Flooring For Beginners

It is good to notice that people are getting conscious of environments and try using sustainable materials to the possible extent. It’s almost fashionable to be using such materials for home décor and furnishing. Bamboo Laminate Flooring is a very popular option these days. Of late, bamboo has continued to gain popularity not only for flooring but for quite a few other items like wallpapers and even clothing. Bamboo is the perfect resource to use. It grows very fast and matures within 5 years. Certain varieties are known to grow more than an inch in 24 hours. It can be grown to specifically suit certain applications.

Laminate flooring is more sturdy and long-lasting than other floors. That’s because it comprises different layers that are fused together over a strong central material. Laminate flooring is not as expensive as other flooring options. Flooring made from Bamboo Laminate is equally good. Bamboo is still more durable than other options of laminating materials. This durability factor makes it very good option for high traffic areas of any home, for instance entryways and kitchens. It better bears all that use.

A very convenient feature of using Bamboo Laminate Flooring is that it’s relatively easier to maintain when compared to carpeting and hardwood flooring. You wouldn’t need any special cleaners as in case of hardwood flooring. Nor would this flooring fade on getting exposed to the sun as carpeting does, or change colors due fading or darkening as is often the case with hardwood floors. While being durable it also gives a soft feel underfoot. Many people report that it’s springier and more comfortable to walk on than concrete backed tile floors or other flooring materials.

Bamboo Laminate Flooring is easily available in any flooring specialty store and in most of home stores. When it was first introduced, it wasn’t so easily found and was more expensive too. But as growing number of people realized about bamboo flooring, the manufacturers saw the opportunity of selling this environmentally friendly flooring.

Moreover, an increasing number of plantations growing bamboo the world over further contributed to its easy availability at competitive prices and thus added to its popularity. Bamboo laminate flooring is an excellent option for new flooring.

Consider Glue-less Laminate Flooring

Perhaps we never had the kind of flooring options that we have today. Even among the traditional options including carpet, tile, linoleum, and wood we get more styles than ever. But generally these materials need expensive untidy installation processes and often require special items for their upkeep and maintenance. But now they have developed a moderately simple and easy product that gives great looking floors at economical prices that get installed easily. And, that’s called glue-less laminate flooring.

The installation of glue-less laminate flooring is trouble-free. Here, instead of using traditional glue down method, the boards fit together by interlocking. This process is o simple that anyone can learn how to lay it. That makes its installation expenses far lower than other traditional methods. Apart from offering cheaper installation, the material itself comes cheaper than most other flooring materials. So, the overall cost in this case is much lower than other flooring options. Despite being incredibly economical, the laminate does not have cheap looks, as some of you might fear. It’s aesthetically pleasing and available in many styles and designs that would complement any home decor. It characteristically offers high resistance to scratches and impacts, like most other floor materials. It is very convenient to clean and maintain. You just need a wet cloth or spray mop for the purpose.

Despite all the advantages, there are some drawbacks associated with the use of glue-less laminate flooring. This surface is a bit too smooth, nearing to being slippery. Though that makes it good for being used as a dance floor, it may not be desirable if you have toddlers or elderly people in the family. Though some of the latest varieties are specially treated to increase friction, it continues to remains an issue. The other limitation is their limited life. As they need to be laid on top of the existing floor, if the process of their deterioration starts, you have to replace them. The average life of such floors is considered to be about twenty years. Compared to other floors it is not as water or moisture resistant. It wouldn’t be wrong to conclude that this kind of flooring fails to add value to homes. Nevertheless, despite the limitations, glue-less flooring is a superb flooring material and should not be neglected altogether when considering new floors or renovating the same , as millions of users are happy using it.

There is nothing to beat the exotic Brazilian hardwood floors with reddish hues and rich gold’s that ripen under sunlight to bring warmth to any home. That’s what prompted Mullican Flooring to fashion Mullican MeadowBrooke – affordable engineered exotics for people who love Brazilian flooring.

It’s the quality of their woods that have an exclusive reddish, golden hues and iridescent sheens, distinct from other trees that make Brazil and other South and Central American nations the major exporters of hardwood floors. The growth of woods like Brazilian Cherry, Santos Mahogany, and Tigerwood in plentiful allows these nations to manufacture and export the product worldwide.

