|  Tile flooring can be a beautiful addition to any room. Kitchens and bathrooms are the traditional areas where you want to have tile, but you can use this material in almost any room in your home. This is great material in rooms where moisture can be a problem, as they keep your sub floor dry and they are easy to clean. However, there is nothing saying you can not have it anywhere you wish. Some types are easier than others to keep clean, but you should pay them some detailed attention at least a few times a year to ensure your tile looks good for years to come.
White tile is a favorite, but it is also the hardest to keep clean. Look for a type that has a seal on it so that stains will come out as long as you get to them soon enough. Anyone who has ever made marinara sauce in the kitchen knows that some will end up on the floor eventually no matter how neat or careful you are when making it. Look for tile flooring that is stain resistant and that can be mopped easily when you need it to be. Some types suck in water rather than repel it, which means it stains easily and can not be wet mopped very often. Be practical for the life of your flooring. When it comes time to clean white tile flooring that may not be as bright as it use to be, think about using a cleaner that is compatible with bleach. You can then add a small amount of bleach to your bucket to take your tile flooring from dingy to new looking. Some cleaners will have a bad chemical reaction with bleach, so use care when choosing what you are going to mix. If in doubt, call the company that makes your tile cleaner for advice. A bad chemical reaction can be deadly if inhaled for too long. Continue Reading »
 The elegant look of a hardwood floor can add warmth and character to any room in a home. The natural characteristics of wood add depth and a visual appearance that many other types of floors try to duplicate. With the demand for hardwood flooring growing manufacturer’s are enhancing their ranges to meet this demand, with better quality finishes and superior construction techniques.
Hardwood floors come in a wide variety of wood species, colors and widths. Besides the classic hardwoods (like red oak, white oak, maple and ash) many manufacturers now offer exotic hardwood species from all over the World. Exotic hardwoods give homeowners the chance to better express their own personal decorating tastes with a more unique looking floor. With so many different types of hardwood flooring now available it is sometime hard to choice which is best suited to you. Different Types of Wood Flooring
Solid wooden floors are one solid piece of wood that have tongue and groove sides and come in either prefinished or unfinished styles. Solid wood floors are sensitive to moisture and it is not recommended to install these floors below ground level, or directly over a concrete slab. These floors are for nail-down installations only. You can refinish, or re-coat solid wood floors several times, which adds to their appeal and to their long life. There are solid floors that are over 100 years old and are still in good condition.
All solid wood floors will react to the presence of moisture. In the winter heating months, moisture leaves the wood causing the floor to contract which leaves unsightly gaps between each plank. In the summer months when the humidity is higher the wood will expand and the gaps will disappear. If there is too much moisture it may cause the wood planks to cup, or buckle. This is why it is important when installing a solid strip floor to leave the proper expansion area around the perimeter and to acclimatize the wood prior to installation. Engineered wood floors – These floors are constructed from several wood plies that are glued together. The centre core is generally a softer wood material and is used to make the tongue and groove. A hardwood finish layer is glued on top of the centre core and another softer wood ply is attached underneath the core. This top ply is also called the finish layer and can be constructed of almost any wood specie. Wood always wants to expand in a certain direction. In the presence of moisture solid wood planks will always expand across the width of the planks, rather than down the length of the boards. To avoid this problem, manufacturers of engineered planks place each ply in the opposite direction of each other. This is called cross-ply construction. Once the wood layers are glued together the plies will counteract each other which will stop the plank from growing or shrinking with changes in the humidity. Engineered wood floors are designed for the floating installation and can be glued together or some now come with a click system.
Veneer wood floors are very similar to laminate floors. The only difference is that with a veneer flooring to top wear layer is a thin piece or real hardwood instead of a photographic image as in laminates. Veneer flooring is usually around 8mm in thickness with the top hardwood layer being around 0.7mm. Advantages of a veneer floors are that they are fast and easy to install and you have a real hardwood floor. Continue Reading »
 It seems to be the time of year where people are considering home improvement projects. These projects can range from a fresh coat of paint to major remodeling. One of the surest ways of improving the look of your home is through the use of hardwood floors. There is such a variety of hardwood floors that there is bound to be an option that fits every budget.
