Blog - PRO! Flooring

Flooring
October 15, 2016

How To Reduce Floor Noise

No matter how long you’ve lived in your home, there may be a few areas that produce squeaks, creaks, noises or other amplified sounds. Walk across the floor, and you know exactly where every potential area is. Your kids may have even developed a pattern to avoid the places, knowing exactly how to stay quiet day and night.

There are a number of ways you can eliminate noisy floors, with methods varying in cost and intensity, depending on how your home is constructed. It is important to remember that most tactics will not completely remove the noise. But if done properly, it is possible to reduce the noise and partially soundproof your home.

Install pads, rugs or carpet
Heavy activity from a top floor will almost always filter down to the lower level. Carpeting is a good choice to reduce noise; use a high quality pad below the carpet to further provide insulation. If wood, laminate, or vinyl flooring is already in place, such as with a second level laundry room, you can install soundproofing floor mats or vibration pads to achieve noise reduction.

Rubber mats for sports activities
There is a reason you’ll find rubberized flooring in commercial gyms; it has noise reduction features that make it a great choice in places with heavy activity. You can purchase rubber mats in a variety of sizes and thicknesses. Use them below appliances or even workout machines like treadmills or ellipticals, to muffle the vibration and reduce noise and impact.

Spot fix loose screws and joists
Like everything, with settling and use, the wood used in constructing your home can loosen over time. In some cases, you may have access from a basement or crawl space. In some instances, you may need to gain access to the sub-flooring. Locate and mark the squeaky floor areas before removing the floor, they drill drywall screws into the joist where excess noise exists. This will help strengthen the supporting joist and stop the noise. In some cases, tapping a wooden shim into place can also prevent wood rubbing together and creating excessive noise.

Add a resilient underlayment
Was your flooring installed with the correct subfloor and underlayment? Resilient underlayment choices include cork, foam and shredded rubber. Depending on what flooring you currently have in place, you may be able to lay new underlayment and reinstall your flooring for better noise filtering. Remember, the underlayment is equally important as the flooring choice you make. Not only will it provide noise reduction, but it can also extend the life of your flooring product.

Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
October 13, 2016

Troubleshooting Common Hardwood Flooring Issues

Hardwood floors are one of the most in-demand flooring options, and with good reason. Nothing is as beautiful as well maintained hardwood, but in many cases, it takes work to ensure it looks great all the time.

Before you install hardwoods in a room or throughout your home, it’s important to understand how to maintain them long before the first plank is installed. You’ll ensure a better quality, better looking flooring option with just a little knowledge going into the process.

Plank Width
Hardwood contracts and expands with the changing seasons. The wider the plank, the more pronounced the effects of swelling and shrinking will be during changes in temperature and humidity. If you will be installing a wider plank in your home, just be aware that gaps between the planks will be a common characteristic of this type of flooring.

Dents
When a homeowner chooses hardwoods for the first time, it usually comes with some expectations. Maybe you’ve seen it in other homes, or have admired it in home renovation magazines. Living with it can be different if you’ve never experienced it before. Hardwoods come in a variety of wood grades, each with their own character. Some are softer than others, meaning it will wear differently than other types of wood. Some will show dents easier, giving it a more rustic and worn appearance. Make sure you understand what characteristics will follow your final hardwood choice.

Smudges
It’s easy to be seduced by the high-gloss look you’ll see in many hardwood advertisements.Highly polished flooring requires constant care and attention. If you desire a high sheen hardwood floor, it requires consistent cleaning, washing and waxing to maintain its sheen.

Oxidation
During the first year, your hardwood floor will go through a process of oxidation. The more your floor is exposed to strong sunlight, the darker the wood will become. Problems can arise in a room if it is filled with intense sunshine, and then you decide to move the furniture around, only to discover a lighter discolored area beneath. In many cases, this new area will also darken up once it’s exposed to sunlight too. And if you want to avoid strong oxidation throughout your home, protect your floors from direct sunlight as much as possible.

