How were they finished? Urethane or something else?

What's he going to do when the DW drain hose pops off and floods the kitchen? Happened to a friend of mine. She started the DW then left for work. After that she switched to tile.

He needs to relax. I assume they are polyurethaned like 4 or 5 coats?! We dont' do much if we drip like that. Maybe i'll run my sock over it ;)

Kids sweep it after dinner if there is noticeable crumbs with the short broom thing/dust pan. Once a week we use Bona on a microfiber cloth on a broom. That's it.

Less is more, I agree.

I vacum or sweep once a week, and wipe up obvious spots as they come (food drips, etc.) when washing the counters and loading the DW. I only " wash" the whole floor every 4-8 weeks.

Of course if I had a toddler on the floor I am sure I would feel differently.

I vac pretty often (every 1-3 days) thanks to the dog hair, wipe puddles as I see them, and wash the whole thing ... not so often. I have 3 coats of oil-based poly on mine.

I've had wood floors in my kitchen 12 years now, 3 boys (who are on their own now) and a dog. I wipe up obvious spills when it happens, mop once/month (used to once/week when boys were here). Yes stuff gets dripped or dropped - sometimes I see it, other times not (until its dried?) I used white vinegar/water to mop. They are still beautiful. Yes if something catastrophic happens like the DW leaking it will be bad.

You cannot freak about every little water drop. It will be fine. My dog drips drool sometimes and have been told that there is some kind of enzyme in their drool that does something to the finish - but I have never seen damage from his drool. It mops up same as anything else.

*on a side note - we did have a "catastrophe" a month after we moved in (12 years ago) Our washer overflowed and water got down in the duct work. Moisture from that wet duct rose up to the flooring and our new floor had warped boards. Each board had curled upwards. Our homeowners insurance was going to pay for entire new hard wood floors, but the floor guy said to wait a month. (after replacing the wet duct work) our floor went back down to normal - like it never happened! I couldn't believe it - but wood will recover from moisture damage after it has time to dry out.

As long as you have polyurethane one them you won't have any problems. Tell hubby to chill :)

new floors have excellent finishes on them that will stand up to a little water like you're describing. hand your hubby a beer (or glass of wine), sit him down in another room with the paper or tv, and tell him to chill. you bought a very good brand, so tell him to quit worrying.

totally agree with mountaineergirl - we have always had wood floors in kitchen and they wear so well. Barring a catastrophe, they are awesome with with toddlers and 2 sloppy Labradors :-) We use white vinegar and water on the advice on our floor installer (Murphys Oil contributes to build up which can be problematic later for refinishing). A broom and dry swiffer for quick clean. We also just got a cleaner from Bona (they are a swiss company that makes hardwood stains, poly's etc) - it works like a Swiffer wet mop but has a gentler cleaner for hardwoods and that has been handy since I can be lazy about getting out the mop and bucket! I bet Hubby will relax once they have been in for a little while and he gets used to them, and sees how tough they are. Enjoy them, there is nothing like them. I prefer to enjoy the floors for years and replace them if something random happened. And I would put the wood right back in and go back to enjoying them!

We use Bona, which was recommended by the hardwood floor refinisher we used about 10 years ago. We have also had water problems and the wood does flatten out when it dries in most cases. It sometimes takes awhile depending on how wet the wood was. I would add one more piece of advice: watch for signs of wear and periodically have a refinisher buff the kitchen floor and add another coat of polyurethane to extend the time between total refinishing jobs. If the poly wears down to bare wood, you have no choice but to refinish, which is a total pain, especially if the wood floor extends to other rooms that don't need to be refinished! Ask me how I know this. ;-)

Because it's brand new, being overprotective is normal. Thank him for cleaning, do an extra load of laundry for the towels. In time, he'll ease up on the few drips that happen.

Mirage has a great reputation for quality. Do you have engineered or solid? Would love to see pictures!!!

-Laurie

Agree with marydc: I'll run my sock over it. :-) I own more socks than kitchen towels.

Of course, Murphy's Law (not to be confused with the Soap) dictates that if there is a puddle of water on my kitchen floor and I am shoe-less, I *will* step in it!

If he's worried about a larger flood (from Dw, fridge water line), you can buy small water alarms that you can put under the fridge and dishwasher -- they'll go off if they sense a puddle of water. We learned about these the hard way :( After our fridge waterline leaked for about 8 hrs and we had to replace the wood floorboards underneath it.

Petepiel - where or what site can you find these water alarms? We just had ours refinished and would love to have these little alarms.
thanks!

Just give hubby some time. We are in a new house with hardwood, including in the kitchen. We are both acting like your hubby.... but I think with each day we are relaxing! :) I am learning that some drops of water aren't going to make the floor fall apart ;) Your hubby will too...

To avoid the problem of using your nice dish towels, would you be able to keep a "floor only" towel underneath the sink or something? Your DH could grab that to wipe up the spots, then put it back after dinner each night. When it's grungy after a couple days, wash it then.

btw, we also use the Bona system (on maple). For spot cleaning, I have some "floor" microfiber cloths and use them either dry, with water, or with windex spray; for weekly I sweep with either a broom or the Bona mop, and for more thorough cleaning the Bona spray cleaner and their mop. But mostly it's just spot cleaning and sweeping.