Proper care and maintenance will help make sure you enjoy the beauty of your new hardwood floor for years to come

Below is useful information on consumer expectations from the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA), as well as answers to some common questions about the care and upkeep of a urethane finished hardwood floor.

Hardwood floor care do's and don'ts

By following a few simple rules today, you can minimize the need for repair and refinishing tomorrow.

Dirt, grit and sand act like sandpaper to scratch, dent and dull hardwood floors. Clean floors as they become dirty or at least weekly.

• SWEEPING — use soft bristled broom, untreated dust mop dry Swifer, or Microfiber dusting pad in the Bona cleaning system.
• VACUUMING — only with a soft brush or special rubber wheeled hard floor attachment. Do not vacuum with beater bars as this will cause scratches in floor finish (ask us about purchasing a Back-Pack vacuum specifically designed for hardwood floor cleaning).
• WAX/OIL SOAPS — do not use polishes, soaps, wax, detergents, or abrasive cleaners.
• CLEANING — use the manufactured recommended cleaning products. Bona Kemi hardwood floor cleaner can be used on urethane finished floors. Available at our show room (please wait 2 weeks on floors just finished).
• RUGS — use in high traffic areas such as in front of the sink, refrigerator, exterior doors, etc. Wait 1 week on newly finished floors.
• SHOES — take them off! Exposed nails and heal supports will dent or scratch floors.
• RECOATING — do have an additional coat of finish applied periodically to help extend the life of your floors. How often depends on how hard you are on your floors. When finish begins to show wear and appears dull, it is time to call us for a maintenance recoat.
• FELT PADS — use under anything that touches hardwood directly such as chairs, tables and other furniture. Replace metal or plastic chair wheels with rubber replacements.
• FURNITURE — should be moved by lifting, not dragging or sliding.
• WATER — and other standing liquids can damage floor finish. Wipe up all spills as they happen.
• MOVING CONTENTS — protect floor with cardboard or red rosin paper (available at major household stores). Overlap the paper and tape it to itself; never tape anything to your hardwood floor as it may peel off the finish.
• SUNLIGHT — can cause discoloration over time. Use window treatments or window film to minimize.
• STEAMERS — not recommended.

What can I expect in a hardwood floor?

Natural variations in color, grain, finish texture, and minor milling defects are an immense part of the beauty and characteristics of a wood floor which should be expected and enjoyed. What you cannot expect is ...

• A table top finish — each piece of flooring sands differently depending on its grain type.
• Dust free finish — there is airborne dust in every home and some dust and debris will fall into the freshly applied finish.
• A monotone floor — wood, as a natural product varies from piece to piece, it is milled from a tree and will have color and grain variances consistent with the grade and specie selected.
• A floor that will not indent or scratch — in spite of the term hardwood, your floor will scratch and indent (especially heels in disrepair).
• A floor without some expanding and contracting — every floor experiences this behaviour.

Wood flooring is an asset to any home. It's a unique, yet moderately priced hand-crafted item that every member of your household and guests will scuff, gouge, drag things across, fall on, lie on, walk over and otherwise use and enjoy for many years.

What causes gapping/crackling and cupping in floors?

Hardwood flooring will expand and contract from changes in moisture within the home, causing the appearance of cracks between boards. Moist air, spills and leaks cause boards to expand and cup. Dry air causes boards to shrink and gap. Homes without adequate moisture control devices in heating and/or cooling systems will usually exhibit more cupping during warm moist summer months and some gapping between boards during winter heating months. Wider material will always exhibit more expansion and contraction throughout the seasons.

Light colored woods such as maple and ash, or floors stained to produce white, gray, pastel or other light shades should be expected to exhibit apparently larger gaps. The strong contrast between their light color and the dark colored gaps often makes normal gaps appear abnormal.

Wood flooring near or adjacent to heating registers, appliance venting, wood burning stoves or other sources of drying or dehumidification will usually exhibit more pronounced gaping between boards.

