Protecting Your Hardwood Office Floor
Protecting Your Hardwood Office Floor
Hardwood floors are rather expensive so owners must exercise every effort to protect them. Since they come from exhaustible resources, trees, and take years to produce, they are more difficult to care for and maintain compared to concrete and other types of building materials. Thus, if you’re looking to use hardwood such as oak, hemlock, or maple for your flooring, you should be prepared with the right protection methods and tools.
What is the best way to protect your hardwood floor?
First, don’t expose it to too much sun. The ultraviolet rays from sunlight are one of key reasons why some hardwood floors become discolored over time, regardless of its finish or stain. We are referring to the same ultraviolet rays that cause damage to your skin. UV rays do the same to any other type of organic material.
To shield it from the sun, install a screen on your windows or use curtains. You can use sheer drapes so it’s not so dark in the room. There are hardwoods that lighten from sun exposure, while materials like oak and cherry will tend to become darker. To slow down the discoloration process, apply water-based urethane finishes to your floor. Oil-based finishes are okay, but they have a tendency to turn yellow or amber when exposed to direct sunlight.
Second, make sure it’s always dry. Water is a hardwood floor’s worst enemy. It can seep into the material and cause nasty stains and decay. You can protect your floor by applying thick coats of finishing, but keep in mind that finishes also thin over time, so you have to reapply regularly.
Wipe up spills immediately and don’t leave wet rags on the floor for a long period. Also, use only dry cloth to wipe your hardwood floor. Never use a damp mop.
Another way to protect your hardwood floor is to put felt nylon, or Teflon glides under the legs of heavy furniture so they don’t scratch the surface when moved. Felt glides also cushion the weight of your furniture so they don’t make shallow holes on your floor.
It doesn’t matter whether your floor is hardwood, laminate, tile, or carpet, if you have a regular office style chair that can be moved around the floor like Eddie Murphey in Trading Places, eventually you have to worry about the rollers or wheels on the bottom of the chair damaging your floor. This is due to the fact that just about every office style chair made uses inexpensive and very hard plastic rollers that can eventually cause gouging. The solution to this is to use ball bearing polyurethane rollers that distribute the stress evenly and cushion the effect of the roller on the floor, thereby not causing any damage. These are made by several companies such as Zitriom, Slipstick, Sunniedog, The Office Oasis, Office Owl, Seddox Office Addiction and Tech Team https://techteamproducts.com/. We like Tech Teams item 733 5 pc. Caster Set the best because not only is it attractive in appearance, but it has excellent ball bearing rollers that minimize wear and tear.
The point of protecting your hardwood floor is this: if you want it to last longer than your lifetime, you have to give it the care it needs. And since hardwood floors, when maintained well, can stay on even after a century, they definitely deserve protection.
