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Molyneaux Flooring Care and Maintenance Guide
We welcome you to learn more about the care and maintenance of your new flooring.
Click on the following links for information you are interested in:
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Buying Tips
 The most important part of a flooring project is proper installation. A poor installation can reduce the floor's life span significantly. Choose a reputable local dealer. Take samples of fabrics, wallpaper and paint swatches to the flooring showroom. Take a cabinet drawer for kitchen projects.
Often customers bring the room sizes to the showroom in order to help the salesperson ballpark the total investment based on different selection options. You may also want to use graph-paper to record the dimensions of your room(s). It's simple; 1 linear foot equals 1 block.
What's Your Mental Picture?
Ask yourself the questions below before you visit the flooring showroom. It will help the sales consultant understand your mental picture during your showroom visit. Finding you the right product is our priority. Knowing your mental picture helps us.
What is the room used for? How much traffic? Children or pets?
Do kids play on the floor? Is comfort important?
Is the room the center of activity for family OR is it used for entertainment?
Is there direct access (soiling) from outside?
Is there anything I liked/disliked about the existing floor that I am replacing
What is my color scheme?
How much natural sunlight does the room get?
How long do I plan on staying in the house? Is resale important to me?
Have I ever had a negative experience with a flooring project in the past?
What needs to happen to avoid that problem again?
Ceramic Floor Care:
Ceramic tile provides a unique combination of beauty and durability. Its hard, non-porous surface provides a natural low-maintenance finish. Once properly installed, it essentially requires little more than dusting and occasional damp mopping.
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Walls:
Wipe glazed wall tiles using a cloth or sponge dampened with an all-purpose non oil-based household cleaner.
Unglazed wall tiles need a soap-less detergent instead of an all-purpose cleaner.
 Floors:
Sweep or vacuum
Damp mop or sponge
Rinse thoroughly and wipe dry.
Glazed tiles - use all-purpose, non oil-based cleaner.*
Unglazed floor tiles - use a solution of water and soap-less detergent instead of an all-purpose cleaner.
Do not use alkaline-based cleansers on a floor that has been sealed.
Tips:
Do not use cleansers containing acid or bleach for routine maintenance. Even vinegar can etch and damage some tiles.
Do not use wax cleaners, oil-based detergents or sealants to maintain your tile (sealants may be used on grout joints and natural stone).
Do not use ammonia (it will discolor grout).
Do not use harsh cleaning aids like steel wool pads or scouring pads containing metal.
Do not use a cleaning agent that contains color on unglazed ceramic tile or natural stone.
Do test all cleansers, particularly scouring powders on a small area first (not recommended for natural stone).
Do use a sealer on grout joints.
Do have any damaged or broken tiles removed and replaced only by a qualified contractor.
Do not use alkaline-based products on sealed tile.
Realistic expectations:
The tile you have purchased may vary some in appearance from the sample you have viewed.
Your ceramic floor follows the contour of the existing substrate. If the existing substrate has high and low spots the ceramic tile will follow along those same high and low spots.
Some consumers expect ceramic tile floors to have the same precision as sheet vinyl flooring. Consumers must have realistic expectations with ceramic tile installations. Unlike vinyl flooring, there will be some variation/inconsistency in grout joint widths between ceramic tiles. Furthermore, some tiles will be higher/lower than adjacent tiles. Be prepared to see some visual imperfections.
Minor grout joint hairline cracks are common with ceramic installations. They result from normal expansion and contraction and usually do NOT indicate a faulty installation.
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About Pre-finished Hardwood Flooring:
Color Change
Slight color changes occur in wood floors gradually with time and exposure as a result of oxidation and/or photochemical activity.
Homeowners often notice a slight difference in height from one board to another on a pre-finished wood floor. This is called over-wood or lippage and is defined as the vertical distance between two abutting boards. Pre-finished boards are manufactured to be within a certain tolerance and may have a slight variation in height from board to board. Due to the fact that the boards are sanded at the factory prior to installation some deviation between the individual planks is unavoidable. Typically the boards come from the factory with a maximum deviation the height of a business card.
Some over-wood in a home is perfectly normal and does not indicate a flaw in the boards or unacceptable deviation in the sub-floor. Nor does it affect the integrity of the floor. According to the National Association of Home Builders' Residential Construction Performance Guidelines, over-wood or lippage under 1/16 of an inch (about the size of a credit card) is considered to be within tolerance.
Cupping
Cupping, or "washboard" is seen when, across the width of one piece of the flooring material, the edges are high and the center is lower. This condition usually develops gradually.
