Your Floor Finish: First Place or Runner Up?

Floor finish is a big part of how an entire room appears and can make or break the look of your home's interior. Since different materials require different maintenance, it's good to know what type of process will keep your floor finish looking its very best.

Hardwood Floor Finish
Wood is at the top of the list when it comes to maintenance. A hardwood floor finish is beautiful when properly maintained, but it takes a fair amount of attention to do it right. Hardwood floor care is highly dependent on how the floor is sealed; some products will do more harm than good when applied to the wrong surface.

Some hardwood floors have a wax seal. These floors should never be wet mopped or even damp mopped. Scratches in a wax hardwood floor finish can usually be lightly sanded, then re-waxed and buffed. Stains can often be removed in a similar fashion. Wax on a floor, like wax on a car, can be buffed to a very attractive shine.

Many wood floors have a very tough, very attractive polyurethane topcoat. These floors need to be vacuumed or swept frequently to make sure that grit doesn't get embedded in the finish. A polyurethane topcoat can be mopped when something particularly sticky falls on it, but it's never a good idea to expose wood to excessive amounts of water. Though high traffic areas might need to be refinished after a few years of wear, this type of coating does a very good job of keeping a shine for long periods of time. Wax should never be used on a floor with a polyurethane finish.

Concrete or Stone Floor Finish
These much harder materials require very little care to look their best. Once they are initially installed and polished, they are usually waxed or sealed, then buffed to a high gloss. After that, they generally retain their shine with no more than normal sweeping or mopping. In commercial settings, where high traffic is an issue, a concrete or stone floor might need to be refinished with moderate regularity. In a residence, however, they are nearly maintenance free aside from a periodic polish or wax.

Tile and Linoleum Finishes
Tile comes in a few different forms and, therefore, encompasses a few different floor finishes. Ceramic tile can be flat or glossy to begin with. Either way, if it is swept and mopped regularly, the finish should hold up in much the same way as that of stone or concrete. Special attention may need to be paid to the grout in between the tiles, however. Grout, as long as it is cleaned often and scoured periodically from the time it is installed, should be able to maintain a satisfactory appearance.

Synthetic tile is quite low maintenance. It is sealed when it is installed and shouldn't require more than weekly cleaning and immediate cleaning of spills. Use a damp mop rather than a wet one: Though synthetic tile is water resistant, it is susceptible to damage from pooling water.

Linoleum, a natural material, requires the same types of care that hardwood does, though not quite as frequently. Make sure that it is polished multiple times after it is installed or after it is stripped, and you can truly have a floor that will maintain its looks for up to (or even over) 40 years!