Mullican’s MeadowBrooke collection offers the three most popular items in 1/2 inch engineered floors in planks of three and five inch width. Mullican Meadow Brooke Brazilian Cherry has more of a golden color, but this wood is expected to acquire a reddish hue as it ages.

Mullican MeadowBrooke Santos Mahogany is easily the most prominent with its varied color contrast – golden apricot swirled with shades of burgundy and burnt sienna. Mullican MeadowBrooke Tigerwood is steeped with shades of butterscotch and caramel which like Brazilian Cherry, offers something a bit surprising. If you like something slightly with lighter color, it is for you. Next to a sunlit window it beautifully reflects light.

The price of woods in this collection goes up from $3.69 to $5.42, with Santos Mahogany the most expensive. But it’s worth the price and among the finest collections of Santos Mahogany you would have seen.

Three-inch wide planks can be glued down or stapled, whereas the five-inch variety is designed for floating floors. You get these in random lengths of one to seven feet, adding to the unique dimension and character of this collection that is offered with a 25-year warranty on its finish.

To know more about Mullican Meadow Brooke or another collection from Mullican Flooring, you would best contact one the authorized dealers of Mullican. That’s the best way to know more of the latest available products and chose the most suitable for your home, and you may get an attractive deal in the process.

In case you are considering wooden flooring, you have three options that comprise of solid wood floor, laminate floor and engineered wooden floor, last being the most popular these days and there are good reasons to that. Let’s examine some of these here.

Aesthetics

Comparing the looks of finished engineered wood floor and solid wood floors is quite tricky. That’s because the top layer that one sees is almost identical in either case and what you see is largely due the type and quality of wood used and not the type of floor. You should know that the top layer of engineered wood floor is basically a thin slice of solid wood. However, laminates look quite different than engineered variety. Laminate wood floors can have so deceptive looks as to prompt an expert to go on his hands and knees to conclude that it’s not a solid wood or engineered wooden floor. As the two are one and the same thing it’s right to conclude that at a first glance engineered wooden floors have the appearance of solid wood.

Engineered Wooden Flooring Sounds More Solid Than Laminate

Did you ever realize that different kinds of wooden floors emit different kinds of sounds on being walked over? Yes, that’s true, as you step on a floor there is a sound created that varies with the floor material. It’s indeed interesting to know and understand the variation of sound on three types of floors or even the same kind of floor manufactured by different manufacturers. For example, laminate wooden floors have a hollowed sound as you walk over it. And, there are manufacturers who make it a point to mention in their ads that their product is devoid of this characteristic. On the other hand, a new average solid wooden floor hardly makes any noise that you can identify. However, over prolonged use, may be after a decade or so, these floors tend to make creaking sounds, but that’s not so were it a laminate floor. Engineered floors are difficult to predict. They could go either way. Usually they don’t have hollow sound, but then there are too many exceptions. They are not likely to sound too creaky, yet it happens. But for this creaking sound, which some people are not able to tolerate, engineered wooden floors come next to solid wooden floors. They prove to be ideal but for the said characteristic.

Damage Control

Leaving aside concrete, a solid wood floor is the most durable. Even if it gets damaged, you can have it repaired, though it does signal the damage being caused as you begin to notice scratches. Engineered wooden floor can be buffed and refinished to retain its looks, but that shouldn’t be too often. How frequently you may do that depends upon the brand and type, but be aware that its top layer is not thick enough to allow too frequent refurbishing. Thus, as in the case of laminate, serious damage may necessitate replacing the board to maintain its good looks. Laminate, on the other hand is nothing but a resin covered picture, can’t be refinished.

Price

Price of engineered wooden flooring is indeed difficult to assess accurately, as is in the case of hard wooden floors, and they are always fluctuating. That’s because its manufacturing depends upon the availability of definite kind of natural lumber.
Being derived from a natural product, the price of solid wooden floors usually has more fluctuations than the engineered one, whereas the price of laminate is governed by demand.