Moisture imbalance through the thickness is the only cause. The material was manufactured flat and was flat when installed. Job site or occupant-provided moisture is greater on the bottom of the piece than on the top. Find the source of moisture and eliminate it. Common moisture sources and their corrections are:
Airborne Relative Humidity– dehumidify air space or– humidify air space during the heating season
Wet basement – ventilate, dehumidify
Crawlspace – total groundcover with black plastic 6 mil.; vents; add exhaust fan on timer
Rain handling provisions – correct to drain away from house
Reduce excessive lawn & garden moisture, waterproof foundation
Repair leaks, i.e. plumbing, roof, doors
Don’t hose patio
In kitchen, the dishwasher and icemaker are notorious leakers
Expansion is also the result of site moisture and may have moved the floor tight to vertical surfaces. If so, remove flooring along the wall, or saw cut, to relieve pressure. The ultimate cure is to allow time for the corrections to take effect, permitting the floor to improve on its own.
Gapping
Gapping in solid wood floors cannot be stopped completely. Wood expands and contracts with changes in humidity. Using a humidifier during the heating months may help reduce the amount of gapping in solid wood floors. Also, some wood species may expand and contract less than others. Engineered wood floors are much more dimensionally stable than solid wood floors and will show little or no gaps between planks.
Hardwood Flooring Care
Do not use sheet vinyl or tile floor care products on wood floors. Self-polishing acrylic waxes cause wood to become slippery and appear dull quickly. See your dealer for appropriate cleaner. Use throw-rugs or runners both inside and outside doorways to help prevent grit, dirt, and other debris from being tracked onto your wood floors. This will also prevent scratching. Do not wet-mop a wood floor. Standing water can dull the finish,
damage the wood and leave a discoloring residue. Wipe up spills immediately with a slightly dampened towel.
Use soft plastic or fabric-faced glides under the legs of furniture to prevent scuffing or scratching.
For wood flooring in the kitchen, place an area rug in front of the sink. Use a humidifier throughout the winter months to keep wood movement and shrinkage to a minimum.
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Carpet Care and Maintenance:
You can maintain the beauty and increase the life of your carpet by following these simple guidelines:
Prevent dirt from collecting on your carpet. Use mats at all entrances and clean them frequently.
Vacuum frequently. Make sure to vary the direction that you vacuum to avoid wear.
Clean up food and drink spills as quickly as possible. Even tap water can cause discoloration if you allow it to set.
Change traffic patterns. Rotate furniture, so that people have to alter their path throughout the room.
To prevent fading, avoid long hours of direct sunlight on carpet by close blinds or shades periodically. Select a lighter colored carpet in sun-drenched rooms to minimize fading.
Place glides under heavy furniture to combat crushing. Rotate furniture to give carpet a rest.
Animals: Vacuum often and use deodorizer on previous “accident” sites. Some animals will have repeat “accidents” because they are drawn to the smell.
Replace air filters frequently on your heating and cooling system to prevent dust and other airborne particles from settling on your carpet.
 Carpet Seam Visibility
Seam visibility often depends on factors beyond the carpet installer’s control, including:
Carpet color, Style, Construction, Room orientation and Room Lighting
What Is Seam Peaking?
Seam peaking is a very slight rise, 1/16”or less, of carpet occurring at the seam. Seam peaking results from power stretching, a necessary part of proper carpet installation. Carpet backing is elastic and will readily stretch in any direction. The seaming tape used to join carpet is not elastic but designed to be rigid and hold the carpet edges firmly together. When carpet backing is stretched, tension aligns along the center of the backing. Where seaming tape is bonded to the underside of the backing, all the tension aligns through the tape in that area instead of through the backing. When this happens, the center of the thin tape lines up with the center of the thicker carpet backing, thereby lifting the tape upward approximately half the distance of the backing thickness. The thicker the backing, the more the seaming tape rises, and the greater the resulting seam “peak”. Wider seaming tape can reduce but not eliminate seam peaking.
Room Lighting
Seams positioned across the prevailing light in a room and not oriented with the light source are more noticeable. Light at a low angle to the carpet surface will render seams more noticeable than light shining directly down. Strong daylight in an empty room will highlight carpet seams more than indirect or filtered light reflecting off room furnishings.
To illustrate this effect, take a sheet of plain white paper, fold it in half, then open it up and flatten it out with the creased side up. The crease forms a peak in the paper which when viewed from different angles is visible. One side of the crease receives more direct light and the other side casts more shadow. This is the same condition that causes carpet seams to be more or less visible when observed from different positions or under different lighting conditions.
Wrinkled Carpet
According to the Carpet and Rug Institute and carpet manufacturers such as Shaw Industries, wrinkles, ripples or waves can appear in carpet after installation for a variety of reasons:
Power stretching equipment was not used during original installation
Improper power stretching techniques did not produce enough tension
Carpet was installed at too cold a temperature
Carpet backing is no longer attached to the tack strips
Carpet backing is defective or has otherwise become damaged
Heavy objects have been dragged or rolled across the carpet
The remedy for wrinkled carpeting (assuming the backing is not delaminated) is to re-stretch it using proper methods and equipment. In those areas to be re-stretched, it will be necessary to remove all furniture and objects, so that they do not interfere with the free movement of the carpet. Re-stretching clean carpet in good condition will not damage it or shorten its life, and with normal usage and maintenance, wrinkles should not re-occur.
