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Keeping Hard Wood Flooring Looking Its Best
Author: Rob Carlton -
Hard wood flooring remains a popular choice in home decorating. The warmth and beauty of hardwood adds to the value of your home. You have a variety of choices in colors and styles of wood. There is an option for every home from traditional to contemporary.

Choosing Hard Wood Flooring

You have several choices in styles for the overall look of your hardwood floor.

o Plank style flooring material is wide and resembles several strips of wood together in one plank. The planks are between three and six inches wide. The benefit of planks is the installation is a bit faster, since the planks cover a wider area than individual strips.

o Strips are smaller, up to three inches wide at most. These are beneficial for making the room appear larger.

o Solid flooring is one large piece of wood. These vary in thickness and are a custom made floor. They can be refinished many times over the life of the floor.

o Parquet floors are squares of hardwood that resemble ceramic tiles in size. Some are glued and others are nailed down. The squares can be arranged in a geometric design for a unique look.

Your other major choice in hardwood flooring is to get one that is unfinished or come pre finished. Pre finished floors come with a factory finish. These are very popular and easier to install. However, they are more expensive. Many find the additional price worth the money, as it saves time in staining and sanding.

Unfinished flooring must be finished after the floor is installed. You stain and coat the wood with urethane to protect the finish. The sanding and finishing process takes several days. You need to allow sufficient time for the surface to cure at each stage in the process before sanding. The floor must be sanded after each stage of the finishing process. Floor sanders can be used for this process.

Installing Hard Wood Flooring

Proper measurement is essential when ordering materials for your room. You will need a saw to cut the planks of wood to fit around corners and through doorways. For a more professional look, remove all the baseboards and trim before you start. Replace these after the installation is complete. The seams should be staggered as the planks are laid.

Before the installation process is started, be sure the subfloor is level. This should be done for any floor including hardwood, bamboo flooring, cork flooring or pergo flooring. If the floor isn't level, use asphalt tiles to level it prior to beginning the installation.

Special paper can be used under the hardwood to avoid squeaking sounds when you walk on the floor. The planks should be nailed through the subfloor and into the joists for a stable floor that won't move. Start the installation in the center of the room and move outward for the best, most even look.

Once the floor is laid, it needs to be sanded. Floor sanders can be rented through home improvement centers or any store that rents tools. Sand the floor evenly and don't stay too long in any one area of the room. This can cause uneven spots.

Keeping Hard Wood Flooring Looking its Best

The care needed depends on the finish on your particular floor. Refer to the manufacturer's directions regarding the care of pre finished floors. If your floor is finished with urethane, sweep a few times each week to remove dirt and dust. Wipe spills with a damp towel, but don't use a very wet mop. This can damage the floor.

If the floors are waxed, you will need to buff occasionally and wax the floor. Using area rugs and door mats can help keep the floor from becoming very dirty. Protect the wood with pads on the legs of all your furniture. This will help prevent scratches and damage to the wood.

Article Source : http://www.articledashboard.com

Rob Carlton is a freelance writer for www.inside-woodworking.com a website with resources. The author is publishing about hard wood flooring and other areas.

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Installing Discount Laminate Flooring
Author: Clinton Maxwell -
Discount laminate flooring is an inexpensive alternative to costly hardwood floors. A variety of tones and styles are available to fit every décor and budget. Although less expensive, these floors have the look of natural hardwood flooring. Major manufacturers such as Mohawk flooring and Shaw Laminate flooring make good quality floor materials.

You have many choices in discount wood flooring. There is something for every room in your home and every style of interior design. You will find a wide selection of colors and textures to fit everything from a rustic Early American style home to an ultra modern contemporary and every style in between.

Although most laminate is made to resemble wood, you have many more options. Other options include ceramic tile, stone and marble tile laminate designs. You may choose ceramic tile in the kitchen, marble in the living room and wood in the family room. With today's laminates, the possibilities are endless.

Finding the Best Price for Discount Laminate Flooring

Before you start shopping around for the best price, you need to know how much you need. Take accurate measurements for the area where the floor will be installed. Add an additional ten percent to the measurements of the room to allow for cutting and mistakes in the installation process. Add a bit more if you will be laying the planks in a distinctive pattern.

The internet is a great source for discount floor materials. Most sites offer good pictures to give you an idea of what you are ordering. Make sure all materials are from the same lot number when you order. The color variations can be significant and very noticeable once the floor is laid, if they are from different lot numbers. In addition, the finish and texture can vary.

When your flooring arrives, check it carefully for damage. Check the edges and corners for chipping or other damage. Small chips may not be noticed, but large ones will be seen when the floor is down. If the damage is bad, you may need to exchange it. If only a few pieces are damaged on the ends, you may be able to use these on as pieces that would need to be trimmed anyway.

Installing Flooring

Installing laminate flooring is fairly easy. It's a good DIY project for the handy homeowner. There isn't much preparation needed. It can be installed right over your existing vinyl or hardwood floor. You can install it over either a wood or concrete subfloor. It can be installed over concrete for basement flooring.