Coming to the conclusion of having wooden laminate flooring for your home is just about half the story. The other half and perhaps an equally difficult if not more, is deciding the brand to go for. And that’s just not a good sounding popular name, but much more than that. You will need to consider factors like durability, installation, its price and above all how it would look in your kind of present surroundings. You may not necessarily like to choose from the limited designs often displayed on the walls of most hardware stores. Keeping that in mind, let’s see what Swiftlock Laminate Flooring has to offer:

Lots Of Options

Once you have a reasonably good thought of how you want your home to look like after the installation of laminate floor is complete, it’s time to look for a brand that meets with your imagination and specifications. There are pretty good chances of getting something exactly or vey close to your imagination and expectations from the manufacturers of Swiftlock laminated flooring. Anytime, you can find at least 160 varieties of laminated flooring from Swiftlock.

They don’t distinguish their products by giving different names to various collections like Quick Step Laminate Flooring, but they do mention the thickness right by the name of the selection, and that you would hopefully find helpful. As a consumer you may not really be aware of what’s riding the popularity chart when we talk of laminate floors, it would be worthwhile to spare some time to check a couple of different websites and arm yourself with some of the available features and narrow down to know what would best suit your requirements.

Cost

As you start looking around for Swiftlock Laminate Flooring, you wouldn’t fail to notice that the name is frequently associated with the words durable and affordable. You may be surprised, though, Amazon does not stock Swiftlock. So, you need to look other places, should you like to compare prices. Swiftlock is the cheaper laminate flooring from its parent company, Armstrong. It won’t be wrong to ad that you’ll find Swiftlock to be the cheapest of laminated floor, wherever you may buy it from.

Difficulty Of Installation

You don’t need any experience in installing laminate flooring, being the easiest of them all. Here’s a perfect project for a novice DIY enthusiast. The process of installation is further aided by the provision of installation instructions on the website of this provider. Yet, if you encounter any difficulty during its installation, you are certain to find online help and tips as this is one of the most well known and used brand. Though lighter than either solid or engineered variety, it lasts for at least as long, if not longer.

Durability

Like any other wood laminate floor, you are concerned about its maintenance and durability. Swiftlock flooring proves pretty good as far as normal floor traffic is concerned. However, there are reports of its getting warped up, even in the absence of standing water or if heavy items fall upon it. And mind you, this kind of flooring can’t be subjected to buffing, though claimed to be offering resistance to dents and scratches. So, anytime some damage is caused by whatever means, you may have no other option but to change the board. Well, there are quite many complainants having used this product, but doesn’t that once again confirm its popularity? That leaves no doubt about its price worthiness. Further, most retailers acknowledge that Swiftlock Laminate Flooring is one of the top selling brand.

Flooring ideas from Karndean vinyl flooring are really electrifying. Vinyl planks and tiles produced by Karndean are perfect replicas of natural materials like wood, stone, ceramic, slate and marble. The technology employed for manufacturing these luxury vinyl planks and tiles makes them look so natural that you will find it hard to tell them from the natural ones.

Karndean floors are quite different from the normal vinyl sheet floors. As this floor is installed in a piece-by-piece manner it gives the appearance of a handcrafted floor. The tiles and planks are produced using random pattern technique. As a result no pattern is repeated, that’s very unlike cheap looking standard vinyl resilient flooring. Another very exclusive feature of these floors is their coloring. Intentional changes are made to vinyl coloring enabling it to acquire slight random difference in color. That helps to give the floors more natural looks. An additional advantage of such coloring technique is that in case of replacement of a couple of tiles, you need not fear dye lot issues. Here are six good reasons that prompt designers to suggest and use of Karndean luxury vinyl tiles and planks for getting perfect floors.

1. The most favorable point of Karndean vinyl floors is that they are stain proof against any kind of spills encountered in a normal household. That includes stains that may be due red wine or urine of your pets! However, they are not as resistant to petroleum based spills caused by petroleum products.

2. Now that you know they are almost stain free, you would wonder about their waterproofing characteristics. You would be relieved to learn that these are waterproof.

A leak in the bathroom or kitchen will not causes any damage to these vinyl tiles and planks. Now, that’s what distinguishes them from hardwood flooring and laminate. In case of a leak you might have to replace the whole of hardwood or laminate, or at least a part of it. But, with Karndean, you may have to get the floor reinstalled under the worst of circumstances.

3. Karndean flooring is hypoallergenic and resistant to mold and mildew.

4. Luxury vinyl planks and tiles are comparatively too hard to scratch than laminate and hardwood. These are best floors for pet owners.

5. It’s nearly impossible to cause any chip or break Karnden tile, in comparison to ceramic, stone, slate or even marble tiles

6. And the most interesting part is the maintenance. All that they require is daily dusting and damp mopping once in a while.

