Caring and maintain hardwood floors needs the same amount of care you would give to your berber carpet. If you take care and maintain your hardwood floors, they’ll only look better with age. On the other hand, if you abuse and pay no attention to your floor, you’ll be left with very bad looking hardwood floors overtime. Having clean hardwood floors will increase the longevity of your asset.

Here is a list of things that will help preserve your wonderful floor after the wood has been installed:

• Having bristle type mats at all exterior door entries will be helpful as they will collect bigger pieces of grit or rubble that might scratch or damage your new floor in different ways.

• Placing area rugs at all entry points inside the house can be a nice way to decorate your home as well as protect the nice floor.

• Sometimes furniture can damage your floor too, so use protectors that go underneath the furniture to avoid damaging your hardwood floors. You should also check if grit was collected around the furniture every time you sweep. This will minimize the chances of your floor getting scratched.

• All water areas should also have area rugs, the kitchen being one of the most important places. You can never be too safe, so other places would be in front of fridges with an ice maker, dishwasher and the kitchen sink area.

• Moving appliances can sometimes prove to be very challenging on hardwood floors, so anytime you move them around, be sure to use protectors to avoid scratches and marks. Delivery guys might not take the necessary measures to prevent damaging your floor, so you should tell them beforehand to be careful. I would also recommend you use 1/8″ Masonite board that will avoid damage to your floor. Make sure your floor is very clean before using this board because even a small piece of grit can damage your floor and will make all the effort of moving the appliances futile.

I would suggests that you sweep or vacuum the hardwood floors often to avoid the possibility of scratches or other types of damage to your floors when they are being installed. You could also get rid of tools that are unnecessarily on the floor and put them somewhere safe. To be safer, after you clean up the floor, you can cover that part or high traffic areas with Masonite board to avoid any kind of damage. The Masonite boards, which are typical 4×2 sheets that can be had for cheap at home improvement stores or online, are a small price to pay to finally end up with an amazing looking floor.

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Painting a floor never sounds like it is going to work, but it is one of the quickest and easiest ways to freshen up a space for literally pennies. Even if you paint walls and update everything else in a room, if you have tired, old floors, it just detracts from the updated room. There are special formulations of floor paint that are made to withstand heavy foot traffic and survive the activity that a floor would normally receive. So when you are selecting your floor paint, make sure to purchase high quality paint; properly clean and prepare your floor before painting, and painting your floor will be one of the best decisions that you ever made.

Picking Paint
As you are preparing your floor for painting, you will need to calculate the amount of square feet that you have to cover, and then check to see how much paint you will need to cover that area. Before selecting your paint consider how you want your finished floor to look. While a high gloss finish is easy to clean, it can be slippery. If you select paint with a lower sheen, it may not be quite as slippery. For a high gloss finish you will want to use urethane paint, and for the lower sheen you will want to use an acrylic latex paint. You will also need to choose between oil based and acrylic paint. While oil based paint is usually more durable, it also takes a much longer time to dry, which can be problematic when dealing with a floor.

Preparations
To prepare the floor for painting, begin by cleaning it. Make sure that there is no grease on the floor, because your paint will not stick if there is. If your floor has been painted before, you should clean it with TSP before you paint it again. Remove any loose or flaking paint, and give it a light sanding to help the primer adhere to the old paint. Once everything is clean let your floor completely dry, and then you want to dust mop to remove any remaining debris.

Primer
If this is the first time that the floor has been painted, you want to use a primer that is designed for whatever material your floor is made of. After applying a thin coat of primer, let it dry completely. If you are painting new concrete, let it cure for about six months. Before painting a new concrete floor, you will want to make sure the paint sticks so you should etch it with muriatic acid before applying your primer. After it has completely dried, you can apply your paint.

Finish Coat
After your floor has been prepared and the primer is completely dry, you can apply your finish coat of paint. If you use an extension pole with your roller, painting a floor is very much like sponge mopping a floor. After getting your first layer of paint on, let it completely dry before applying a second coat. Then after you second coat is down, let your floor dry ad harden completely before walking on it or moving any furniture on it.

