Carpets or Hardwood, Which Is The Better Choice For Bedrooms?

Whether you are building a new house, or renovating the flooring throughout your home, you may be considering your options when it comes to hardwood floors. Nothing is as beautiful as hardwoods; why not install them in every room of your home?

Yet something may be holding you back. Is it wise to install hardwoods in every room of your home? Is it the best choice for your bedrooms? Flooring isn’t a decision you can easily replace in a few weeks if you don’t like the looks and functionality. And if you make a decision you don’t like, it can be a costly mistake you’ll regret for years in the future.

Bedrooms are typically thought of as our own personal sanctuaries. Carpets or Hardwood, Which Is The Better Choice For Bedrooms?We want peace, warmth, comfort and style. Above all, we want a place we can retreat to and feel comfortable with, every day of the year. Will hardwoods be a mistake when it falls below freezing? Will carpet be a regret if you choose the wrong color or style? Overall, your final choice should be made based on your personality and your desires. But there are a few things that can help steer you towards one choice over another.

Benefits of hardwood floors:

  • Hardwood adds a sense of luxury. With its old world charm and appeal, you can have a prestigious look that compliments any décor.
  • Hardwood will last and last. Especially in the bedroom where you’ll never have a high level of traffic, hardwood flooring can last indefinitely.
  • Hardwood are always in demand, and will add in to the resell value of your home.
  • Hardwood is easy to maintain. With a damp mop, you can have clean floors in a matter of minutes.
  • Hardwood will help alleviate allergies, especially important if you have a family member with allergies or asthma.

Benefits of carpeting:

  • Carpeting can add style and color to your décor. With thousands of choices, its an easy way to help with your decorating plans.
  • Carpeting is an affordable choice, with options only constrained by your pocketbook.
  • Carpeting is easy to care for. With a simple vacuum every week, and an occasional steam clean to go in depth, you’ll have a flooring choice that will last for years.
  • Carpeting adds warmth. Nothing feels as good on a cold winter morning as carpet between your toes.
  • Carpeting adds both a softness and a sound barrier to your home. Something that works well with small children.

So which is the best choice for you? Let lifestyle and personality direct you towards the right flooring choice. There is no right or wrong answer; either way, you’re sure to enjoy your new flooring now and well into the future.

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Maintaining Your Hardwood Flooring The Green Way

Maintaining Your Hardwood Flooring The Green WayRemember the beauty of your hardwood flooring when it was first installed? Nothing could take the place of that shine and pristine look.

Yet in a matter of weeks, life got in the way and things started to change. A spill here, a scratch there, and before you know it that beautiful shine in the beginning has turned into a dull, well used floor.

While its only natural to have floors fade under normal every day living conditions, there are a few things you can do to prolong the process as long as possible, ensuring the beautiful floors you fell in love with in the beginning.

Choose The Right Flooring

While you may love the exotic, soft wood floor on display at your local flooring dealer, is it appropriate for the way you live? A single executive living in a high rise in the city will use space differently than a family of six in the suburbs. Before you select a wood, start with your needs first. Hard woods are more durable than soft woods. A distressed or hand scraped wood won’t show wear as easily as a more uniform plank. Be completely honest with the way your family lives, and trust the flooring contractor you work with to point you in the right direction for your needs.

Prevention Is The Best Medicine

Its always easier to prevent a problem than it is to recover from it. If you have pets, brush them to avoid clumps of hair accumulating easily, and keep their nails trimmed and well manicured. Clean spills as soon as they happen. And if possible, avoid wearing shoes inside as much as possible – those tiny heels can pack a lot of pressure and dent your flooring easily. Also, clean regularly using a damp mop with no cleaning solutions. If you prefer to use cleaning solutions on occasion, check with your local flooring dealer for the best remedies.

Attack Damage Immediately

Instead of waiting for a severely damaged floor before refinishing, repair even the smallest problems as soon as they happen. Small problems can quickly escalate; by stopping them early you can add more life to your floor overall. Your flooring contractor will have options for simple repairs to small scratches. For deeper scratches or stains, it may require professional care. Once your floors are in need of refinishing, be sure to talk with your contractor about using no or low VOC stains to keep your family out of harms way.