That should make you understand why Karndean nears perfection. Now, have a look at their styles. Karndean offers six series to choose from. Here they are:

1. The Van Gogh lines comes with 22 variations of Wood planks. You can expect to get almost any color and species that you can imagine.

2. Art Select vinyl from Karndean gives you 11 options for selection from simulated Wood planks and Limestone modular tiles

3. A very popular design of luxury vinyl tile is Da Vinci. It offers more than 33 options of tiles in sizes varying from 12-16 inches in Ceramic, Slate and Sandstone. Could you possibly ask for any more?

4. The Knight series of tiles gives you 33 choices of tiles and planks in Terra Cotta, Slate, Stone, Marble, and Wood round out Knight tile.

5. For that unique décor go for Karndean’s Michelangelo series. You get a dozen of products here that go to include Italian Mosaic, Spanish Pebble or a Metallic tile.

6. Finally, it’s the vinyl plank and tile flooring series from Karndean. Renoir has on offer 13 different types of Wood, Slate and Concrete tiles.

Flooring forms one of the more important aspects of any interior design and decoration project. It conveys the taste of the householder. Modern trends of decoration heavily rely on flooring. The flooring is expected to go a long way to accommodate wide-ranging colors and styles of furniture.

There are hundreds of natural, synthetic or hybrid types of flooring materials available. Each material finds an application at some place or the other. Different circumstances at different buildings like houses, hospitals and gymnasium etc. necessitate the use of different flooring materials. Even the same building may have different flooring materials in its different rooms. While choosing your flooring materials you should have some requisites in mind.

Maple flooring is an amazing material that gives quality surfaces. Maple flooring has many good qualities. It is a very hard and long lasting material that is easy to clean. Of course it adds value to your home. Its unusual patterns and design in natural colors allows it to easily jell with most of the interior designing from old traditional to modern ones. Northern maple may be used because it is inexhaustible, and can be reclaimed and recycled. The maple used for the northern flooring is produced taking care to ensure that the quality of maple is maintained. The producers guarantee that the flooring will conform to the exact quality as promised.

As there are many grades available it is very important to choose the right variety of maple. Northern maple comes in three grades. First grade is naturally the best with highest possible quality. This grade ensures minimum variations of natural quality. The second grade down the line is most often used for flooring. It shows more variations than the first grade. Third grade has exactly the same structural wholeness and more variation than the first two grades.

Environmental factors play a crucial role in selection of maple floors. Manufacturers recommend its installation in homes where air temperature is between 55-75 degrees and humidity level is from 35 to 50 percent. It’s very typical of maple to absorb moisture making it swell, but at the same time lack of moisture causes it to shrink. So, one has to be careful about temperature and humidity before installing maple floors. They respond to periodic climatic changes and find it difficult to provide the expected service. The only way to prolong the life of a maple floor is to have a control over humidity and temperature.

There certainly is a steady increase in the number of people who are patronizing bamboo flooring in preference to hardwood flooring. Increasing awareness of the benefits of using bamboo is contributing to its popularity. China is the home for most of this flooring material. Though, it is also there in the U.S. and parts of Europe.

As more and more people get conscious of environments they want to contribute in their own way towards maintaining healthier environments and opting for bamboo flooring is a step in the right direction. Bamboo is classified as a grass and compared to other trees it regenerates itself very quickly. Carefully harvested bamboo has little impact on environments.

Bamboo is a kind of wood with characteristics that are somewhat different to hardwood. For one, bamboo flooring is known to be more durable than hardwood flooring. Another advantage is that it’s not so easily damaged by water and moisture, unlike hardwood flooring that tends to buckle or develops cracks on being wet. This kind of flooring derives its durability from the lamination process it’s subjected to. The adhesive used for its making and the pressure at which it is applied govern its durability.

Further, it has better scratch resisting properties than hardwood flooring. And last but no the least, bamboo flooring is economical than hardwood flooring, which is a motivating factor for its users.

Having said about the beneficial characteristics of this material for flooring, let’s come to installation. It offers very simple installation that you may do yourself. Like most of the other floorings, this also uses the tongue and groove kind of design for being installed. Though, you have to take the precaution of giving it time to get acclimated to its place of installation. That means, before you really get down to its installation, you have to leave it flat on your floor for three to four days enabling it get used to its new environments. Such acclimatization helps avoiding warping of the material.

