When it comes time to sell your home, it can be a long and frustrating road. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the things that you need to do. One thing that is often overlooked when selling a house is proper floor care.
Not only can you get better offers for your house if the floor is well taken care of, you can also prevent losing money and turning off potential buyers. Or, you can save time and money by not having to replace your floor prior to putting your house on the market. You do not ever want to have people viewing your house and seeing stained carpet and cracked tile.
In this article, I will give a few tips that can help to maintain your floors so that you can get the price you deserve for your house.
Table of Contents:
1. Carpet
2. Preventing Dirt Stains
3. Vacuuming Regularly
4. Removing Stains
5. Professional Cleaning
6. Tile and Grout Care
7. Stone Tiles
8. Ceramic Tiles
9. Grout Sealing
1. Carpet
Carpets come in so many different sizes, colors, and heights allowing your house to have a special look to it. They can add color, warmth, and even texture to a room. However, they are great at collecting dust and allergens, so it is important that they are taken care of properly.
People tend to take care of their carpet in the same way, which usually involves vacuuming once a week or so. This is a great start, but there are some more things that should be done that will prolong the life of your carpet much more, saving you money in the long run.
When it comes to carpet, you should think about how you can prolong the life of it. This will help keep the color from fading. You should think about having an annual deep clean to ensure all the dust, mites, and allergens are fully removed from the carpet.
There are times, especially when you have pets, that you might feel that a vacuum just is not enough. Do not be afraid to purchase a lint roller and use good old elbow grease to get those pesky areas where hair or dirt are collecting.
2. Preventing Dirt Stains
The simplest way to prevent dirt getting in the house is to stop it at the door. All that is needed is a mat right outside the door for the kids and guests to wipe off their shoes on. You could also have shoe caps for your family and guests if they do not want to take their shoes off. However, these options are not always acceptable.
You can try purchasing a runner that goes in the high traffic areas so that most of the dirt will be walked onto the rug rather than your actual carpet. This is also a great idea when you have pets so their paws will dry off on the runner before getting to the main carpet.
Some stains are not seen by the naked eye until long after they have set into the carpets. For small spills, always remember to rub the spill and not to blot the spill. This will ensure you get all the particles up rather than just half.
To help prevent stains, be sure to vacuum your floor with baking soda at least once a month. Baking soda is great to combat pet smells, oil stains, and simply freshens your carpet.
3. Vacuuming Regularly
Everybody knows that they need to vacuum their carpet at least occasionally, but how much is enough? Hint, it is probably more than you think.
The optimal frequency that you need to vacuum will heavily depend on the amount of foot traffic that a specific area gets. In those high traffic areas like the main hall, or any area that pets will use, you will want to vacuum at least 3 times per week up to 7 times per week. You should also consider the amount of people living in the house as well.
For less used rooms and areas you can get by with much less vacuuming. Around 1 or 2 times per week should be sufficient.
4. Removing Stains
Pretty much everyone will have to deal with stains at some point in their life. It is one of those nuances of being a homeowner. There are situations where you can deal with it yourself, however for more serious stains, it is better to call a professional carpet cleaner.
If you do decide to deal with the stain yourself, make sure to act fast. The longer a stain is left on the floor, the more stubborn it will be.
Depending on the stain, you can rent a rug doctor to use. Their solution will be able to remove most stains for you. The other option would be to get stain remover and use good old elbow grease to scrub that stain off your floor.
One great way to remove a stain is to use vinegar and an iron. You will want to vacuum the stained area thoroughly. Then you will treat the stain with a 3:1 vinegar and water solution. Let the vinegar set for roughly five minutes. Find an older towel and put it over the stain. Take your iron and slowly run the heat over the towel. This will cause the stain to transfer over from the carpet to the towel.
5. Professional Cleaning
How often you call in a professional to clean your house will depend on how much the carpet is walked on, as well as if there are pets and children using it regularly. It will also depend on if it is just a professional carpet cleaner or if they are professional cleaners for the entire house.
The average home will need cleaning by a company like Lake Norman Carpet & Tile Care, about once every 12 months. However, some busy households with pets and messy children will need professional deep cleaning every 6 months or so.
The method that a lot of carpet cleaning companies use is called “hot water extraction.” The way that this method works is by first combining hot, high pressure water with a cleaning detergent, that is then sprayed deep into the carpet.
