With proper maintenance, you should never have to fully sand your floors again (unless you would like to change the color or sustain some sort of damage).
Follow these guidelines and your wood floors will be beautiful and functional for many lifetimes.
POLYURETHANE FLOORS
Daily: Sweep with a soft bristle broom to get rid of sand and other particulate that gets tracked into your home.
Bi-Weekly/ Monthly: Mop with a mild cleaner (not polish) like Bona Hardwood Floor Cleaner
*avoid any oil soaps, like Murphy’s, as these will leave a waxy residue that will build up on your floors over time
WOCA FLOORS
Daily: Sweep with a soft bristle broom to get rid of sand and other particulate that gets tracked into your home.
Monthly/Quarterly: Mix 2 ounces of WOCA Soap into a bucket of lukewarm water. Have a second bucket with just water for rinsing. Using the WOCA Swep mop or any old-school cotton mop (NOT microfiber), clean the floor with the minimum quantity of water- leave Soap water on floor briefly in order to dissolve dirt. Rinse dirty mop. Remove dirty Soap water with freshly rinsed mop.
*If you are seeing haziness or footprints across your floor, this means there is too much oil on the surface of your floors (remember there are oils in WOCA Soap). Dense species like maple, hickory, and exotics are more prone to this. Luckily it is a very easy fix! Just use less Soap in your mop bucket. In some cases, you may need to simply wash your floors with plain water. Eventually, you will find the perfect dilution for your floors.
Here is a link to the WOCA website for more floor care information and access to products.
NOTE:
If the floor needs to be covered to prevent wear and dirt penetration due to additional construction, use paper or cardboard. Do NOT tape paper or cardboard to the floor to keep it in place. Do NOT adhere any tape to the face of the floor as it will damage the finish. NEVER use plastic, which does not allow the floor to breathe. This operation should be performed by the installer if it is necessary.
Buff and Coat
3-5 Years (depending on the traffic your floors see): Call us to do a buff and coat (sometimes referred to as a screen and recoat). This process can be done in just one day. We will mildly abrade the finish of your floors, getting rid of small scratches and residues on your floors. Then, we apply a new layer of finish. This will rejuvenate the look of your floors and add a new layer of protection. This process is virtually dust-free. Keep in mind, this is not a deep sanding, so large gouges and deep scratches will remain and we cannot change the color of your floor. However, we can change the sheen level of your finish.
How long until…?:
Once your final coat of finish has been applied, it needs time to cure. Here are our recommended guidelines.
- Water-based Polyurethane: 3 hours until stocking feet, furniture and pets after 24 hours, rugs after 5 days, fully cured after 7 days
- Oil-based Polyurethane: 24 hours until stocking feet, pets and furniture after 48 hours, rugs after 10 days, fully cured after 14 days
- WOCA: pets, people, and furniture on after 24 hours, no moisture or rugs for 5 days, after 10 days mop the floors with your WOCA soap. This soaping will get rid of the thin layer of excess oil across the surface of your floors.