And, finally let’s look at its maintenance. It’s not much of an effort to clean a bamboo floor. It should be swept regularly and once in a while you may use a damp mop for the purpose. That prevents the floor from acquiring dull looks. As with any other floor, you may make use of rugs that protect the floor by collecting all the dirt and dust and reduce wear and tear. Though resistant to scratches, this flooring may yet develop scratches over prolonged use. So, again like any other flooring, bamboo flooring too needs your attention if you want to keep it shining and good looking.

Though there are many materials available for flooring, each has some limitation or the other. Some get damaged easily, others are difficult to maintain while another category may offer very limited designs and styles. Marble flooring is perhaps the only kind that is devoid of most of the negative features already mentioned. Here are some of the benefits and limitations of using this attractive material for flooring.

A very welcoming feature of marble is that it maintains its cool. Marble floors bring to mind the images of cool and white Spanish style houses with small smooth courtyards and sunny terraces. Imagine the pleasures of a long cool drink on a warm sunny day in the company of loved ones around a low table in the middle of a big and airy room that has white marble beneath your feet. Or imagine the joy of walking barefoot on a smooth marble floor while it’s hot outside. That’s one exceptional characteristic of this beautiful material. It continues to remain cool in summers and offers a soothing smooth feel.

Marble floors find a wide patronage in countries with warmer climates. Technology has facilitated getting a very high degree of finish and shine to marble. As it’s a natural material it comes with infinite number of natural colors and fascinating designs. No other flooring medium would offer such vast a variety of designs. That’s one reason why marble never seems to go out of style.

Another positive feature that contributes to popularity of marble as a flooring material is its durability. Once it is laid, it is treated with stain resistant sealant that would protect the floor for nearly ten years, after which it is recommended to be resealed. It doesn’t get stained so easily by any of the normal household spills. Though few strong acids may result to stains, they can be removed by suitable treatments. Marble floors are almost maintenance-free.

Marble floors are the easiest to be cleaned. Just mop them with hot water and they begin to look new and shiny. Some patented cleaning agents may be added to water for cleaning such floors. Make sure that the cleaning agent is mild, bleach-free, non-caustic and pH neutral. Many brands are available for the purpose but insist on buying only those, which are marked “suitable for marble floors”.

There are hardly any disadvantages of marble flooring. Once they have been laid professionally, they remain in perfect shape and state for a lifetime. That’s very unlike ceramic tiles that get lifted up from their original point because of the moisture that seeps through fractured grouting. Unless cleaned immediately, they may develop stains as a result of spillage of strong acids or alkalis, but that is a very common phenomenon with any flooring material. Its very helpful characteristic of staying cool works to your disadvantage during winters. But, that can easily be taken care of by covering the floor with rugs that have Hessian cloth beneath.

Keeping the above in mind you may agree that marble is a good choice for a new home, especially if that’s in warm climate. Marble flooring is cool, has beautiful designs in many natural colors, is highly durable and easy to maintain and clean. There’s no serious limitation or disadvantage of marble flooring and ultimately it’s an excellent choice for a new home.

Most of us don’t think of cork being used beyond making of bottle stoppers, but it’s increasingly being used as a building material.

It may not be noticeable, but cork is being used as a flooring material, especially for more frequently visited public buildings like churches, hospitals, hotels, libraries and schools. It has inherent characteristic to buffer noise and being resilient in nature it provides comfort when walked over.

Cork is a derivative of the outer bark of the cork oak tree, Quercus suber, which is usually cultivated in the Mediterranean. Portugal produces fifty percent of the world’s requirements of cork. The other contributing countries are: Algeria, Spain, France, Italy Morocco, and Tunisia. The trees are treated as valued possessions by the cork producing countries. That’s because cork is a major export material and therefore availability of vast expanses of these trees provides employment to local populace while earning foreign exchange for the country.

It takes nine to ten years for the bark of a cork tree to be ready for harvesting. The harvest is cleaned and boiled to get rid of the outer bark. The best quality produce is reserved for making cork bottle stoppers.