Insulation modifications or changes in heating and cooling practices frequently affect the appearance of wood flooring. Shifts in weight bearing sections or settling will often result in boards separating, lifting or twisting. Separation between strips of planks, especially in solid wood flooring, must be expected, especially during dry indoor periods, and should not be looked upon as a deficiency, weakness, or flaw.

If you want to reduce the amount of normal cupping or gaping that is exhibited between boards, we strongly suggest you install a humidity controlled device within your heating and/or cooling systems and monitor the interior humidity levels using a hygrometer throughout the year.

SINCE WE DO NOT CONTROL MOISTURE CONDITIONS OR THE ENVIRONMENT OF HOMES, CUPPING AND/OR GAPING WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED REASONABLE GROUNDS FOR COMPLAINT.

What do I need to know about my new carpet

• SEAMS — No seam can be guaranteed to be invisible. The degree a seamed area will be either very noticeable or barely noticeable, depends on the type of carpet construction and coloration. Cut and loop carpets generally show less depending on how much tone on tone coloration they have (with the exception of Berber's which show all seams). Tone on tone carpets draw attention to the area where the seam is located, not so much the seam itself. This is due to darker areas being seamed to lighter areas of the coloration. Carpets with random patterns in the tone on tone make it difficult to match at all. The texture determines the degree of visibility of seams on plush carpet. Plywood and carpet seams are more evident in base grade items due to the thin nature of these products. They are not considered to be a manufacturing or installation defect.
• VACUUMING & LOOSE NAP — Your independent installation contractor is a professional mechanic paid by the square yard for installation only. They will pick up larger pieces, but generally there will be a large amount of nap left behind from the seaming and trimming process which will need to be vacuumed. Carpet made by staple yarn construction has a tendency to lose what may look like quite a bit of fiber when vacuumed. You need not be concerned because this is actually a very insignificant amount of the total fiber pile. Some customers have felt that their carpet was coming apart when they noticed this yarn in their dust bags. Rest assured that this fuzz is typical with new staple fiber carpeting and is not a defect. Over time with thorough vacuuming the 'fuzz' will diminish.
• ROLL CRUSH — A frequent visible concern which appears as a shading distortion caused by the tight rolling of the carpet for shipment, or of the area of carpet in which the roll has been sitting on in storage, is termed roll crushing. This is not a factory defect and is easily corrected by regular vacuuming and steaming if necessary.
• ODORS — There may be a distinct odor when new, such as a car will have. Tests have proven that there are far fewer odors from new carpet than from new paint. Some of the installation materials such as seam tape and adhesive will also have a strong odor when new. These odors will subside in several days to several weeks with proper ventilation.
• SCRATCHING OR MARS TO WOODWORK OR WALLS — Carpet backing is very stiff and rough and it is very difficult to prevent it from rubbing against your painted walls, corners, woodwork, and baseboards. The carpet installers are very careful, but be prepared to touch-up a few areas of woodwork and/or walls.
• DOORS — At times the carpet and pad you have selected is thicker than your previous floor covering. This may require doors to be trimmed at the bottom to allow your door to operate freely. In most cases a carpenter will be needed to custom cut the doors.
• CARE & WARRANTIES — refer to the carpet fiber manufacturers or carpet manufacturers care guide applicable to the carpet you have selected. Most base grade and better quality carpet will have these care guides available. The care guides will contain carpet care and warranty information.

YERKE ONE YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY

If Yerke Floors, Inc. receives notice of defect within 1 year of date of purchase and material is found to be defective by manufacturer's standards, you will be supplied with new material of the same quality, quantity, and color if available, or a material of equivalent purchase price to repair or replace the defective goods. If your contract included our professional installation services, we will supply the labor required to replace or repair defective materials. Yerke will not be liable for consequential or incidental damages under this warranty, or arising out of sellers delay in performance. Yerke shall not be liable for repair or replacement of flooring damaged by excessive moisture, alkali, or hydrostatic pressure.