5 Genius Methods To Prevent UV Damage To Your Floors
Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is extremely destructive, not just to your skin, but also to the flooring in your home. Sun damage can lead to serious discoloration and disintegration of the underlying material.
What's more, you can’t just apply sunscreen to your floors. That won’t work and it could cause even more damage. UV radiation causes damage because it breaks apart color molecules in flooring materials. Organic compounds break down over time, leaving the material vulnerable to further damage. In this post, we take a look at some of the things that you can do to protect your flooring and ensure that it lasts for as long as possible before requiring replacement.
Protect Your Floors With Coverings And Coatings
If you have a wood floor, you can protect it from sunlight by regularly applying anti-UV coatings. These contain chemicals that absorb ultraviolet energy and convert it to heat. Unfortunately, like sunscreen, the effectiveness diminishes over time, so you’ll need to replace them regularly. You could also try placing rugs over areas at risk of bleaching. However, the rug will become damaged in the process.
Use Window Coverings
Another way to protect your flooring is to use window coverings. These do the same job as floor treatments but don’t require replacement as often. Perhaps your best bet is to use blinds. These allow ambient light to enter the room while eliminating the most damaging direct UV rays. Just angle them appropriately for the time of year to protect your flooring and keep it UV-free.
Image via Etsy
Tint Your Windows
If you want plenty of light in your rooms, but you don’t want to expose your floors to UV rays, you might consider investing in residential window film. These fit over your windows a bit like screen protectors on phones, blocking out the vast majority of UV light while allowing natural light to enter freely. What’s more, it’s a cheap fix. You can apply it to windows all-around your home for just a few dollars.
Change Your Windows
A much more expensive option is to swap out your old windows for new UV-filtering versions. Manufacturers make special types of glass that control the amount of ultraviolet light entering your rooms. Some claim that it can reduce UV light infiltration by up to 99 percent. You’ll need to be careful, though. This option will eat into your budget and probably isn’t worth it unless you have an extremely valuable floor you need to protect.
Rotate Furniture
Lastly, you might want to experiment with rotating furniture. Here, you regularly move furniture around in your room to protect the flooring. Just remember, this method will damage your furniture over time.
Wrapping Up
When you invest in UV light protection, you’re actually doing much more than just protecting your floors. You’re also protecting your skin and the rest of the furnishings in your home. With some methods, you can actually reduce UV damage to your floors completely. This way, you can reduce the amount of maintenance and treatments your floors require considerably. Reducing your long-term household costs.
