Sand and grit are harmful to polished timber floors. They are easily bought into homes with footwear. These particles act like sandpaper and can result in scratches on the floor.
When mats are placed both outside and inside of doorways they provide a means of reducing sand and grit from entering the house. Rugs placed in high wear areas such as hallways and at kitchen benches also can help reduce undue localized wear on floors.
Direct sunlight hitting wooden floors is also a factor to be considered. In Brisbane regular hot sun hitting floors at certain times of the day can cause gapping between boards and cupping of boards. Sunlight will also cause the color of both the finish on the floor and the timber itself to change with time. Curtains and blinds are an effective and suggested means of controlling direct sunlight finding its way onto timber floors.