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If you have thought about renovating a room in your house or changing its purpose, carpet may be involved in your renovation plans. If you are looking to change hardwood or tiled floor to a carpeted room then doing it yourself may be a great option and a great way to feel good about changing something in your home. Carpet tile is usually available in your local hardware stores and this option makes it easier to install your own carpet because you can do it in square sections. A do it yourself carpet project is just one of the many things that you can do to improve in your home.

The first thing to decide is what room you will be changing and renovating in your home. If this is your first big renovation project then you may want to pick something small and hidden so that you are not stuck with a huge living room project and renovation supplies everywhere for weeks. If you are renovating a small office or bedroom you must first figure out the size and dimensions of the room. Then you must figure out what carpet you would like to use and how much it costs per square foot. Expenses can be a big issue that alters your plans a little.

When choosing your carpet you need to make sure that you know exactly what you want. Cost, color, texture, and overall look and feel are all big factors when you decide what kind of carpeting you would like. You can usually look at different samples in a home and hardware store or through a catalog company. If you are using someone to install the carpet for you, they will usually bring samples for you to look at, but in a do it yourself project, you do not really use the help of a carpeting company.

The next thing that you must do is figure out how you would like the carpet arranged in your renovated room. Sometimes you can set up special designs but it is often times easier to follow a simple and square plan. It is also a good idea to stick with one kind of carpet. Altering colors is usually okay, but altering textures can be weird looking and may not fit the style of the room as well as you thought. Carpeting is not only meant to be stylish but you want it to feel good. It should feel okay to sit or lie down on and it should also be easily cleaned. A carpet that is hard to clean is not very much fun.

Renovating a room or entire home for new flooring or carpeting can be fun project if you are up for a little bit of work, but in the end it is well worth it. Carpeting can change the look and feel of a room in no time and you can always use different resources for styling help without having to spend a fortune on someone to do it for you.

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Marble Tile Background

Marble tiles are considered to be one of the best building materials to be used in homes, even in offices, due to its different qualities and benefits.

Marble tiles have been used for over thousands of years already, wherein they were first cut into slabs and tiles and used for as building materials, dating back as far as the time of ancient Greeks and the Romans. Marble tiles are known for their exquisiteness and resilience, making them very ideal as flooring materials, especially since they are not only functional, but are very aesthetically pleasing as well. Each marble tile vary in color, pattern and design, giving consumers a wonderful array of natural materials which possesses a combination of beauty and toughness, making it the material of choice for construction.

Marble, which is actually a metamorphic rock, is created when limestone is subjected to a considerable amount of heat and pressure within the earth’s crust, making it a dense and durable material, at least when compared with granite or ceramic tiles. It gets its unique coloring, textures and veins from the metamorphic change that the limestone undergoes regarding its marble effect and mineral composition. Basically, marble undergoes a re-crystallization process wherein fossil materials and other sundry elements and minerals are heated and pressurized, creating the stone.

Difference Between Fake And Real Marble Tiles

Real marble tiles have the characteristic of being durable, but it is actually not that durable. Its durability will be defined on how you take care of it, making it more of a hassle and a problem to have around. Caring for real marble tiles is more complex than your regular style of cleaning, wherein mopping and sweeping not enough in terms of caring for your marble tiles. Marble tiles are more susceptible to stains from common household products, such as citrus-based drinks, shampoos, nail removers, or anything that is acidic, since these things may chemically react with the marble tile’s surface. This means that people who have marble tiles for their flooring, for example, will need to clean up any spill immediately using soap and water, in order to avoid staining their marble tile.

Fake marble tiles, on the other hand, need not require the same amount of care when cleaning it since these fake marble tiles are not made of 100% marble, but contain only a percentage of marble in their composition. Fake marble tiles are actually combined with other elements, such as liquid polyester resin, making it a more durable product as compared to the real marble tiles. This means that the products that would easily stain marble tiles are not that effective with fake marble tiles due to their resin coats, making them more impervious, although they could still stain it if not taken care of.

Also, real marble tiles are more expensive than fake marble tiles for obvious reasons, although there are some people who sell fake marble tiles for the same price range as real ones. The more expensive real marble tiles will have some differences with fake ones, such as the texture, finishes, patterns and design, some of which are more difficult to detect over others, but with careful scrutiny and observation, these differences can be seen.