The pieces fit together easily in a tongue and groove fashion. The floor is not glued or nailed in place, as is done with hardwood floor installation. The tongue and groove slots are held together with a special adhesive that is made for laminate flooring. This type of floor is also known as a floating floor. The job can be easily done in a day or two for an average size room. If only doing one room, this is a good weekend job.

Article Source : http://www.articledashboard.com

Clinton Maxwell is writer at www.inside-woodworking.com a website with resources. The publisher is also specializing on discount laminate flooring .

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Care And Maintenance Of Cork Flooring
Author: Clinton Maxwell -
Many people think of a bulletin board when they think of cork flooring. This is not the case at all. This material is beautiful and available in a wide variety of colors and shades, from very light to dark. There is a cork floor to match any home décor. It also comes in a wide variety of textures and patterns, including marble and wood grain patterns that resemble pergo flooring.

Benefits of Cork Flooring

Cork is a great insulating material. It keeps your home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. The energy efficiency aids in cutting energy bills in the winter. It is much more energy efficient than either Armstrong laminate flooring or discount wood flooring. Cork is also good for sound insulation. It helps cut down noise from another room, or another floor.

This material is softer on your feet than ceramic tile, bellawood or any other wood or stone flooring material. This is more comfortable in the kitchen, when you may spend a lot of time on your feet. In addition, if you drop a dish, it won't break as easily as it would on a tile or stone floor. Another benefit, cork is naturally fire retardant.

Cork is also good for the environment. It is made from the bark of the cork oak tree. These trees grow primarily in Spain and Portugal. The trees are not cut down. The bark is stripped away, without killing the tree. It immediately begins to grow back and can be peeled again about every nine years. This flooring does not contribute to deforestation, which is considered a big problem on our planet today.

Installing Cork Flooring

Installation is done by either nailing or gluing down the material. It can be installed over wood or concrete. It's important to be sure the subfloor is completely dry. Applying a sealer before installing the floor helps prepare the surface and controls moisture. Peel and stick cork tiles are also available for easy installation.

Spread the adhesive on the subfloor with a paint roller. Once the tiles are laid, you will hardly see the seams. A razor knife can be used to cut tiles to fit around corners or angles in the room. Once the tiles are laid, you will need to roll the floor with a 100 pound floor roller. These can be rented from most places where other tools are rented. A clear urethane can be applied over the floor for added protection.

Cork is fairly easy to clean and maintain. Sweep with a broom to remove debris. You can mop the floor with a damp mop as needed. The finish may begin to wear off after several years. Floor sanders can be used to sand the floor lightly. Reapply a coat of urethane after sanding to protect the floor. You can apply several coats, sanding lightly between each coat, for added protection. Several coats of clear urethane will make the floor more water resistant.

Article Source : http://www.articledashboard.com

Clinton Maxwell is author and designer of www.inside-woodworking.com a website with resources. The writer is specializing in tips on cork flooring .

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Building Your Own Kitchen Cabinets
Author: Chet Holcomb
If you have ever considered building your own kitchen cabinets and aborted the idea by convincing yourself that you have no woodworking
tools, or I know nothing about wood staining and finishing, or
little about cabinet making in general, then read on and believe me when I say it can be done with minimal tools.

With the rising price of lumber and plywood on the market today a set of kitchen cabinets bought pre made, or custom made is becoming an unreality for some home owners.

Now it would be nice to have a complete woodworking shop all ready to just punch out a set of kitchen cabinets on demand, but that is probably not the case and here is the alternative to the solution.

You can measure and layout on paper the design of your kitchen using the existing kitchen as a example of how things are constructed then break it down into a parts list forgetting any doors, drawers, or hardware for the time being. Just concentrate on the shell.

When you have your parts list ready you can buy the materials and hire a cabinet shop to cut and mill the parts for the boxes and what your left with is assembling the boxes. This is not uncommon practice in cabinetry now days as more cabinet manufactures are farming out there work so they can produce more. The cabinet shop will package the order for each box making it easier to identify the cabinet and understand the assembly.

When your kitchen cabinets are assembled you measure the door and drawer opening and take your list to a company that specializes in building just doors and drawers.

Once the cabinets are assembled and the drawer slides installed to cabinet box and drawer it is a good idea to dry fit all parts before installing your kitchen cabinets.

At this point you need to decide what type finish and top coat you want to use on your kitchen cabinets and how it should be done.
We are not going to discuss in detail how to finish your cabinets in this how to because it is a separate issue altogether, but suggest you install the cabinets and hire a professional painter to do the final step.

Another alternative to save money, labor and error factors is to buy
Ready to Assemble cabinets from companies that specialize in this area. The savings may not be as great as doing it all yourself, but Ready to Assemble cabinets cost less to ship than pre-made kitchen cabinets and usually provide professional assistance in design.

You can read more detailed information on Building Your Own Kitchen Cabinets at my website.

Chet Holcomb of Home Improvement Handyman is a experienced carpenter and contractor with many years doing home repair and specializing in cabinetry and considered an expert to other home owners home improvement advice.

Article Source : http://www.articledashboard.com

About The Author Chet Holcomb of Home Improvement Handyman is an accomplished carpenter, cabinet maker and building contractor and provides the public with home improvement tips, ideas for the home owner handyman. You may reprint this article freely if the content is not altered and the authors resource box is displayed.

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