This mixture does an excellent job of loosening up all the grime and dirt that is nestled deep in the carpet. It is then extracted from the carpet with a strong vacuum pump.
Once this is complete, the carpet is then rinsed with hot water. This will remove all the detergent within the carpet and ensure to balances the PH level of the carpet. This means less reactions and less smells.
Finally, the carpet is gone over with the vacuum pump a couple more times. This is done to ensure that all the water is removed from the carpet so it can dry in a decent amount of time.
There are some things to look for to help you determine when it is time to call in a professional cleaner. Here are a few reasons you may want to call a professional cleaner, even though there are many other reasons.
- When you have vacuumed and cleaned your carpet, but you still feel it looks dirty.
- When you have had a lot of stains that are just not coming out.
- When you have a lot of guests coming and want to ensure everything looks amazing.
- When you are getting your house ready to sell.
6. Tile and Grout Care
There is a good reason that tiles are so popular in homes all over the country. They add beauty and aesthetics to the room. They are very resistant to damage and can take a hit here and there without getting scratched like other types of flooring. Even more importantly, they are easy to clean and care for.
Whether you have Granite, limestone or marble tiles, there are a few things that should be done every so often for maintenance.
You should do a basic clean for your tiles at least every other week. This will remove any of the dry debris that is on your tiles. You can do this by mopping, vacuuming, or using a clean cloth.
7. Stone Tiles
Stone tiles can make your house pop. They add a lot of texture and appeal to each room. It is important they are cared for properly. When cleaning stone, it is important that you do not use a cleaner that is too alkaline or too acidic. If you do, you can ruin the tiles by removing the finish or shine.
You want to have a neutral cleaner when dealing with stone tiles. This is a pH of 7. Anything below 7 will eat away the sealant and cause etching.
One of the easiest way to clean stones with baking soda and water. This mix has been around a long time because it just works.
All you need to do is mix baking soda with warm water until it makes a paste. Then you can use it for the less stubborn stains that occur.
Be sure to use a soft towel when you spread the baking soda paste on and off the tiles, so you do not cause minor scratches.
If you are not interested in making your own baking soda paste to clean the tiles, there are plenty of other products that are great for stone tiles. OdoBan No Rinse Neutral pH Floor Cleaner Concentrate is a great product for stone tiles. Be sure to use a Microfiber Mop or towel to ensure there are no scratches.
8. Ceramic Tiles
For ceramic tiles, you can use a natural cleaning solution of vinegar and warm water.
Use one-part vinegar with four parts warm water and mix it together. Just be sure not to use this on stone tiles, as the acidic component of vinegar can damage them. Do not worry about the smell, as it should dissipate for you within 20 minutes as it dries.
If you do not like the idea of using vinegar, another great product to use on ceramic tiles, especially for a deep clean, is Pine-Sol. Mix the Pine-Sol accordingly to the bottle and use a soft cloth or mop. Be sure to clean out the bucket often so you do not spread a film of dirt from the tiles into the grout.
If your tiles have texture in them, using a smaller towel to clean them thoroughly will keep your tiles looking better than if you use a larger towel. Remember that textured tiles collect dust easier than a non-textured tile, so be sure to clean textured tiles more often.
9. Grout Sealing
Why should I get my grout sealed? You may wonder. There are a couple benefits of getting this done, with one of them being that the sealant blocks spills from getting into the porous surface of the grout and damaging it.
Grout sealer can block spills from getting into the grout, by getting absorbed deep into the grout and filling all the tiny nooks and crannies. If a spill occurs, it is stopped from getting into the grout, making it much easier for you to clean it up.
With grout sealant, you will not have to worry about having cracks in your grout from the different products you choose to clean with.
Simply getting this done will help your tile and grout to last much longer, saving you money by not having to hire someone to replace it. I would not recommend applying the grout sealer yourself though, unless you have experience doing it. The reason for this is, if there are any mistakes during the application there could be a sticky residue left behind that is very difficult to remove.
In Conclusion
Floor care is so important when selling your home as it adds to the overall aesthetics of the home. I hope I have shared enough tips, tricks, and methods while sharing why it is important to keep clean your floors to help sell a house.
It does not take that much extra time as long as you keep up with the maintenance of it. The reward can be great when it comes time to put your home up on the market! If you need a reputable local company to help with your carpet, tile and upholstery cleaning, or general floor care then do not hesitate to give Lake Norman Carpet & Tile Care a call today!
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