What other questions do you have about installing hardwood floors?

nylon or polyester carpet

Tile Floors
October 8, 2016

What’s The Difference Between Porcelain and Ceramic Tile

Ready to install new tiles in your home? What’s the difference between porcelain and ceramic tile? And is one better than the other, depending on where you install it?

Both porcelain and ceramic tiles are made from a mixture of clays and other materials, then kiln-fired into the final product.

Ceramic tiles are generally made from red or white clay mixtures. They are finished with a durable glaze that helps carry the color and pattern throughout the finished tile. You’ll find ceramic tiles used most commonly for both wall and floor tile applications, and are softer and easier to cut than porcelain. Ceramic tiles are usually suitable for very light to moderate traffic, as they are more prone to wear and chipping than porcelain tiles.

Porcelain tiles are generally made by the dust pressed method from porcelain clays, which result in a denser and more durable tile. The finished product is usually smoother and with sharper formed faces. When glazed, they are much harder and more wear and damage resistant than ceramic tiles. This makes them excellent choices for moderate to heavy traffic areas. You’ll find color and pattern that carries through the entire thickness of the tile, and available in matte, unglazed or high polished finishes.

As with all flooring choices, choose a tile that best suits your personality and your requirements. In all cases, stick with a good quality tile, especially in high traffic areas such as an entryway or heavy used hallway.

For bathrooms or laundry rooms, use the porcelain tile. Not only is it more durable because of its hardness, but it is also more resistant to moisture. And it makes the perfect choice for integrating color and patterns into your floors, walls, shower stalls, and when tiling around the tub. You’ll love the results.

Flooring
October 4, 2016

What’s Right For You – Floor Covering or Structural Installation

There are many types of flooring; you can choose one based on your needs and desires. All flooring falls into one of two categories: it’s either a floor covering that’s easily installed and removed, or it’s a structural installation.

There are three types of flooring that provide structural installation: hardwood, ceramic tile, and stone. If you don’t choose one of these flooring options, you won’t impact the structure of your room.

Solid wood, ceramic tile and stone flooring all become a part of your home’s structure. They are considered permanent flooring. And because of that, they will also add a structural value to your home as well.

Floor coverings are anything but hardwood, tile, and stone. They are engineered wood, laminate, luxury vinyl, carpet, vinyl and anything else. They aren’t part of the home’s structure, even when you staple or glue them into place. And while they may create aesthetics and ambiance in your home, they will never be considered permanent flooring.

Why is this important? It depends on what you hope to achieve with your flooring product. If you want to add value to your home, the best way to do that is with permanent flooring. Structural installation of a flooring choice will do that.

You should also expect to pay more for a permanent flooring choice, and realize the process of installation will take more time.

Is engineered wood a permanent flooring choice? While engineered wood is designed to give the appearance of hardwood, there are still many differences between engineered and hardwood. And because engineered wood has a limited lifespan when it comes to maintaining and refinishing in, from a structural standpoint, it’s simply a cover to the plywood subfloor.

Is one flooring better than the other? It’s all a matter of opinion. Just like we choose décor to match our moods and needs, the type of flooring we install should also address our desires. Make sure you understand what role you wish your flooring to address – to add to the structural value or to just look nice – and choose accordingly.

Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
September 30, 2016

How To Match New And Existing Hardwood Floors

Hardwood flooring has become the norm in homes all across the Denver Metro area. Hardwood flooring is by far the preferred choice in mid to higher end homes. But what if you have an older home and hardwood only exists in a few rooms? What if you only have hardwood in one – the kitchen, the entryway, the family room, or just the main living space?

The good news is that it’s usually fairly easy to match existing hardwood and create a harmonious look.

