Wood Flooring Care & Maintenance Guide

For Prefinished Solid Hardwood, Engineered Hardwood, and Bamboo Flooring

General Care

Download Floor & Decor’s Wood Care & Maintenance Guide PDF

Daily Maintenance

Prefinished hardwood adds a natural and long-lasting beauty to your space, which can be maintained by sweeping, dry dusting, dust mopping, and vacuuming without a beater bar.

Please be sure to avoid wet and steam mopping as the excess moisture may damage your hardwood floors.

Initial Cleaning

After installation, clean your new prefinished hardwood floors with a dry mop and cleaner compatible with your flooring’s finish to optimize its appearance.

Recommended Cleaner

When cleaning your prefinished hardwood, we recommend using a microfiber cloth or mop with a floor cleaner that is specifically formulated for your flooring.

Do not use cleaners that contain ammonia, bleach, oil, polish, strong alkaline cleaning agents and solvents, or wax.

Finish Compatibility

Finish compatibility is incredibly important when selecting your cleaner. Please select a cleaner that is approved for use with your flooring’s finish. For example, hardwood flooring that has a natural oil finish should only be cared for with cleaners that are specifically formulated for natural oil finishes.

Oil Treatments for Oil Finished Floors

In addition to daily maintenance practices for prefinished hardwood floors, floors that are oil finished require oil treatments throughout the floor’s life.

Regular Treatments

It is important to oil floors with a natural oil finish immediately after installation. Completing oil treatments on your floor prior to use will nourish and add a layer of protection to your floor.

UV-cured oil finished floors, however, go through a curing process with UV lights that create existing durability and eliminate the need for an oil treatment immediately after installation.

Oil treatments are also required annually to protect and maintain the natural beauty of the floors. However, this frequency also depends on factors such as the amount of foot traffic, proper care and maintenance, and exposure to sunlight.

Please ensure the surface is clean, dry, and smooth prior to applying an oil treatment, and follow all manufacturer guidelines for use and dry time.

Important!

Please also note this only applies to floorings with oil finishes. Currently, the only oil-finished hardwood floors offered at Floor & Decor are the Voyage collection products. See the link above to view Floor & Decor's selection of natural oil-finished flooring.

We highly recommend completing additional oil treatments in the first year post installation to create a durable and easy to clean surface.

Floor Protection

The best way to maintain and extend the life of your prefinished hardwood floors is to protect them from incidents that may cause scratching, gouging, and discoloration. Floor and Decor offers a variety of products that will help you protect your new floors.

Spill Protection

To prevent staining, wipe spills immediately with a damp microfiber cloth and cleaner compatible with prefinished hardwood floors. Additionally, promptly clean any standing water, pet urine, or other liquids.

Scratch & Gouge Protection

Never slide, drag, or roll heavy furniture or appliances across the floor and consider using protective sheets when moving furniture with a dolly.

Add non-rubber backed area rugs in high-traffic areas.

Place nylon or felt protection pads under all furniture legs and periodically clean the pads for any buildup that may cause scratching.

Avoid wearing shoes with spikes, cleats, or sharp heels, and for best results, ensure pet nails are trimmed to help prevent damage.

Color Protection

In addition to protecting your prefinished hardwood flooring from scratches and gouges, it is also important to provide protection from discoloration

Hardwood floors are photo sensitive and can be impacted by U.V. light. To avoid any risk of discoloration, we recommend utilizing curtains in your home’s windows.

Remember to select area rugs that are non-rubber backed and consider adding a felt underlayment approved for use with rugs. Periodically rotating the location and orientation of any area rugs is also recommended.

Floor & Decor Pro Tip

For best results, test cleaners, treatments, and sealers in a small, isolated area before implementing a broader application.

*Since every application is different, the suggestions mentioned above are general recommendations only. We strongly suggest consulting a licensed professional who has experience with your material type and specific situation. It is also recommended that cleaners, treatments, and sealers are tested in a small, isolated area to ensure desired results. Review your warranty sheet for specifics regarding your flooring, and any scenario that could void the manufacturer warranty.