Maintenance Guide {Printable Version}

Congratulations! You have made a wise choice with Ua Floors’ engineered hardwood flooring.
Ua Floors’ precision milling and gorgeous, ultra-durable Aluminum Oxide UV-hardened polyurethane finish combined with regular maintenance will preserve the beauty of your Ua Floors’ floor for many years to come.

The finishing technology used by Ua Floors is the best choice for easy maintenance. To preserve all the beauty of your floor, simply follow a few very simple maintenance suggestions.

Ua Floors’ flooring can be cleaned in three quick and easy steps.

  • Sweep or vacuum floor to remove any dust or abrasive material. Do not use beater bar.
  • Spray a light coat of cleaner directly over soiled area or on terry cloth mop cover.
  • Mop floor with a back-and-forth motion in same direction as strips, cleaning only a small area at a time. Finish one section before starting another.
Notes:
  • Never pour cleaner or any other liquid directly onto the floor surface. This will prevent liquid penetrating between boards into the tongue and groove area and causing damage to wood fibers.
  • If the mop cover is dirty it can cause streaking on the floor-replace it with a clean one. You can hand wash or machine wash terry cloth mop covers like any other terry cloth towel. Please avoid using fabric softener during wash and/or dry cycle.

We recommend that you:

  • Sweep or vacuum regularly to keep your floor free of dust and eliminate abrasives that can scratch the finish.
  • Note! Beater bars and dirty wheels on your vacuum can mar your floor.
  • Quickly wipe up any spills from the floor to protect wood from excess liquids.
  • Use mats outside and inside entrances so sand and other abrasives can not build-up on floor. Avoid mats with rubber or other dense backings that will block airflow beneath rugs or might retain abrasives and humidity.
  • Use mats near sink, dishwasher and workstations to protect your floor from cooking tools, water, soaps, oils and other kitchen mishaps.
  • Stick felt pads under all furniture or chair legs so they can slide easily and to avoid scratches. Always keep such pads clean. Check often for signs of wear, in which case promptly replace.
  • Large soft polyurethane or rubber casters are much better than narrow hard plastic casters.
  • Protect your floor when moving heavy furniture. One idea: Turn a mat over then place a piece of plywood on it. Put furniture on this so it can slide smoothly over your floor. Make sure the mat’s surface is clean and free of sand, rocks, or other abrasive objects.
  • Pointed objects like spiked-heeled and sport shoes can easily damage the finish of your floor especially if worn or damaged.
Note: Water and sand are the worst enemies of hardwood floors. Next are spiked heeled shoes. This is true for all floor surfaces, even a concrete floor!
  • Keep the relative humidity level around 45% (ideally between 40% and 50%) for your good health as well as for your wood floor and wood furnishings. Wood is a natural material that absorbs and releases moisture depending on the relative humidity. With high humidity, wood absorbs the excess humidity and expands, which can cause buckling in Ua Floors’ engineered flooring. Keep the humidity level down by using a dehumidifier or dehumidifying air conditioning system or with a heating system and good ventilation. During dry periods (periods of low relative humidity), wood releases moisture and will contract and shrink, which can cause gaps between strips and even cupping. If relative humidity is low, use a humidifier to reduce shrinking of the wood. The multi-layer construction of Ua Floors’ engineered flooring is not as prone to movement as traditional solid wood flooring, but it is still subject to the physical laws of nature and can shrink or expand in extremely dry or extremely humid environments.
  • Pet claws should be regularly trimmed to avoid scratching floors.
  • Your floor should be protected from sunlight and intense artificial lighting to reduce discoloration of exposed wood. Wood naturally changes color over time and with exposure to light. This is a natural phenomenon with all wood surfaces. Different kinds of wood will change color to varying degrees. This is not a defect. You can minimize this color change by moving around furniture and carpets and reducing strong light sources.
Note: These changes in wood color result from the natural process of wood aging. It is not due to yellowing of the finish. Although your Ua Floors’ floor finish is highly wear resistant, more than most competitive products on the market, it is not indestructible. If you follow the above preventive maintenance suggestions, you shall enjoy the beauty of your floor for a very long time. 

Protecting Your Investment

  • Never pour cleaner or any other liquid directly onto floor surface.
  • Do not use a wet mop that leaves excess water.
  • Do not rub the surface too aggressively, as this can result in a spot that is shinier and this is not considered a defect under the Ua Floors’ warranty.
  • Some manufacturers recommend cleaning floors with a warm water and vinegar solution. This is acceptable if mop is fully wrung out and practically dry beforehand.
  • Do not use wax, oil-based detergents or other household cleaning agents on your floors, since these products may dull or damage finish, leave a greasy film that makes floors slippery, make maintenance more difficult and refinishing impossible without in-depth sanding and complete recoating. Use flooring cleaners recommended for “polyurethane” finishes.
  • Do not raise or lower temperature of subfloor radiant heat system by more than 5 °F (2.8 °C) per day when turning system on and off.

You Can Easily Replace a Damaged Strip

One major advantage of pre-finished flooring is the ability to easily and quickly replace a badly damaged piece. Replacing a piece is quick, clean and inexpensive compared to completely re-sanding and re-finishing the damaged piece. You should be able to replace a strip in only 15 or 20 minutes. We suggest you keep some flooring pieces on hand after installation. Please contact your Ua Floors Authorized Dealer for advice or to have the work done.

  1. Select a replacement piece that most closely matches your floor.
  2. Carefully cut out the damaged piece, cutting close to its edges with a wood chisel.
  3. Use the wood chisel to carefully take out the center of the damaged piece first. Then carefully remove the remaining tongue and the groove edges. Make sure not to damage the adjoining pieces.
  4. Clean the floor and the sub-floor of any residue.
  5. Cut the replacement piece to length to fit the piece you just removed. Cut off the end with the tongue.
  6. Remove the bottom part of the groove from the one side and the one end of the new, replacement piece. This will allow your replacement piece to fit over the existing tongues sticking out from the existing adjoining pieces.
  7. Try inserting this piece into the space to make sure that it fits well. Take back out again.
  8. Now put a micro-V joint (bevel) on the cut end of the replacement piece with sandpaper and retouch it with a little stain and finish.
  9. Finally, spread glue over the sub-floor and glue the replacement piece into place.