Start with the thickness
Do you have solid or engineered hardwood floors? It’s much easier to match if you have solid hardwood flooring. Solid hardwood is good for both longevity and flexibility in color matching. In most cases, solid hardwood runs ¾ inch thick. With a subfloor built in, you have flexibility in being able to lay hardwood flush against existing hardwood, matching it up plank by plank. Be sure the subfloor height is consistent throughout the space to ensure hardwood will be even as you move from room to room.

What species of hardwood is in place?
Next, identify the species and grade of the hardwood in place. In many homes, oak hardwood is a standard. But of course, there are many other options available. Even with oak, there are two options: red oak and white oak flooring. If your home was built in the early twentieth century, maple, douglas fir and yellow pine were all common place. And if you have a newer design, additional hardwoods have been used over time. Also keep in mind that even with different species, the cut of the wood also comes into play. Identify what grade of wood was used to ensure a proper match.

Width of the planks
This is usually the simplest to figure out. With a tape measure, measure the current width of your wood. Most homes are built with a standard 2 ¼ inch strip. Oak flooring can also come in 3 ¼, 4 or 5 inch strips. Can you change it up? Anything is possible. Just keep in mind the aesthetics may change if you adjust size from room to room.

Color
With hardwood, you can adjust coloring to match once your new hardwood planks are in place. In general, if you have oak hardwood flooring, and choose a match of both species and grade, simply by refinishing the wood and staining will provide you with the overall look you desire. Matching without redoing the entire floor space can be difficult, especially if the two kinds of wood aren’t the same species or grade. A professional can help you decide the best route for the look you desire throughout your home.

Transitions
Not all flooring has to match. In some cases, it’s better to make a transition as you move from space to space. Transition strips can help you adjust heights in doorways or change directions in the direction of wood. It can help you change colors from space to space.

Are you trying to add more hardwood to your existing home? What challenges have you faced?

Flooring, Vinyl Floors
September 22, 2016

What You Don’t Know About Luxury Vinyl Tile Flooring

The concept of vinyl tile flooring may not have crossed your mind as one of the best flooring choices you can make for your renovation. Yet designers are huge fans of luxury vinyl tiling because of all the benefits it brings to the marketplace. It’s different from all other vinyl applications not only in how it’s manufactured, but also in its aesthetics and applications.

Luxury Vinyl Tile Flooring
No matter what flooring option you choose, you can create the look by using luxury vinyl tile. With today’s technology, the ability to replicate real hardwoods and stones using advanced photographic techniques is the foundation for making luxury vinyl so real.

There are four distinct layers fused together to create the final look: a resilient vinyl backing, a vinyl color layer, a photographic film layer, and a urethane or aluminum oxide top layer. This protective layer is very important to the wearability of the product over time. Commercial applications will utilize a 20 mil or higher layer for full protection, with high quality products reaching as high as a 40 mil layer.

But it’s not just the look that will turn you into a believer. Luxury vinyl tile flooring has many benefits that make it an ideal flooring choice for you.

Vinyl flooring satisfies Green building standards and earns LEED points in commercial applications.

Luxury vinyl meets requirements of commercial flammability codes, is slip resistant, and meets a variety of other safety measures.

It’s one of the easiest flooring choices to maintain. A simple damp mopping is all that’s required to keep its good looks indefinitely.

They are naturally water resistant. It is important to install over a flat, dry surface so that no water seepage occurs beneath the floor.

Its protective coating is durable and will be scratch, stain, dent, and scuff resistant.

It’s one of the most cost effective products on the market. Because you can achieve the look and feel of rich, natural materials at a fraction of the cost, it’s easy to apply the flooring in a variety of places, both in commercial and residential settings.

Luxury vinyl tiling is one of the easiest ways to transform a room. The realism of the total look, including distressed wood finishes, stone. and slate surface textures, and even woven textiles embedded in the wear layers are grabbing attention all across the design world.

If you haven’t looked at luxury vinyl tiles in a while, maybe it’s time for another look.

Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
September 20, 2016

What Do People Want This Year With Hardwood Floors?

