Summer is the best day in the UK, they say. Although we don’t see much heat and sun during Summer here in London, if you own a real wood floor, you still have to make sure you help it acclimatise to the changing of the seasons. Real wood is this type of flooring material, which experiences a lot of impact from the environment, humidity and temperatures and often suffers pretty badly. If you want to prevent some major issues, be sure to follow the recommendations and advice of our wood flooring experts.
- Try to reduce the direct sunlight. Direct sun rays on the wood floor’s surface cause not only discolouration but also thinning on the wood, which leads to quicker wear and tear and squeaky noise. To prevent that for longer, try to keep the blinds and curtains shut down as often as possible. If you are going on vacation, make sure no direct sunlight is reaching the rooms, where solid wood, engineered wood or parquet flooring is installed.
- Move around. Move around big furniture pieces, rugs and mats. You can’t keep the blinds shut down all the time, so the sunlight will cause some discolouration and change in colour. Depending on the age of the floor, its condition and mainly the type of its finish, the colour difference may be very visible, so make sure to move around the big furniture pieces like tables, sofas, etc. so the colour of your floor will be even. However, if you have the time to spend on a project, ask your local flooring company for a recoating maintenance service. Make sure the newly applied finish has UV filters to protect the surface of the bare wood from the sun and keep it in flawless condition for longer. That way you invest in the durability and longevity of your floor.
- Keep the interior humidity level low in the room. Invest in de-humidifier. With the UK weather humidity and moisture are issues even during summer. Moisture is amongst the biggest enemies of wooden floors, causing contracting and expanding and leading to major issues like cracking and broken boards. Keeping the humidity level low when temperatures rise will ensure solidness and long-lasting durability for your floor.
With every season change you have to make sure you prepare your wooden floors for the character changes in temperatures, humidity and in the environment in general and help it acclimatise. This is a key moment for every wooden flooring owner and will make a huge difference, keeping the floor and its solidness and beauty as close to the original condition as possible. For more expert advice and recommendations be sure to follow our blog or get in touch with our professionals and ask for additional information.