Vanessa Arellano Doctor

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When getting a new floor for your house, you must be considering a variety of factors to make the most of your investment. And on that count, cork floors score pretty high. In this article we will discuss some of the special features of cork that makes it a truly unique floor. And you can use it both for your house and for your office.

Appearance

With a wide variety of patterns and colors available, cork looks great on the floor. And the variety allows you to have floors that suit your style and taste.

Durability

The life of a cork floor can last up to centuries. And there is proof of that. Both the Library of Congress and the First Congregational Church of Canada have cork floors that are well over a hundred years old. So when you install a cork floor, you are assured a lifetime of peace regarding flooring issues. Such durability of cork can be attributed to its cellular composition. Even in case of friction, cork is much less affected than other hardwood floors or tiles or even laminates.

Liquid Resistant

Cork flooring contains an intrinsic waxy substance, Suberin. What it does is it makes cork impermeable to liquids and gases. So there are very minor chances of cork actually rotting. In fact cork is considered o be one of the best seals available and is still used today to seal wine bottles, a practice that has been going on for centuries.

Resilience

Due to its cellulite structure cork also has tremendous resilience built into it. So when pressure is put on a cork floor it will bend but as soon as the pressure is released the cork floor snaps back to its normal position. This is because on application of pressure the cells are compressed while on release they regain heir shape. So walking on a cork floor with a high heel shoe on is not an issue.

Insect Resistant

The composition of the cork ensures that insects, even termites, cannot cause any harm to the floor. The floor acts as a kind of natural barrier for them. Even microbes cannot set up colonies in the cork floors. Thus it is kind of germ free too.

Value

Cork flooring also wins in value when compared to other floors. Priced affordably, cork can come at almost half the cost of some other kinds of flooring available. And then it has all the features which make it truly one of the best flooring options.

Tania Penwell provides information on cork flooring and other DIY topics for A1 Wood Flooring – your guide to finding and caring for beautiful wood floors.

When installing solid hardwood floors you should be careful to avoid installing them directly onto concrete slabs or below ground level because of moisture problems that may result. The problem with moisture is that it leaves unsightly gaps in the hardwood once it dries, typically during the winter months when heating tends to draw the moisture out of homes. During summer months when humidity and moisture are high you should notice that the wood once again expands, sometimes so much so that the wood planks may buckle or cup. Because of these issues you should also take great care to leave plenty of room for seasonal expansion.

If this is unavoidable, you should install hardwood floors that are fixed in place with nails. Consistently following steps to ensure you get the longest life out of the floors and sanding them back and re-polishing them will also be essential, whether the floors are maple, bamboo, ash, white or red oak.

Hardwood floors are usually divided into one of three categories being plank flooring, strip flooring and parquet flooring. Parquet style hardwood floors are also known as parquetry, and this is when the smaller pieces of timber are arranged in a geometrical fashion. The timber used can be all the same or different to create a more colorful effect. Hardwood floors that are laid in the strip flooring style are between 5/16 and ¾ of an inch thick and 1 ½ to 2 ¼ inches wide. Strip flooring is common in the bamboo hardwood floors that are popular today. The third style of flooring is the plank, and each board is anywhere from three to eight inches in width. This is a more traditional, heritage style flooring, but is also still a popular choice today.

Another popular yet pricey option when shopping around for hardwood floors is the hand scraped style. They can create a very trendy touch to your home or have a more classic feel if you have a shabby chic, rustic style décor. They are an art form unto themselves, and for this reason, do not come cheap. However, if you can afford the extra cost, you will be rewarded with originality and class.

Each brand of hardwood flooring should come with its own care and washing suggestions. It is important to follow these for your specific hardwood flooring, regardless of what other people do. It is a great idea to vacuum the floor regularly to prevent a buildup of grime in the spaces between the boards, and try to use mats and rugs wherever possible.

It’s also a good idea to have welcome mats at doors and throw rugs in high traffic areas in order to maximize the life of your hardwood floors. Another great way to protect your hardwood floors is by using furniture coasters on all legs of your furniture. Spills should also be taken care of immediately in order to protect your hardwood floors and keep them looking beautiful for years to come.

Visit us for more information on installing hardwood floors, refinishing hardwood floors and how to clean bamboo floors.