Care · 5 min · Updated August 2026
Hardwood floor maintenance in Ontario
Humidity, cleaning, and recoat schedules for hardwood floors and stairs that have to survive a GTA winter and a GTA summer.
35 to 55 percent
That is the relative humidity band a hardwood floor wants. Ontario houses routinely miss both ends. A humidifier in January is cheaper than a refinish in April. Gaps in February are not a defect if the house is at 18%. They are physics.
Recoat before you sand
A screen-and-recoat every 4–8 years in a family house keeps the wear layer you already paid for. Full sand is for colour changes and for floors whose finish is gone. Steam mops are not cleaning. They are a slow flood.
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Estimator first. Site moisture reading second. That is the only honest sequence.
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