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Removing Stains From Ceramic Tiles

Nothing is as strong or as durable as ceramic tile. That’s why you’ll find ceramic tile in many homes throughout Colorado. From entryways, to kitchens, to bathrooms, it’s the perfect addition to your home.

While ceramic tile is one of the most durable and maintenance free flooring choices available, it still has its limitations. Some foods, chemicals, minerals, or other spills have natural stain qualities, and when left for periods of time can leave permanent remnants behind. The stain can penetrate the porous finish and become difficult to remove.Removing Stains From Ceramic Tiles

When it comes to deep saturated spills, there are a number of things to try:

  • Bleach
  • Hydrogen peroxide
  • Steam cleaning

In all cases, use a small amount of the cleaner, and work into the stain with a small brush. Clean and rinse periodically to test to verify if the stain has been removed and to make sure the chemicals aren’t penetrating the color of the tile.

In addition to tiles being impacted by spills and stains, you may also find grout impacted by the stain. If a stain impacts the grout as well as the tile, you can try removing it by following the same steps mentioned above.

However, for grout stains that can’t be removed with a stain removal system, you may have to remove the grout altogether.

At the time of installation, it’s a good idea to keep a few extra tiles and extra grout on hand for these situations. Than you’ll have the color in place and ready to go.

If you don’t have extra on hand, you still have options. Remove the stained grout with a small grout remover, which can be bought at any home improvement store. Bring your grout sample in and we can help you match grout color as closely as possible. Once you have the material, mix and pour into the space you’ve created. Use a gloved finger to firmly push and seal grout into the effected area, taking care to blend it in with the other grout around it. Wipe the area clean with a damp sponge to remove excess grout from the tile.

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Want Versatility? Try Ceramic Tiles

Ceramic tile is one of the most durable and maintenance free flooring choices on the market today. Its also one of the most beautiful. It comes in an extensive range of shapes, finishes, sizes, colors and shades, and can be used in many different ways.

Ceramic tile has long been considered to be multi-purpose, and can be used throughout the home, both inside and out. If you look back in time, you’ll find ceramic tile being used in many ways for thousands of years. Its still as popular as ever, being used on:Want Versatility? Try Ceramic Tiles

  • Floors
  • Walls
  • Countertops
  • Backsplashes
  • Patios
  • Fireplaces
  • Walkways
  • House trim

Keep in mind that with different styles and finishes, some are made for inside use, some for outside use. Before purchasing tile, be sure to let your sales consultant know what you have in mind.

Size

Ceramic tiles are available in any size of your liking. From tiny mosaic tiles, to tiles as large as 24”x24” square, size is only limited by what the area demands. The larger your space, the more uniform the look will be by using a larger tile. But it also depends on the overall look you are trying to achieve. In certain cases, you can find handcrafted tiles that will be perfect accents to your overall theme. Why not try a splash of color in the backspash above your range?

Finish

Ceramic tiles come in many different surface finishes: smooth, textured, glazed, unglazed, polished and unpolished. Keep in mind that not all finishes are suitable for every area of your home. A smooth, polished look may be great for a backsplash in your kitchen, but would be too slippery and dangerous for your bathroom floor. Be sure to choose the right finish for the area the tiles will be laid.

Shape

Ceramic tiles are available in many shapes, including rectangles, squares, hexagons, octagons, and more. However, square tiles are the most popular and are the easiest to work with without a lot of layout and planning.

Colors and Shades

Ceramic tile is a natural product; its color is derived naturally from the elements. But the more specialized look you desire, the more color you can find in your options. Manufacturers create ceramic tile in lots to minimize variation in color and hue; that way one batch will match as its used to piece together your room. Keep in mind that shade variation is natural even in lots and run numbers. This is to allow a natural look and keep a creative flow as you piece together your final pattern.

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  • proflooring-admin
  • Carpet
  • February 5, 2014

How To Choose Carpet Color

carpetOnce you’ve decided its time to lay new carpeting throughout your home, the decisions don’t stop there. In addition to style, kind, pile, you’ll also have to decide on color. After all, carpeting isn’t something you change out with the seasons; you’ll have to live with your decision for years.

Trends in color change throughout the fashion industry. Typically carpet coloring runs one to two years behind that of clothing, which means the most popular colors you see on the racks in your favorite stores today will make it to the carpeting section in a year or two.

