Here are answers to frequently-asked questions.
Cleaning hardwood floors
Can i use a spray mop like a swiffer® wetjet® or something similar to clean my preverco wood floor?
Our recommendation: spray the cleaner on a microfibre cloth rather than directly on the floor. The best results are obtained with Preverco cleaner.
My local dealer does not distribute your cleaner; where can i find it?
You can ask your dealer to look at the Preverco price list and order it for you.
Can i use a mop and a bucket to clean my preverco wood floor?
We recommend that you do not clean your hardwood floor with a mop and bucket. Water can infiltrate the cracks in the flooring and cause its expansion and various problems such as deforming the pieces of wood in width (cupping) or peeling the layer of varnish. Instead, use our mop (you will find it in our cleaning kit) or a similar microfibre product.
Can i clean my floors with the wave and brushed textures the same way as those with the regular finish?
Textured floors are as easy to clean as our standard products. The same type of finish is applied to all our products. More vigorous brushing may be required to thoroughly cleanse it.
Can i use a steam mop on my preverco wood floor?
We do not recommend it. This type of system applies steam against the surface of the floor and collects the dirt with a rag broom. As hardwood reacts to its environment, it absorbs moisture and can expand. This cleaning process can therefore cause cracks, warping and other irreversible damage to your wood. Instead, use the mop and cleaner from our cleaning kit.
Reactive and Raw colours
Why do some colour names end with “FX”?
The suffix “FX” means that the colour in question is obtained by using so-called reactive stains. Reactive Stain is a colouring product used to achieve rich and unique tone variations on prefinished hardwood flooring.
How do reactive stains work and what results can be expected?
Reactive stains don’t just colour the wood. Although they may contain pigments of a predominant colour like traditional stains, they also contain components that react with certain natural wood elements such as tannins and sapwood. This reaction creates darker areas, or conversely lighter. In fact, they accelerate the wood’s natural aging by giving an antique patina to a new floor.
How do i get the best result with an FX colour floor?
Understand the extent of the colour variation: The first step to achieving a perfect result with a floor using a reactive colour is to understand the variations that this colour provides. This will enable you to validate if this colour choice is suitable for the rest of the house or room. You must choose the floor according to its predominant colour but also according to the possible extremes of variation, and establish if this range of variation suits your decor.
Open as many boxes of flooring as possible before installing: Once the colour is selected, the most important part for the success of your dream floor is done just before the product is installed. The full range of colour variation is not necessarily evenly-distributed throughout each of the boxes. Consequently, it is very important to open as many boxes of flooring as possible in order to be able to mix the boards with variation well in the room when installing the product.
Keep the boards with extreme variation: Your order may include a small amount of boards that are completely at one end or the other in the range of colour variation. For example, a floorboard made entirely of sapwood (wood naturally paler and richer in tannins than heartwood) could be very difficult to arrange in the room without creating too large an anomaly in the visual effect. We suggest keeping these boards and installing them in closets, under the location of stationary furniture or other less-visible places.
Preselect the boards that will be adjacent to the mouldings: The mouldings are stained to match the predominant colour of the floor. Therefore, we suggest choosing the boards in advance that will be adjacent to the mouldings, based on the best colour match.
What is the difference between RAW floors and natural floors?
So-called traditional natural floors are produced by applying several coats of clear, UV-drying varnish. They are most often available in a satin finish. Despite the fact that the varnishes used are transparent, the successive application of layers on natural wood tends to yellow it slightly and to increase the contrasts in the grain compared to the wood before application.
The new RAW colours are presently the actual European trend to produce hardwood floors who are varnished, but they have an appearance near a natural floor without finition. These floors have levels of finish really matte and a minimum of colour alteration and contrasts in comparison with the first material before the varnishing.
Do FX or raw floors require different maintenance and have the same durability?
These floors are maintained the same way as any other prefinished hardwood floor and are just as durable. Their very matte finish makes scratches and dust accumulation less noticeable in general than with higher gloss floors. However, keep in mind that any wood flooring must be treated in the same way as wood furniture to preserve its appearance. Frequent sweeping and drying immediately after any spillage of liquid or coloured substances (mustard, red wine, food, etc.) are essential. See the Preverco instructions for a complete list of precautions and recommended maintenance methods.