Bay Area Winter Hardwood Floor Care

Granted, Bay Area winters don’t compare to Siberian or Alaskan winters, but the changes in temperature and other seasonal shifts here can strain your hardwood floors. Even if it doesn’t snow near you, your floors can develop gaps and cracks, which can then precipitate leaks, mildew, mold, and other unwelcome structural damage.

What can you do about this issue?

First, strive to get a good moisture balance for your floors. In the winter, in general, humidity goes down. This loss of moisture causes wood to shrink, which in turn causes the gaps to form in wood floors.

Choose wood that’s naturally resistant to shrinkage and expansion. If you’re remodeling, renovating, or building from scratch, choose narrower wood that’s stable in diverse environmental conditions.

Dial up home humidity. But do not add lots of moisture and turn your rooms with hardwood floors into subtropical paradises. Too much moisture is also a problem.

Even if you use the best materials and take external precautions, you may still get gaps and cracks. So what should you do about those gaps and cracks, if anything? The answer depends sensitively on the context:

• Are you talking about a formal dining room…or a beaten up patio exposed to the elements?
• Are you worried about maintaining a beautiful “good as new” luster?
• Or do you simply want to mitigate against catastrophic damage, such as mildew and mold that could spread and corrupt the integrity of the wood?

Refinishing and Repair for Damaged Hardwood Flooring

Connect with the Bay Area hardwood floor restoration repair team at Elegant Floors. We can help you deal with water damaged or corrupted hardwood floors and minimize your ongoing maintenance and repair costs. Call 650-961-1339 or email the team today to set up a free estimate.