If you have chosen to add hardwood floors to your home renovations you have made a great decision if you are planning to maintain the hardwood floors. Hardwood flooring is made from mature trees, and is treated when it is finished. But hardwood will absorb moisture and also scratch if something is dragged across it.
Leaving a puddle of water in your hardwood floors would not be a great idea. The moisture will go into the cracks in between the slates and they will swell as they absorb the water. If this happens in even a little spot it will still be noticeable. If any liquid is spilled on the floor you need to soak up the fluid right away. When you clean your hardwood floor you can use a damp mop but only damp. You may want to use a floor cleaner for hardwood, like area rugs usually. Whatever you choose you must use only a damp mop.
Another thing that can happen to hardwood floors are dents and scratches. Women wearing high heels are one of the worse things that your hardwood floors can endure. Over a long perios of time furniture legs cause dents and scratches also. You can choose to put area rugs under the furniture to protect the floors or you can put felts on the bottoms of the furniture legs. This can be the same as new floors to many people. Also you could add some area rugs to the highly traveled areas in your home such as kitchens, hallways, in front of the couch.
Some homeowners like the character that scratches and dents give the floor. But when you feel that you are in fact sick of them you can get your hardwood flooring refinished. If you have your hardwood floors refinished every decade or so and keep on top of protecting your hardwood floors, they will look the best, just like new floors usually. Moving anything across your hardwood floors to letting your dog run in the house can cause scratches and dents.