Wait 3 weeks before putting area rugs on newly refinished/finished hardwood floors. Wait 48 to 72 hours after the hardwood has been refinished/ finished before "PLACING" furniture back in its place. Keep a steady temperature and humidity within your home.
Note that while oils on the floor can damage rugs, a rug can also damage a refinished floor. If the oils have not sufficiently dried, the imprint of the rug's texture on the floor can become a permanent feature, requiring another round of refinishing.
Oil polyurethane – Furniture after minimum 3 days. No area rugs for 14 days. Hardwax Oil finish – Furniture can go back onto the floors in 36 hours.
Carpet can be installed over hardwood floors with minimal damage and without ruining it. By using tackless strips with thinner nails around the room, limiting the use of staples, avoiding the use of adhesives, and careful carpet installation, you can minimize any damage done to your hardwood floor.
For water-based finishes, the recommended wait time is 4-8 hours. For hard wax oils, this increases to 4-24 hours. Finally, for oil-modified Polyurethane, the surface will take between 12 & 24 hours to dry. The benefit of the dry time is that it allows us to access our floors in between coats.
At a minimum, you should wait at least 24 hrs before walking on the floors; for hours 24-48, it's best to wear socks only (no shoes, no bare feet). Ideally, you should wait a total of 4 days before moving furniture back. This is to allow enough time for the floors to dry and cure.
It typically depends on the size and temperature in the room, but a floor can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to dry. This also depends on how much water was left on the floor during the cleaning session and the temperature in the room.
You should not have problems if you wish to lay your wood flooring over carpet, as long as the carpet is fairly flat. This will prevent chances of having uneven surface to walk on because the foam padding of the carpet will cause your hardwood floor to spring or bounce.
White vinegar can also refresh the air in your entire house. Pour a bit of this vinegar into small containers and place them in the corners of the varnished floor. Let it sit overnight and replace them as necessary. Alternatively, you can simmer a bit of the vinegar for about an hour.
The strong scent of polyurethane and stain lingers in the atmosphere for very long and can kick-start a migraine any time or all the time. Even if it's not causing migraines, it's still uncomfortable to live in a house where the floor is being refinished and there are strong odors in the air.
How long do I have to wait to use my room after my floors are refinished? We recommend waiting 6 hours before walking on your new floors in socks. After 24 hours you can walk through with shoes on.
Fresh polyurethane can be walked on as soon as all signs of wet finish disappear. You may be able to walk on the floor as soon as two hours after applying WBP and eight hours after applying WBP. You should wait two days before moving furniture onto a floor finished with WBP -- four days for OBP.
Dogs should stay off refinished hardwood floors for at least 24 hours. This will be the amount of time that an oil-based polyurethane coat needs to dry all the way.
Placing your flooring directly over a high pile carpet will result in shifting floorboards, and this can cause the seams to open very easily especially in high traffic areas. Think about the thickness of your flooring too.
The most common type of floors floated over carpet are vinyl and laminate, given they are budget-friendly and feature a simple interlocking system of installation.
The basic rule of thumb with removing the carpet for a hardwood installation is that you just go in reverse to take things back to the original subfloor. This means removing the carpet first, the padding next, then the tack strips around the edges of the room, along with the nails holding them in place.
Look for water marks, stains and faded areas on the floorboards. Laminate doesn't stain the way natural wood does, so if you see water rings, random splotches or discolorations on the floor, it is probably hardwood.
Underlayment
The underlayment material is installed below the floor covering and placed on top of a subfloor. Under the visible covering, there is a layer made of soft or foam-like materials with a thickness of between 1/4 – 1/2-inch.
It is preferable to use cold water instead of hot water when mopping. The reason is that it does not damage the flooring and it retains floor shine. It also helps in eradicating germs and bacteria. Additionally, cold water saves a lot of electricity and leaves off a cooling effect later after cleaning.
Mop Frequently
High-traffic areas, like kitchens, bathrooms, hallways, and entryways, require weekly mopping. Infrequently used rooms, such as formal living areas or guest rooms, can be mopped every other week, or even once a month, so long as they're vacuumed once ever seven days (this will remove dust and grit).
Floors remain dirty after mopping for many reasons. If the mop is not rinsed, the dirt remains stuck on it. The overflow of water during cleaning leaves a slurry layer of dirt on the floor. Not vacuuming the floor before mopping is also a major reason for dirty floors after mopping.