Nobody wants to spend unnecessary money on renovations or home maintenance. Considering the high cost of hardwood flooring installation and refinishing, it makes sense to use some tricks to extend your hardwood floor life. In this article we will try to discuss the most important and easy ones.
Read More How to make your hardwood floors last for years
Sometimes it’s hard to tell for sure that your floors needs to be refinished now or next year. It makes sense to keep floors as is for a while to save some money, but you have to be careful with that. What may happen is floors get buckled or darken too much to get that new look back. Let’s go over few things to help you distinguish when you can wait or not.
First of all, let’s go to the basics. Floor finish protects wood from damages like:
Based on these facts, here is what you want to avoid:
Read More When should I refinish hardwood floors?
A common question prior to new floor installation is which type of subfloor to use. People often confuse OSB with particle board. In one sentence – particle board is often used as a subfloor for carpets, OSB is used as a primary subfloor for any flooring, including hardwood. Now let’s take a closer look at both of them.
OSB (Oriented Strand Board)
In this day and age, “out with the old and in with the new” is all too common. And while that may work and be true for many things, when it comes to hardwood floors, we believe in cherishing them and making the best of what you have. Unfortunately, we know that once in a while, you might have to totally replace a hardwood floor.
However, today we’re going to focus on refinishing your hardwood floors and determining when you should consider getting your hands (or ours) “dirty”! Read More When Should I Consider Refinishing My Hardwood Floors?
For the last few years hardwood flooring has became a new trend for home kitchens. Every second design magazin would have tons of pictures of kitchens with hardwood floors. In this article I will describe pros and cons as well as some key factors you need to consider. Read More Why hardwood flooring might be a great option for your kitchen
This is an all too common problem with parents, especially new parents. As a mother-to-be, (coming summer 2015!) I can only imagine what my floors will look like after the new bundle of joy is here! I have a hard enough time keeping them clean with a large black dog, a small white cat (yeah, who came up with the plan to have a pet of each color?), and a husband who loves playing/working in the yard more than an 8 year old. If you’re like me, keeping your floors clean and scratch free is a full time job all on its own! The key to this problem, I’ve found, is starting with the right floor for the life you lead. If your life is calmer and you don’t have to worry about much maintenance, not only are you one of the lucky ones but you can afford a more expensive and softer floor if you chose. If, however, your life is as hectic and dirty as mine, you’re going to need some serious durability and a small price tag to boot. Here are a few tips to help you with your flooring decisions. Read More You’ve Got Kids? What Do Your Floors Look Like?
You don’t tend to think about your home’s flooring unless something goes wrong. Have you ever had a pet leave their business on the carpet, and even after using some sort of cleaner, that stain still bugged you? Or, perhaps, with a carpet, it faded in parts where the sun hit it daily, and/or got torn, worn or just plain outdated? It happens. Meanwhile, carpets tend to aggravate people’s allergies because they’re dust collectors.
New Floors Inc of Cape Cod recommends going with wood floors. They are attractive to the eye, long-lasting and definitely durable. Wood floors can literally last hundreds of years. Read More Carpet Or Wood? Which Flooring Should I Choose?
If you don’t know what floor will fit your house better, here is very brief, but useful, overview of the most commonly used flooring materials.
There are several different options:
A) Hardwood – A durable material which can be buffed or sanded to renew its look. After being sanded, hardwood can be stained to add color to it. Hardwood darkens with time (5-10 years) though the darkening is gradual and mostly unnoticed. Hardwood floors are considered a long lasting investment since it increases the value of the house by an average of 6%. While hardwood is a long lasting product, it’s pretty easy to scratch; although with proper care it can stay unscathed for a long period of time. Additionally, the material moves during the warm and cold seasons (mainly because of a humidity), which might create some gaps between boards, or alternately, cupping or buckling. If the floors are maintained properly, however, neither gaps nor buckling or cupping appear. Read More Quick Overview Of Hardwood/Laminate/Tile/Vinyl/Carpet Flooring Materials
There are many reasons to install your new flooring in the winter; here are a few of them…
1. Winter dryness means less moisture will get trapped underneath hardwood flooring.
Here at New Floors, we recommend installing wood flooring in extremely dry conditions for a couple of very important reasons. First, if the underlying concrete slab or subflooring is moist during installation, it is possible for the floorboards to buckle and warp over time. In addition, mold and mildew thrive in damp subflooring. Even though interior air is often dryer in the winter than in the summer, here on Cape Cod we tend to have plenty of moisture all year long. Therefore, you want to be especially careful about preparing the area where your floor will be installed. We also recommend running a dehumidifier if you’re unsure as to whether your subfloor is dry enough or not. Read More Reasons For Installing Wood Floors During The Winter
We all want floors in our home that look great, but sometimes there are other factors which are just as important. If you have a busy home with pets, kids and guests then you need a floor that can stand up to the invasion of shoes and dirt. If you are preparing a property for rental you want a floor that you can install and forget about. And if you are on a budget you’ll want to know that your investment is going to last. Wood products are known for their natural beauty, but when selecting a type of wood for your next flooring project, it is important to also consider the level of durability by understanding the difference between wood types. Each type and species of wood has an individual structure that creates unique physical properties that determine how suitable they are for different projects. Read More What Kind of Hardwood Flooring is the Most Durable?