Modern manufacturing processes and techniques enable total utilization of the raw material and no part of it goes as a waste. Whatever is left after making of stoppers for bottles is grounded to make small granules. These are then mixed with suitable binding agents to get large molded blocks. Finally the blocks are baked to get natural cork material that finds its way to construction industry. Also, the cork floor tiles are a great option for saving material.

Cork finds many applications and is often used in flooring, walls and ceilings. It can be molded to give different shapes. As it has the properties to resist moisture, mold and rot-resistant properties it is a preferred medium for floors of more frequently visited buildings and residences. Many modern houses make use of this material.

Why is cork such a favorite in the construction of modern buildings?

Its application as a flooring underlay reduces noise by up to fifty decibels. So, it helps to reduce noise levels to a good extent. Apart from that, it enjoys a wide patronage for the following factors:

* Durable. Cork has natural resistant properties and pulls thru compression to regain its natural shape. If provided with a protective finish, this feature further improves.

* Provides thermal and moisture insulation. Cork cells have flexible cellular walls and are held together in a honeycomb manner that makes it airtight and very resistant to moisture and temperature changes.

* Provides underfoot comfort. Because of its characteristic nature to regain its shape from compression, it provides a cushioning affect to feet when walked over.

* It’s Easy to clean and maintain. Cork flooring is the easiest to clean. Flooring with wax finish can be cleaned in a jiffy by using a dry or moist mop. Periodic application of wax keeps its shine. However, better cleaning can be achieved by employing an electric buffing with 00 steel wool discs. Subsequently, lamb’s wool pads may be used.

Use of dry or damp mop can solve the purpose of routine cleaning for polyurethane finished cork flooring. Refinishing is achieved by using power floor machine with 00 wool disc followed by the application of polyurethane as per prescribed directions.

The manufacturing process of cork hardly causes any ill effects on the environments.
Countries producing cork impose strict laws for its harvesting and manufacturing. The trees are so harvested that they survive the process and manufacturing processes are so adopted that cause zero waste.

By and large vinyl flooring is the most common form of resilient flooring material in the U.S. Often the two terms, vinyl floor or resilient flooring are synonymous.

Vinyl flooring is available in varying prices. The low-end vinyl flooring is the cheapest. The price of high-end flooring is comparable to more expensive kind of flooring like hardwood and has equally good appearance too.

Let’s understand the composition of vinyl flooring. Vinyl flooring materials constitute different amounts of vinyl. These may have solid or composite vinyl. Solid vinyl implies pieces of vinyl set in vinyl base whereas composite vinyl comprises of pieces set in non-vinyl fillers. Solid vinyl is costlier but more durable. The higher the amount of vinyl components, the better is the quality of flooring. Vinyl floorings are provided with protective coating that may be in the form of urethane that is clear without a coating of wax or it’s all in vinyl, the latter offering better resistance to scratches and stains. However, it may lose its shine more easily than the urethane protective covering. But, then glossy floors tend to be slippery, more so if used in places like bathrooms or kitchens. Both the protective coatings will wear down with time and lose the shine unless these are waxed periodically.

All vinyl floors are provided with a cushion backing, the thickness of which varies with the manufacturer and the quality. Depending upon its place of installation, thickness may play an important role. For instance, kitchen floor should ideally have more cushioning effect to prevent breakage of items that one often drops there. But, as you might guess, a thicker cushion backing would make the floor prone to dents. The limitation may be overcome by using textured vinyl surfaces that don’t make the dents so prominent.

Vinyl flooring is available in the form of tiles or sheets. If you intend installing the floor yourself, you should opt for vinyl tiles as they offer easier and quicker installation. These tiles have an adhesive backing that you just peel off, position the tile on the floor and stick it down with a slight force. Understandably, the surface where the tile is going to be positioned has to be clean and leveled enabling perfect fitment of the tile. Another variety of vinyl tiles is provided with felt backing and would require glue for sticking it onto the surface of the floor. Once glued, their removal poses problems. Another kind, known as vinyl-backed type needs glue on its edges only and can easily be removed if replacement is needed at any time.

Per square foot cost of sheet vinyl is more than tiles. Their installation also needs more time and is not as convenient, thus making it a difficult DIY kind of a project for a normal householder.

AS is always the case, it helps to buy quality product that lasts longer and saves you from frequent replacements, often needed for cheaper variety. And, mind you in this case it’s not only the cost of the material but also the labor and expense incurred for its installation.