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Green Flooring
If you're looking to go green with your flooring, there are many choices available. Most people think of "green" as being made from a natural, renewable substance, but there's more to consider if you really want a floor that's environmentally friendly. These are the factors that affect a flooring material's impact on the environment. Ability to be Renewed Ability to be Recycled Responsible Manufacture Transport Distance Toxicity to Environment Maintenance Life Cycle
read moreCarpet Variations
Carpet is one of the softest flooring materials available, providing a cushioned surface for your feet in almost any location. It's important to know the characteristics of the different types of carpeting available, to ensure you get a style that's appropriate for your installation space. Carpet Fibers There are a variety of synthetic and natural fibers which are used in the construction of carpets. Below you will find the four most common materials. 1. Nylon Carpets Very soft, durable, and resistant to stains, nylon is the most...
read moreCleaning Beer & Wine Stains From Carpet
The first thing that you want to do when beer spills on your carpet is to immediately blot the liquid up using a white cloth or paper towels. Get as much of the liquid up as you can. If you are quick, it may be possible to remove the staining agent before it can set into the fibers of your carpet. Once you have as much of the excess moisture blotted as possible, mix a solution of 1/3 cup white vinegar, and 2/3 cup plain water. Make sure that it is thoroughly blended, and then pour it into a clean spray bottle. Next take one cup of warm...
read moreVinyl Floor Tiles
Vinyl floor tiles are, hands down, the fastest and easiest way to spruce up a kitchen or bathroom. But in the event of remodeling, this means that you already have a floor - good or bad--in place. This begs the questions: "Should you remove that floor? If not, can you get by with leaving it?" In many cases, you can install vinyl floor tiles on top of your present floor, but it depends on what type of floor you already have and what shape it is in. If the present floor is something like sheet vinyl, I recommend that you take a deep...
read moreBamboo Flooring
What is Bamboo? While bamboo flooring installations have the look, feel, and many of the characteristics of hardwood materials, they are actually made from a type of grass. Bamboo is a perennial evergreen which is also a member of the true grass family. It is grown primarily in southern and eastern Asia where it is an important part of the local economy. Bamboo is a highly renewable natural resource because it is one of the fastest growing plants on earth. Where trees can take twenty to one hundred and twenty years to grow to full...
read moreLinoleum Flooring
From its invention in 1863 up until the early 1950’s, linoleum was one of the most popular flooring materials in the world. However earlier forms were more brittle than today’s linoleum, and tended to crack and curl. That, along with the sale of a variety of substandard linoleum and faux linoleum products, led to it developing a reputation as a low quality material. In recent years innovations in the way that linoleum is manufactured, as well as a realization of many of its inherently positive benefits, have caused a resurgence in the...
read moreResilient Cork Flooring
PLANK CORK FLOORING (floating, interlocking) Recommended Uses: Kitchen, Bedrooms, Recreation Rooms Characteristics: Cork flooring is environmentally friendly and cork is considered a renewable and sustainable natural resource. Cork flooring can be a little expensive and their installed cost per square foot can be close to a good quality ceramic tile floor. However these floors are definitely worth the cost when used in smaller areas such as for Kitchen flooring, Bedroom, Den or Dining Room flooring. I do not recommend this for bathroom...
read moreCleaning Gum From Your Carpet
Oh no! Someone dropped a wad of sticky icky gum in your brand new carpet. Now it’s ruined for sure. Or is it? The following tips will help you to remove the offending gum, protect the surrounding fibers, and clean up any stains that result from the process. 1. Move quick. You don’t have time to wait. You don’t want to let the gum settle any farther into the carpet than necessary, and you especially don’t want to let anyone trample by and smash it down farther into the floor with plodding careless feet. An Unbiased Review List of...
read moreNatural Cork Flooring
Cork is considered to be one of the most ecologically friendly floor surface covering options available. Natural and readily renewable, the production of these materials has almost no negative impact on the environment. At the same time they are also completely biodegradable, which means that they will break back down naturally into the earth when disposed of. How Natural Cork Flooring Is Made Cork flooring is manufactured from the bark of the Cork Oak Tree (Quercus Suber), an evergreen that grows mostly in southern Europe and northern...
read moreCork Flooring For Bathrooms
There is a lot of controversy among professionals about whether cork is an appropriate flooring material for basement installations. On one hand it does have a number of properties which make it resistant to some of the challenges posed in subgrade locations. However it is not impervious to these factors, and depending on the environment it may not be an appropriate option for you. Basic Cork Flooring Articles Case Study The contention seems to arise from ambiguity in information provided by the manufacturer of some of these products....
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