Usually, yes. These brush rolls are designed to spin at a really fast rate to penetrate dense carpet piling and dig out all of the dirt and debris inside. As a result, they can definitely damage your sensitive hardwood floors. It’s also because of this that among the many criteria that I choose to find the best hard surface vacuums, the ability to switch off the brush roll is really high on the list. However, in a lot of cases, brush rolls can be beneficial. Some vacuums have soft bristle brush rolls that apply very gentle scrubbing motion on the wood. With these tools, you can take out ground-in mud and stubborn dirt that regular suction will not clean up. But just to be safe, test all of the brushes that come with your vacuum on a small segment of your floor before going all out.