The winter season is upon us. Just as we change our lifestyles and routines to fit with the seasons, we must also adapt our homes to the changes. While we are getting ready to cozy up indoors and bring out the heavy-duty winter woollies, we need to make certain our home is ready to tolerate the forthcoming onslaught of snow, dirt, slush,  and salt.

The winter season brings with it challenges that are not purely seasonal in character; the holiday season includes a significant increase in foot traffic around the house as people spend a whole lot of time indoors. This dual effect can combine to do some real damage to your beautiful hardwood floors if you are not prepared. Let’s take a glance at how the changing season can harm your flooring and how you can keep this from happening.

Gap formation: The air your air-conditioning systems will be circulating throughout your house in the winter season is much drier than the sort of air that circulates during the summer months. The effect this has on wood is that it causes it to slightly lose its moisture content, resulting in the creation of small gaps where planks meet. You should not worry too much about this, as it’s to be expected. Once temperatures warm up, they will absorb a bit of moisture and return to normal.

Scratches and scrapes: Mud, salt, dead leaves, soil, and snow can all unite to create unsightly scratches and scrapes on your floors as soon as they are unintentionally brought to the home on the bottoms of shoes and boots.

This is to be avoided at all costs, as serious cases may make it necessary to seek professional services to fix.
What Can I Do to Prevent Them?

Maintain temperatures: What leads to the creation of gaps in your flooring is the changing humidity levels and humidity. A fantastic way to counteract this effect is to maintain your thermostat settings in a constant even temperature, avoiding turning your heat up and down.

Clean up: Often sweeping, mopping, wildlife removal company and vacuuming your flooring prevents the build-up of sludge and leftover snow which may eventually lead to corrosion.

Simply take the shoes off: Simply taking off shoes and boots before coming inside will go a long way in preventing the majority of the winter-borne floor difficulties. Before they come indoors, have your family and friends take note!

Cover up: Rugs, carpets, and floor-mats are a great way to protect your floors, particularly in high-traffic areas which experience the most stress. Unwanted elements simply will not have the chance to get at your flooring.

Know what you’re dealing with: Gaining a good understanding of exactly what sort of floor you’re trying to protect will make your job a whole lot easier. Having information about your hardwood floor areas like how old they are, how much money you have invested in them over time, etc. can help you determine exactly how much time, effort, and money would be reasonably used up in protecting them.