All flooring will last a life time. But this can only happen when you care and maintain it properly. In line with this, adequate knowledge about the kind of flooring you use is needed if you want to maintain your flooring correctly. A background on the do’s and don’t will sufficiently aid you in caring for your home flooring. So in the spirit of enrichment, here are some information you might want to look into concerning floor care and maintenance.

First, wood can’t be mixed with water. You see, wood absorbs water and this makes it shrink or swell. Thus, it is implied that hardwood flooring is not the best choice for bathrooms or any other rooms that are commonly wet. Second, hardwood does not do well against scratches caused by pet claws, high heels, or any other sharp objects. These can severely damage this type of home flooring and make it look ugly and degraded. As such, it is highly recommended to trim the nails of your pets, avoid wearing shoes inside the house and apply pads on the foot of furniture. Now, although hardwood flooring has these disadvantages, there are plenty of homeowners who use this type of flooring because of the fact that it’s been the staple flooring material for homes. It’s been proven that hardwood flooring is very durable and it can aptly provide homes with that coveted stylish look. In addition, it has bestows a warm feeling when you walk on it. Most homeowners prefer to use this flooring in their stairs, living rooms, and hallways.

Alternatively, bamboo has been used for ages as a flooring material, most especially in China. It is an eco-friendly material made from highly renewable sources. Most bamboo species needs at least 3-7 years to attain its full maturity. This provides less time for regeneration, unlike hardwood and cork oak woods that need almost a decade of re-growth before it can be good for harvest. In terms in durability bamboo flooring is extremely top-class. It can withstand foot traffic, in almost the same degree as hardwood. However, its resilience is not so adequate when it comes to moisture. Though it possesses moisture resistant qualities, this does not make it water proof and as such, it is not suitable for use in bath rooms or any other room that is normally susceptible to moisture. It is advisable to use water resistant flooring in these areas; an example of which is laminated flooring.

Every type of flooring has its own set of disadvantages. For bamboo flooring, fading is a common issue. Bamboo readily fades through time due to the influence of direct sunlight. Another problem it has is the lack of versatility. There are actually only two available colors for bamboo, the carbonized and the natural. For the style bamboo flooring is limited to horizontal grade and the vertical grade. Unlike hardwood flooring, cork flooring and laminate flooring that offers a wide variety to choose from, bamboo is pretty much restricted in looks.

Another type of flooring that will last a lifetime is the cork flooring. Most well-known for its eco-friendly properties, this type of flooring is also pretty strong and comfortable. Cork flooring comes from a bark of an oak tree. It can be harvested in nine to ten years and most of its main resources have a lifespan of 100 years. This means it is also as highly renewable as bamboo flooring but not particularly in the same way. Although cork flooring is more expensive than bamboo flooring, cork flooring is fire resistant, moisture resistant, extremely durable and also an effective sound reducer and thermal insulator.

Flooring will only last a lifetime with a proper care and maintenance. Those that were mention above will require adequate amount of attention. Every type of flooring has it own unique process in cleaning. But in doing so, it is most important to have the right amount of knowledge in every each aspect of the flooring material. Cleaning at least once week, wiping liquid spills immediately and adhering to the dos and don’ts of maintenance, are the best ways to go about protecting and preserving the beauty of your flooring.