Many of the older homes have hardwood floors under the carpeting. Wall to wall carpeting covered many hardwood floors in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Carpeting was considered more energy efficient as well as more comfortable than hardwood floors. The trend is now to restore hardwood floors in older homes and to install this flooring option in newer homes. Part of the trend of going back to hardwood floors started with the research that links carpeting to allergies to dust, mold and other particles that can get trapped in carpets. When you have hardwood floors it is much easier to get rid of these allergy causing culprits. In the past people also considered blemishes in hardwood floors a reason to cover them up, today these blemishes are seen as part of the natural beauty of hardwood floors. The natural blemishes are what distinguish the natural hardwood floors from the products that resemble wood. Continue Reading »
Bamboo flooring provides another avenue for those looking for something other than hardwood. Growing in popularity as an alternative, bamboo flooring has many features that make it stand out when compared to hardwood. Although harvested primarily in China, bamboo flooring can now be found easily in both European and North American markets. Many of those that adopted bamboo flooring early on point out its environmental friendliness. The bamboo plant regrows within a few seasons and can be harvested repeatedly without permanent damage. In fact, the bamboo plant is considered a grass, as it grows far faster than a forest. When done responsibly, bamboo plant harvesting can be accomplished in a environmentally friendly manner. How does bamboo flooring compare with traditional hardwoods? High quality bamboo flooring is harder and more durable than even the most expensive hardwood flooring. Moisture is also less of a problem for bamboo flooring. Where traditional hardwood may cup and crown because of water exposure, bamboo flooring will keep out water without a problem. Bamboo flooring is engineered like a laminate and treated under extremely high pressure with a high quality glue. This makes bamboo flooring very resistant to abrasions and scratches, where a hardwood floor would end up showing scratches. Bamboo flooring has become a great deal more affordable in recent times as well. Best of all, bamboo flooring is easy enough to lay down without any professional help. Like many of the newer hardwoods, bamboo flooring is made with a groove that allows the planks to interlock, making them considerably easier to install. Before installing a bamboo floor, let the planks sit in their new environment for no less than 72 hours. Although bamboo flooring does not suffer from water damage like hardwood, they do need some time to adjust to their new climate before installation. What should be done to maintain a bamboo floor? Maintenance requirements are fairly simple for bamboo flooring. Be sure to clean the floor after installing it, using a mop with only a little bit of water. Regular dusting and sweeping should be done after installation. This will prevent a build up of dust that can dull the finish. A mat used at the entrance way will keep out a great deal of dust and dirt. Dirt and small rocks can easily scratch the finish, and a mat can go a long way in preventing this problem. Hardwood flooring installation can be a difficult and sometimes complicated task, but if you feel comfortable giving it a go personally, you can end up saving quite a bit of money. Properly installed hardwoods can last for generations, even under moist and humid conditions, such as in a bathroom. With a little advice and a step by step guide, as well as plenty of time, hardwood flooring installation can be done without expensive professional services. Moisture is the number one enemy of hardwood flooring. Moisture can eventually lead to the warping and cracking of the surface as it expands and contracts. This does not mean, however, that hardwood flooring cannot be used in wetter conditions. Hardwood flooring simply requires a little maintenance in order to work well under these conditions. Installing hardwood with an asphalt felt should provide a great degree of protection against rotting and warping of the hardwood. Take 15 pound asphalt felt, and put it over the subfloor in overlapping sections. The felt should be tacked down with a staple gun. Leave a small gap, around half an inch, between the asphalt felt and the wall. A baseboard or base shoe will be placed in these smaller spaces between the flooring and the wall. The first three boards of the flooring should be laid out by hand. Board lengths are typically random, so portions of the flooring should be set out as a test before nailing down. When the first boards are put out, the rest can be set with a flooring nailer. This will make it easier to do an accurate job of laying out the flooring. When the new flooring creates an uneven surface, you can use a reducer to create an even meeting point. When preparing to install a hardwood floor, be sure to safely store the wood. Storing the wood out in the open where it can