because of this, it’s very smart to have doormats at each entrance of your home where you have hardwood flooring. A quick shoe wipe on the mats will go a long way in saving your floors from some serious grime.
Don’t Let Spills Stay Spilled
Oh, the hundreds of spills that come with having children! If you can pour it, they will spill it. But owners of hardwood floors must be quick about cleaning up, or else you’re just asking for permanent damage. By leaving a spill for too long, you’re allowing the liquid to penetrate deeply into the grain of the wood. Clean up those spills immediately by blotting with a clean, dry towel or a soft, lint-free cloth as soon as they happen.
Get “Chair Booties”
Kids tend to push chairs around and scooch them across the floor—especially if they’re just beginning to walk and want the extra support. This can cause deep gouges in a hardwood floor, so it’s important to pad the feet of all chair legs. It’s best to use nailed-on chair leg pads so that they won’t come off and present a choking hazard.
Coat the High-Traffic Areas
High-traffic areas are, well, high-traffic. These areas see the most feet, the most times a day. They’re often the kitchen, the living room, or bathrooms, and they need special protection in the form of rugs. Both practical and pretty, rugs will save years of wear on your hardwood flooring—from, say, your four-year-old’s toy cars. Plus, rugs really pull a room together! There are all sorts of rug pads you can purchase to keep the rugs in place.
Keep Those Floors Gleaming!
The final way to avoid your hardwood flooring getting ruined by the accidents and messes that come with having kids is to keep it regularly maintained. Each week, your hardwood flooring should be dust mopped to avoid accumulating grime buildup, and they should be refinished about every five years.
Whether you’re looking for hardwood floor refinishing and repairs or it’s time to replace and have new hardwood floors installed, you can trust our team at Floor Craft Sanding to do the job right. Contact us anytime at (317) 759-2575 to learn more about our services or to schedule a consultation in Indianapolis, Carmel, Fishers, Zionsville, or the surrounding area.