Is your wood floor worn out, or is it just dirty? Most of the time, when a hardwood floor in a Lexington house looks cloudy and flat, the finish underneath is fine. What you're seeing is grit ground into the surface, topped with years of spray-mop product and shine treatments layered one over another. Get that off and the floor often looks years younger, without anybody touching a sander.
That's what our hardwood cleaning does. It's a cleaning service only. We don't sand or refinish, and we don't put down polish or new coats.
How we clean wood
It starts with an assessment. Your technician figures out what kind of floor you have, what finish is on it, and how much buildup there is. Dull spots and scratches get pointed out early, so you know what cleaning will change and what it won't.
Dry soil comes up first with high-efficiency vacuums and microfiber tools. Skip this and you end up dragging sand across the finish during the wet clean, so we never skip it.
Next, a pH-neutral cleaner goes down. It dissolves grease and the old product film a regular mop only pushes around. It's non-toxic and safe with kids and pets in the house.
Then a soft brush and pad system works over the surface to loosen what's left, and an extraction tool pulls up the dissolved residue along with the moisture. Water is the enemy of wood. The floor never gets wet enough to swell or cup at the seams. An antibacterial treatment is available afterward if you'd like one.
The tech walks the floor with you at the end. Most floors are dry and walkable within an hour or two.
Floors we work on
- Solid hardwood with a polyurethane finish
- Engineered hardwood
- Prefinished wood planks
- Bamboo
- Laminate and luxury vinyl plank
Waxed and oiled floors need different products. Mention it when you call so the tech arrives with the right setup.
Older brick ranches around town sometimes have original oak hiding under wall-to-wall carpet. If you've just pulled that carpet up, the wood underneath is usually filthy but often sound, and a cleaning is a smart first step before anyone talks about refinishing. You'll know a lot more once you can see the real color of the boards.
What cleaning can and can't fix
Light scuffs and fine scratches look much better once the dirt packed into them is gone, and dullness from buildup comes right off. Deep scratches are another matter. So are gouges from a dropped cast-iron skillet, gray patches where the finish has worn through, and water damage by the back door. Those need sanding and refinishing, which we don't offer. If that's where your floor is, we'll say so and save you the cost of a cleaning that won't get you what you want.
Here's one we'll stand behind: regular cleaning is the cheapest way to put off refinishing. Grit acts like sandpaper on a finish. A floor that gets a professional cleaning every 6 to 12 months keeps its finish for years longer than one that only ever sees a spray mop.
Between visits
Sweep or dust-mop often, especially near doors where sand comes in from the yard. Put felt pads under the chair legs. Skip steam mops and anything that promises shine in a bottle, because those products are often what clouded the floor to begin with. Wipe up water and pet accidents quickly, before they find the seams.
Wood floors get the biggest discount we run, $50 off (details on the coupons page). To ask about your floor, call 803-310-5135 or leave the details on our contact page. For more on day-to-day care, our sister site covers keeping a finished wood floor clean without dulling it.