Flooring Rules

Cork Flooring Puts A Spring In Your Step

Cork is one of the oldest surface solutions on the market. Portugal is known as one of the main suppliers. The raw material is hand harvested from the cork oak tree under strict regulations. Cork floors are suitable for residential and office areas, and even performs well in bathrooms. This environmentally friendly covering is comfortable underfoot, with a well-cushioned surface. Cork retains warmth well, is highly moisture resistant, and has anti-static properties. If you dislike the hollow sound of laminates, cork may be a viable option for you. It is equated with robustness and durability.

If you enjoy individualistic decor, you will relish the distinct patterning of each cork floor. With whorls and speckles, the floor surface makes an exclusive fashion statement rich in subtle color variations. Cork is a renewable and biodegradable resource, making it a popular choice among ‘green’ designers. This material is resistant to a wide range of microbes, molds and insects. This characteristic makes it ideal for a home where allergies and asthma abound. You should see an improvement in health when you replace existing carpeting with cork flooring.

Bamboo Flooring Banishes Cleaning Hassles

Another ‘green’ option is bamboo. This is a further example of a renewable resource, with harvesting doing no damage to the plant. In fact, harvesting can be repeated every six to eight years. This floor covering is often a more robust option than real hardwood. A diverse range of styles and shades are available. Make sure that you purchase from a supplier that supports ecologically monitored sources.

Choose between the wider strips of a horizontally cut style, or the narrow look of vertical cut bamboo. With the horizontal style you will also get the growth ring of the stalk, adding an extra, subtle decorative touch as well as improved durability. Another possibility is strand-woven bamboo. The coloring is determined by the manufacturing process, but is now enhanced with staining. Due to its moisture resistance, warping isn’t a major concern with bamboo. These ranges are easy-care and low-maintenance.

Laminate Flooring For Low-Maintenance Living

If you have pets or kids, you will love the versatility of low-maintenance laminate flooring. This product has a firm grip on its position on the best-seller list in the home remodeling industry. Coming with warranties of between 15 and 30 years, these lines are robust and cost-effective. Almost any real wood is now simulated realistically in a laminate range, without the expense and upkeep. Laminates are a great substitute for carpeting if allergies are an issues.

The wear layer is manufactured to be scratch-resistant and moisture-resistant, and isn’t prone to fading. The most popular brands are now designed to be a glueless product. The tongue and groove planks simply click together for a gratifying, fast-paced home improvement project. It can be installed in virtually any interior area. Laminates aren’t limited to residential use. The more robust ranges are effective in high traffic commercial spaces.

The ideal cleaner can be found whether you have hardwood floors, laminate, tile, vinyl or laminate floors. There’s a product if not a dozen that will assist you in keeping your floors looking like they day they were installed.

The array of floor cleaning products not only consists of chemicals to clean the floor, but also products to apply those chemicals! No matter what type of floors you have, you need the proper tools to clean them. Before you purchase those products you will need to determine the proper tools needed to keep your floors clean.

·        Brooms/Dust mops: The first step in maintaining a beautiful floor is to daily sweep the debris brought into the home off of the floors. This applies to hard wood, most tiled floors and linoleum. You will want to purchase a soft bristled and angular broom or a dust/dry mop. Dirt, sand, and other debris can scratch hard woods and will discolor the grout in tile flooring. Keeping debris off of the floor is the most important step in maintaining the natural beauty of any floor.

·        Cleaners: The second step in maintaining beautiful floors is the cleaner. For most hard floors including hard wood, all stone tiles and ceramics you will want to use a cleaner that will clean and protect the floor until it’s time to clean again. There are multi cleaners that are available to clean all types of hard flooring. These cleaners gently clean and leave no residue on your floors. For hard wood you will want to purchase a product designed specifically for wood floors. For marble, vinyl, and linoleum flooring you will want to choose a product that will mop and shine the floor in one step. Make sure the product is acceptable to use on no-wax floors.

·        Mops: Just as important as the cleaners, is the tool you use to apply the cleaners. You should use a soft mop when cleaning hardwood floors, typically made with a terry cloth or similar product. This will help to polish the floors as you clean. For tile flooring including slate, stone, and granite it is best to use a cotton mop or a sponge mop. These mops are best for tiled floors with grout and are also very effective on vinyl and linoleum flooring.

With the right tools and the right floor cleaning products, you will achieve success in keeping your flooring looking beautiful year after year.