Frequently Asked Questions

For hardwoods floors we use bona finish products and recommend their hardwood cleaning spray combined with a microfiber mop. They also make products for laminate and vinyl flooring. Stay away from some products that leave behind a waxy residue like swiffer disposable pads and do not vacuum floors with beater/rotating drum on. Sweeping and mopping with microfiber mop and light misting will almost always suffice

Yes, they will. Hardwood floors are not invincible, but keep your dog's nails trimmed and have us come in every 3-5 years to put a fresh coat of finish on to protect your floors. Vinyl plank and especially laminate are much more scratch resistant than hardwood so that may be a better option if dog scratches are a major concern.

No, spills do not hurt the floor unless they are left to sit there. Wipe them up within a couple minutes and the floors will be fine. What is a concern is persistent moisture. Think of a very small leak or an entryway where snow slowly melts into a rug and the rug stays damp all winter. This will ruin your floors along with not controlling the humidity.

In the summer things get hot a humid. Wood and laminate floors will both expand with humidity and hot temperatures. In the winter when things are cold and dry, they will shrink. This will cause gaps, squeeks, or cupping among other things. Keep the humidity as close to 40% year round as you can, for sure between 30-50%. Vinyl plank is resistant to humidity changes so that may be an option in an environment where it can't be controlled or in an area like an entryway that is often wet.

Forever. With proper care (buff and coat every 5 years, humidity control) hardwood will last forever. If you don't like the color anymore you can always sand and refinish it a different color. Hardwood floors are also timeless. Many things will go in and out of style but hardwood has continued to be in. Vinyl plank is relatively new to the market but seems to last at least 25 years. Laminate can also last a long time with humidity control.

Yes, almost everything can be repaired. A scratch or dent can be filled in, or the board can be replaced and stained to match. Water damage can often be sanded away, pet urine stains will need board replacement.

Felt pads on furniture legs. If they seem to keep falling off try a little bit of super glue to keep them on.

When refinishing hardwood it only takes about 2-3 hours for the finish to be dry enough to be walked on with socks or bare feet, but the finish is still curing for 7 days and will be especially suceptable to scuffing for 3 days. After 3 days furniture can go back on. After 7 days rugs can go back on, and you can return to normal life. All other types of flooring furniture can go back on right away.

Not particularly. We have found that although they may be marginally more slippery than carpet, more people fall down carpeted stairs because they are more careful going down wood steps.

Yes, in order to work on floors whether installing or sanding shoe molding will need to be removed and replaced to cover the gap around the edges. Base molding can stay on if there is shoe molding, but otherwise that would be removed and replaced.

Furniture/Appliances can sometimes be worked around, but it is usually best and sometimes necessary to get them out of the rooms being worked on.

The stain and first coat are oil based and a little smelly, but the final 2 coats are not bad. All our products are VOC-compliant across the United States and will not be harmful.