Shedding or Fluffing
It is normal for new carpet to shed or fluff. The first few times you vacuum, do not be shocked if the bag is full of loose fibers. This is attributed to several factors, including the cutting of the carpet itself. Some carpets are made from short fibers and stapled to the backing. In this process some fibers will be missed and not anchored down. Also, a final process on most carpets is sheering the tops of the fibers, even though an industrial vacuum follows the process, there are still fibers that are missed. These are only some things that attribute to shedding. The amount of loose fibers, traffic level, type of vacuum, and vacuuming procedure all attribute to how long the carpet will shed. Generally the shedding will substantially slow down in the first few months and almost stop completely in 6 months. After the carpet is professionally cleaned it may begin to shed again, but only for a short time. The agitation of the cleaning machine may loosen fibers that are actually held in place by oils and dirt in the carpeting. Loosening fibers will not affect the durability of your carpet. The more thorough and frequent the carpet is vacuumed, the less shedding will affect you and your home.
Berber Carpet
As time goes by, some owners notice that their Berber carpet begins to look frayed or fuzzy. This is caused not by the quality of the carpet, but by the vacuum cleaner’s beater brush.
Fraying and fuzziness can be prevented by either:
Using models without a beater-brush called a suction-only vacuum (normally found in canister-style models).
Using a vacuum that has an adjustable brush, which can be lifted above the carpet pile.
On a final note, Berber carpets usually have more pronounced seam peaking than pile-cut carpets due to their thicker backings.
Filtration Soiling
This is a perplexing problem to homeowners involving dust accumulation on carpet fibers in areas with a concentrated airflow such as air ducts and where the edge of carpet meets the wall baseboards. This condition is not dependent on the type of carpet that was selected. It also does not indicate a manufacturer’s defect.
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Pet Damage Prevention:
 All Pet traffic causes extra wear on flooring products. Long nails often wear floors even faster and create fine scratches which attract dirt and dull the surface. Animals can also get nails caught in carpet fibers and create runs or pulls, not only is this damaging to the carpet but it can hurt the animals paw. Easy way to prevent this is to keep your animals nails trimmed, no matter what species.
A great way to prevent dirt and soil transfer is to wipe-off your pet anytime they come in from the outdoors, including the paws and any other area that were soiled.
Ceramic tile is very resistant to pet damage and sealed tile is stain resistant, and easy to clean. Grout is left unsealed by Molyneaux installers; it is considered maintenance to simply seal the grout 3 weeks after installation.
When accidents occur, clean with a manufacture’s solution, or hydrogen peroxide diluted with water. Note: vinegar is not suggested for use on tile, because of acidity in urine can cause a chemical reaction. Never use an abrasive cleaning powder or an abrasive liquid cleaning product on the tile surface.
 Laminate flooring is a great alternative to hardwood or vinyl for larger pets. Laminate has a harder finish than pre-finished and site-finished hardwood floors, it can withstand heavier pets and it is not as sensitive to water stains. In case of an accident on laminate flooring, blot the area with a clean towel. When the area is dry, use 1 cup vinegar mixed with 1 gallon of water. Do not use products containing wax on laminate. Mop the area and allow it to dry.
Carpet is the most common floor covering and arguably the most vulnerable to pet damage. Danger to carpet includes: pets using their teeth and claws on loops, seams, tufts, or corners of the carpet. Pet urine is a particular problem because it never dries. The urine then becomes a greasy substance that cannot be cleaned and will break down the backing of the carpet. Consider a low pile, tightly woven carpet. To find the best carpet to meet your needs speak with a Molyneaux sales representative.
When an accident does occur: immediately blot stain with a dry, clean, white towel. Apply 1 part white vinegar to 1 part water with a clean towel. Blot. Apply ¼ tsp liquid detergent to 32oz. of water with a towel. Blot with a dry, clean, white towel until area is dry. Professional cleaning also helps deep pet dirt and odor to a minimum.
Hardwoods are also vulnerable to staining and scratches from pets. If you have a pet, pre-finished hardwood floors are a better choice than site-finished because they have a harder finish which allows them to resist scratches to some degree. Do not place pet bowls on hardwood floors, water should not contact this flooring and even food bowls can trap moisture underneath them. If a pet urinates on the floor it will turn the boards black. Urine can easily be detected by the smell and the use of a black light. Clean only as directed by the flooring manufacturer.
Vinyl flooring is pet resistant; the biggest danger is from unkept nails. Nails can cause tears and gouges in the floor covering as well as daily traffic damage. Use only the Manufacturers cleaners on your new floor. Anything else would have the chance of damaging the top coat and finish of your floor, and in turn void your warranty.
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Warranties:
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