“But I won’t use bright blues or oranges in my carpets,” you might be thinking. And that’s true. But colors still affect the overall appearance and selection of carpeting. When you walk into a home with cool golds, shades of greens, silvers, mauves or grays, you’re likely to think the color choice is old and outdated.

Today’s colors lean towards solid earthy colors. You’ll find warm golds and greens that resemble the great outdoors. You’ll find light blues, neutral stone hues, khaki and suede shades. And through it all, beige is continued to be a popular choice that never shows age, no matter what the current trends are.

How should you decide what color is right for you?

Level of traffic – Carpets in a well lived in family room take more abuse than a guest bedroom. They are in more danger of spills, stains and tracked in dirt. And in hallways and other high entry points, they sustain wear and tear all day long.

Use of space – Each room is subjected to different treatments throughout the day. Will it receive harsh sunlight for a number of hours each day? Do you work in the room daily, such as a home office? While its easy to choose one carpet for the entire home, if you don’t keep in mind what each space is for – especially for high traffic rooms – you may be sorry down the road.

Personality – Just because you moved in to a home that used a forest green carpet throughout the main living quarters doesn’t mean you have to live with it. What are your preferences? Does it match your décor?

When all else fails, stay neutral and go with the beige. Beige is a universal color, and is a great color choice especially for investment purposes. If you’ll be moving soon, its one that will appeal to a wide variety of people, and will always work no matter what the situation.

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The Pros and Cons to Laminate Flooring

Exotic-Specialty-Hardwood-Flooring-angicoLaminate flooring is quickly becoming one of the most popular types of flooring today, and for good reasons. Not only is it friendly on your budget, laminate flooring is easy to install and looks great too.

But, like any building material, laminate floors are not perfect. Do the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to choosing laminate flooring for your home? Let’s take a look.

Pros of laminate flooring

It’s durable. One of the most durable floor choices, laminate flooring is known for its toughness. It boasts scratch-resistant qualities and it will not fade if it is exposed to sunlight.

It is stain resistant. Laminate floors are resistant to most stains, and they are also water-resistant if spills are quickly wiped.

It’s easy to install. Laminate flooring does not require any nailing or gluing to a subfloor. Most flooring planks can be easily attached and snapped together.

It looks great. Because laminate flooring looks like real wood, it can give your home a polished look that can’t be beat.

It’s available in many designs. Modern laminate flooring comes in tile and hardwood designs, and there is sure to be one that fits your home’s style.

Cons of laminate flooring

It is difficult to repair. While real wood floors can be refinished many times over, laminate flooring is more difficult to repair because it can’t simply be sanded. Instead, a damaged or worn laminate floor needs to have its damaged planks removed and new ones installed in order to restore the appearance of the floor.

It’s prone to damage from moisture. Laminate is more susceptible to moisture damage than wood. If laminate wood is exposed to standing water, it can break down and expand. The floor will then require a replacement.

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Which Is Right For You: Glue Down or Floating Hardwood Floors

Exotic-Specialty-Hardwood-Flooring-angicoMaking the decision to install hardwood floors means that you will soon have gorgeous flooring in your home.

However, simply making this decision is not all that you have to do. Now that you know you want hardwood flooring in your home, you have to decide between glue-down floors or floating floors. Understanding the difference between both types of flooring will help you decide which one is right for you.

Glue-down floors are just that – they are the kind of floors that must be glued down in order to secure them. These types of floors cost a bit more than floating floors. They are thinner and require a moisture barrier to keep moisture at bay.

With this type of flooring, you lay the planks down and glue them to the underlying floor. If a plank ever needs replaced, you only have to remove the damaged plank and replace it with new.

Floating floors differ from glue-down floors because they are not attached to the underlying floor. You will not need any glue or nails with floating floors. Instead, the planks attach to each other and the floor “floats” above the underlying surface.

These types of floors are cost-efficient, so if you are on a budget, this might be the best choice. However, if one of the planks ever needs repaired, you will have to remove a large section of flooring to replace the damaged plank.

When deciding between floating floors and glue-down floors, it is important to keep your budget in mind, as well as your long-term usage. You want a quality floor that will last for many years. With glue-down floors, you can sand and re-finish the floors after a few years of use. With floating floors, you do not have that option, but they are more affordable than glue-down floors up front.

Ultimately, choose the type of flooring that best fits your needs and personal preferences.

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