get wet will lead to uneven flooring that does not fit together. If the flooring must be stored outdoors, be sure to cover it with a waterproof tarp. This will reduce any possible damage from moisture, which can warp and bend expensive wood flooring very quickly. Do not transport wood flooring in an open bed when weather conditions could give rise to rain or high humidity. Pergo flooring provides a wide range of laminate flooring, with an emphasis on reproducing the genuine feel of hardwood and tile. With Pergo flooring, homeowners can have a great looking floor that won’t suffer from water damage or abrasions. Laminate flooring requires next to no maintenance, and will stay looking great for many years. The latest Pergo flooring reproduces the graining, knotting, texture, and color of genuine hardwood. Visitors will be hard pressed to know the difference between Pergo flooring and real hardwood or tile. In addition to its great looking and lasting appeal, laminate flooring is also very easy to install. With its interlocking tiles, Pergo flooring can be installed without professional help. The tiles are manufactured with a tongue and groove system that allows the tiles to interlock without glue or other industrial adhesives. Provided a home installer has a tile cutting tool, the installation should be very little trouble. Interlocking Pergo flooring is also easier on the environment, without any of the harmful chemical adhesives that other floors possess. Home installation is easy enough for almost anyone to do, and can save thousands of dollars in professional installation fees. Pergo flooring is safer and healthier without any of the chemicals seen in other flooring. Once a Pergo floor is installed, it should last for several years. Worn out and damaged tiles can be individually removed and replaced. Laminate flooring will not suffer in the same way from water damage and abrasion as hardwood. A hardwood will crack and buckle when exposed to moisture over time. Cupping and crowning results from extended moisture exposure. This moisture can come both from spills and from water that wicks up from the subfloor, making prevention difficult. Pergo flooring is superior to carpet as well, offering both comfort and reliability that the former cannot. Carpet can soak up water and stains, making it difficult to keep clean. Over time, carpet can also take on unpleasant odors that are hard to eliminate. Laminate flooring will not absorb any of these same smells, remaining in perfect condition for years. Carpet, by contrast, will gradually wear down and become frayed and torn. The only means of repairing a carpet that has become frayed or worn is to eventually replace it, costing potentially hundreds of dollars for the consumer. Slate flooring is a great option for both home and business, giving designers a unique and flexible material to use in their home. Slate has many advantages, including its affordability and resilience. A slate floor is made out of extremely fine material, giving it a resistance to moisture. Spills should be very easy to clean up, as slate will not absorb the water. Slate is also very resistant to stains and dirt. Simple maintenance should keep a slate floor clean, without too much trouble. Due to the wide range of sources for slate in the natural world, it can be found in a variety of shades and colors. Slate flooring can be purchased in anything from dark charcoal shades, to vibrant reds or greens. Consumers also have a wide range of patterns to choose from when it comes to slate flooring, giving each floor a unique appearance. The cleft texture of slate flooring makes it very durable, resisting scratches as well as general wear and tear. The slate texture also provides a great anti-slip surface, making it a wonderful choice for in the kitchen or work areas. The combination of good stain resistance and anti-slip properties make slate one of the best all around kitchen appropriate flooring materials available. In addition to its affordability, slate flooring benefits from a wide range of unique patterns to choose from. Glosses can also be applied to slate flooring, adding another dynamic to its appearance. Installation of slate flooring can be done without professional help, but it requires a good deal of time as well as tools. A diamond bladed saw will be required to cut the tiles. Thinset must also be purchased along with the tile, which is used to secure the tile to the underlayment. With a smooth concrete surface, no underlayment may be required. With hardwood subfloors, or cracked concrete, an underlayment of concrete will be needed to begin the installation properly. It is important that the right thinset be used with particular tile sets. The thinset bonds the tile to the underlayment, and if done improperly the floor can eventually start shifting. Be sure to have a large bucket and something to clean up mortar that spreads across tile surfaces. Before installing slate flooring, check out the packaging of the slate. Tiles can frequently end up broken after arriving at the store. If any are broken, be sure that replacements match the original tile. | |
