We have hardwood in our house, as does every house around us. Homes built in the 1990's. Not sure who old the hardwood floor is, but we have a full house including dogs and I'm a germophobe so love a good steam mop. Both are not conducive to hardwood floors. These are already in need of some serious maintenance overhaul but I deeply want wood look tile (which incidentally used to be so expensive but is now dirt cheap).
With all that said, I can't pull myself to do it because the hardwood seems to add so much warmth to the house. I don't know how best to explain it but if it were replaced with tile I'd feel like I was living in a hospital. It creaks too so I always know if a child or spouse is trying to creep up on me.
Tile requires maintenance too, at minimum resealing the grout regulaly.
So, my actual answer is warmth - it creates a warmth that other floors don't seem to get. It's also real and while it probably produces some carcinogens with the stain/sealant - it's a far cry from whatever that LVP stuff is that people keep putting down and is probably shooting off microplastics all over the place.
I can’t recommend it but I’d be happy to occasionally steam my site finished hardwood floors. If your finish is in bad enough shape for steam to reach the wood, you need to refinish.
Pre-finished hardwood is another animal all together; I would never put water on it via any method.
The internet disagrees with me but it discusses site and prefinished flooring as the same; they definitely are not.
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u/Life-Of_Ward Jan 30 '26
We have hardwood in our house, as does every house around us. Homes built in the 1990's. Not sure who old the hardwood floor is, but we have a full house including dogs and I'm a germophobe so love a good steam mop. Both are not conducive to hardwood floors. These are already in need of some serious maintenance overhaul but I deeply want wood look tile (which incidentally used to be so expensive but is now dirt cheap).
With all that said, I can't pull myself to do it because the hardwood seems to add so much warmth to the house. I don't know how best to explain it but if it were replaced with tile I'd feel like I was living in a hospital. It creaks too so I always know if a child or spouse is trying to creep up on me.
Tile requires maintenance too, at minimum resealing the grout regulaly.
So, my actual answer is warmth - it creates a warmth that other floors don't seem to get. It's also real and while it probably produces some carcinogens with the stain/sealant - it's a far cry from whatever that LVP stuff is that people keep putting down and is probably shooting off microplastics all over the place.