Time to update your flooring? Maybe it’s finally time to install the hardwood you’ve been dreaming about.

Yet deciding on installing hardwood flooring is only the first step of the process. Trend’s show that hardwood is always a good choice. But with dozens of choices available, how do you know what to choose?

It starts with color. Today’s color choices range from dark stains to greys, off whites and beiges. Reds and browns are always popular here in Colorado, they’re a good blend with any décor as we move from summer to winter. But color isn’t everything. There are many other things to consider.

Distressed?
A few years ago, hand scraped and contoured wood became the rage. Today we’re seeing heavy distressed woods being replaced with a softer wire brushed ceruse effect. Reclaimed hardwoods are also welcome, especially in homes where sustainability and eco-friendly options are at top billing.

Type of hardwood?
Red oak always maintains a strong hold on the market. White oak is also a great choice; you’ll find a variety of products made from this wood. Hickory remains strong, and can give your home a rustic feel. Lighter tones of hardwood such as maple and birch have decreased in popularity in their natural colors, but continue to be popular finished, creating a cleaner contemporary look.

Plank size?
Wider plank size has seen a dramatic increase over the past few years. And as the planks have grown in width, they’ve increased in length as well. As hand scraped and other hardwoods entered the market, their width increased to show off the detail. When combined with a shorter length, they created an almost checkerboard appearance. By increasing the length, it created a stronger, more refined look and feel that people loved. Today, you’ll find four inch wide planks have increased drastically, with a lot more seven inch or wider planks on the market today. You can find them 10 or 12 inches, but you’ll need a wide open space to appear like they belong.

Are you in the market for new hardwood flooring?

Tile Floors
September 15, 2016

What Makes Natural Stone Tiles Unique?

What’s new in the world of tiling? It may be something that’s as old as time itself.

For centuries, natural stone tile has been used to embellish the homes of people everywhere. And with good reason. It’s one of the most durable products in nature. And you won’t find anything as beautiful as natural stone laid throughout your home.

But natural stone tile isn’t without its problems. Because natural stone tile has natural traits; they exhibit variations in color and thickness. Every stone is unique, and therefore every floor will take on individual characteristics.

For flooring in residential use, you’ll typically find one of five natural stones in use: marble, granite, slate, limestone and basalt.

Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock that is created through intense pressure. Although marble may appear pure white in hue, it often is veined with a variety of earthy colors, depending on the minerals present during the time it was formed. Marble is relatively compact, making it easy to cut and work with. It is an excellent product to work with in all kinds of manners throughout your home, from floors to walls and fireplaces, as well as countertops and backsplashes. It must be honed and sealed to reduce its porosity.

Granite
Granite is an igneous rock, meaning it is volcanic lava or magma that has cooled and hardened. You’ll find it in white, gray or pink in color, with characteristic dark speckles throughout. It’s attractive appearance combined with its incredible toughness makes it an excellent choice for flooring. It holds up extremely well in high traffic areas, and is often the perfect choice for kitchens and bathrooms.

Slate
Slate is also metamorphic rock. Most often you’ll find it in shades of gray, sometimes with purple, green or blue undertones. Slate is long lasting and easy to care for, making it the perfect choice for all kinds of uses throughout your home.

Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock, formed from tiny mineral deposits along bodies of water. It’s usually white, off white, beige or gray in hue. It is readily available and one of the most affordable stones on the market. It cannot be polished and is generally a softer stone, making it easier to scratch or stain. You will find travertine tiles, another form of limestone, that is capable of taking polish. Both forms are used widely in all kinds of residential and commercial uses.

Basalt
Basalt is an igneous rock, with coloring from a light to deep gray, brown or black. It’s a durable, fine grained, nonporous natural stone that makes it an excellent choice for both floors and walls. You’ll often find basalt used outside as well, such as in swimming pools, garden paths and other water and garden features.

What’s the perfect natural stone tile for your next project?

Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
September 12, 2016

How To Fix Squeaky Hardwood Floors

Remember as a kid sneaking around your home at all hours of the day and night? You learned quickly where the squeaks were that would give you away.

Now that it’s your house, those squeaky floors are a problem. You don’t have to live with them. They can be fixed. But first, you must determine the cause.

Cause #1: Season Change
When did you first hear the squeak? Chances are it was during the winter months. As the temperatures drop, the air gets drier. The heat kicks on in your home, and the humidity drops.

Wood changes with every change made in your home. And when both the air gets cooler, and the humidity level drops, the floorboards dry out and give up their moisture content, making them shrink in size.

This contraction can cause the floorboards to squeak. The planks no longer fit flush together, instead rub up against each other or against a nail that no longer fits tight.

Although wintertime changes aren’t a problem, they can be annoying. You can combat these winter problems by increasing the humidity levels inside your home. However, keeping whole house humidity at 40 to 60 percent is difficult, which means you may still hear the occasional squeak until winter fades into summer.

Cause #2: Joists
If your floors have started squeaking and you notice it year round, there might be a problem with the flooring joists. The joists are part of the structure underneath your floors. In order to determine if they are the problem, you will need access to the flooring from underneath, viewing the floors up above. If you see joists in the squeaky areas that appear to be loose, you can purchase a kit that allows you to drill down into the floor and tightly secure the floor and subfloor to the joist. Continue to do so until the squeak disappears.

You can also attach a special brace to secure the subfloor to the joist from beneath. If the problem lies with a gap between the joist and the subfloor, you can insert a wood ship into the gap to eliminate the squeaking in the floors.

Cause #3: Uneven Subfloor
Sometimes the problem starts with the subfloor. When it was installed, it may have been installed incorrectly and is uneven with the structure of your home. It may have also wiggled loose over time. When this happens, it can cause gaps between the floor and the subfloor. When you put weight on the floor, the subfloor rubs against the joists and causes a squeak.

If you can see the subfloor from the basement, have someone walk across it while you stand beneath. If you notice the subfloor shifting with the weight, it might be due to a gap between the subfloor and floor. You can drill up from below into the subfloor to draw the subfloor and floor closer together.

Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
September 8, 2016

Cold Weather Impact On Flooring And What To Do To Prevent It

Did you feel the coolness in the air? Already, signs of fall are everywhere.

Yes, it may seem too early to have summer fade into fall. But here in Colorado, it’s never far away. And while many celebrate those first few days of cold, knowing ski season comes along with wintertime, it can also mean significant changes to your home.

With winter comes snow. And with snow often comes snow melting materials – and some of the biggest problems that can impact hardwood flooring. The only way to combat it is to take preventative measures before problems occur.

When snow occurs, the best way to ward off damage to your hardwood floors is to install mats and rugs near all entrances that lead outside. This will help rub off any snow and snow melting materials as you enter your home.

Even better, take off your shoes and boots the moment you enter. This prevents snow and other materials from being tracked throughout your home.

Snow melting materials can easily scratch the wood. They can also leave an unsightly white residue which can build up quickly. And if water is allowed to puddle anywhere in your home, it can quickly seep in and begin to warp the wood.

During the winter months, wood contracts as the heat goes, up, humidity levels go down, and dryness settles into the wood. That causes gaps to exist throughout your flooring. And these gaps are especially susceptible to problems. If water sinks in, it can cause problems down the road.

There’s no real concern for this expansion and contraction process. Yet you should take care to ensure damage isn’t allowed to occur because of the time of year. If you notice gaps, you can place a humidifier in the room to try and increase humidity in that area. However, this may not be enough to prompt your floors to expand. It may be something you deal with until spring, and the heater is turned off for the season.

The key to understanding how hardwood flooring works and what to expect is to fully educate yourself before you install hardwood flooring into your home.

Have any questions about the process? We’re here to help.