Hardwood flooring trends come and go, but the floors themselves don’t. Someone who bought a hardwood floor a decade ago likely still has the same floor. In fact, they might not have even refinished it yet. That’s because hardwood floors are very resilient and last a long time as long as you do some routine upkeep. That means sweeping them and doing a deeper clean occasionally.
Real Hardwood Floors
However, they’re not impervious to damage. There are several different kinds of wear and tear that are common for hardwood floors. Scratches and scrapes are very common, especially if you have pets or if you wear high heels. The most common hardwood floors are finished with a layer of polyurethane, which is basically a plastic coating over your floor. That polyurethane can be scratched by pet claws, scraping furniture, and hard-soled shoes. Eventually, those scratches can get all the way down to the surface of the wood and damage it.
There are also bigger kinds of damage that can occur from moisture and blunt force. If you drop something very heavy on your floor, you could even crack a flooring plank. Spills, leaks, and floods can cause significant water damage. That’s why many homeowners are looking for warranties when installing new hardwood floors.
Prefinished Floor Warranties
Warranties differ depending on the manufacturer and the seller. Some floors have a warranty from the company that manufactured them. Some have a warranty from the seller of the flooring. These are often warranties to replace or repair damaged parts of your floor. If that’s a thing that interests you, you should consider prefinished hardwood floors.
Prefinished hardwood floors are planks that are stained and sealed by the factory where they are produced. The prefinished hardwood uses a heat-cured polyurethane mixed with aluminum oxide. That makes for a very hard and very durable finish. For that reason, prefinished hardwood floors can come with warranties lasting as long as 25 or 50 years. That means you won’t be on the hook for fixing your damaged floors for decades. That’s the kind of peace of mind many homeowners are seeking.
It’s also an indicator of how long a company thinks their floors will last. Obviously, they won’t insure a floor if they think it’s very likely to break down before the warranty is up; that’s not a good economic move. So, a 50 year warranty indicates that the company doesn’t expect any major damage for at least a half-century. That’s a pretty solid guarantee.