When redecorating, moving, or finally finishing "that room" in the house, there is always that one piece of furniture that you look at that makes you sigh and rub your fingers through your hair. It's okay you don't have to work around it. If you are just re-positioning the furniture, and it is too heavy to lift, try tilting back and placing some sturdy towels or folded up sheets underneath, and then tilting to the other side to get all the way underneath. Then you can slide you furniture across your wood floor easily. Does your heavy furniture have wheels, but may crease the wood floor if you roll it? Masonite or Tempered Hardboard is cheap at  The Home Depot, let that take the damage instead of your beautiful wood floors. If you have to move that piece of furniture up or down a step, using any of the previously mentioned methods will help prevent any damage in case it slips or doesn't go as planned. Finally ALWAYS REMEMBER to put the appropriate furniture pads under your furniture, then sliding it a little here or there won't be a problem.   

      Cleaning your wood floor properly can be a major factor for long lasting beauty. If you bought a floor in the last ten years, the finishes used today are not like the finishes used of the last couple generations. Modern finishes are water based and not oil based, and therefore cannot be maintained in the same way. 

      First consideration for properly cleaning your floor is to get the right cleaner. Avoid at all cost any cleaner that says leaves shiny or anything along those lines. Those cleaners say they are safe for wood floors, but they leave a residue on the surface and over time will start to look streaky and uneven, or can even start to react with the finish and make it cloudy. Here at Brian's Masterpiece we only recommend Bona cleaning products. We have used them for over twenty years and have never had a complaint. 

       Second consideration is saturation. Wood floors cannot be mopped like tile. Misting the floor with a spray bottle or a slightly damp rag is plenty. Whatever kind of cloth you use to clean your wood floor needs to be clean. So always have a few extra terry cloth pads handy. Once they start to get dirty, you are just pushing the dirt around and your floor is not getting as clean as you would like. If you have a wood floor that gets frequent high traffic and use, call to have your floor professionally cleaned, which can save you thousands in refinishing costs.

      Finally, those with specialty finishes consult the cleaning and maintenance spec for your specialized finished. Poor maintenance and cleaning will result in much higher cost down the road.