Hardwood Flooring: How to Keep Wood Floors in Top Shape

If properly maintained, hardwood floors can beautify a home for decades, adding warmth, character and value to your house. When neglected, however, wood flooring can deteriorate and quickly begin looking shabby. In order to get the most possible life out of your flooring, and to preserve it for generations to come, apply the following techniques for proper care and maintenance.

Clean Up Spills Right Away

Lingering spills can cause damage to your wood flooring. To protect your floor, clean up spills right away using a dry cloth. Avoid pushing down as you soak up spilled liquid; the pressure will only make the stain enter deeper into the wood grain. Rinse out your cloth often, and wring it out well before returning to the spill zone. After you're done, dry off the area completely with another clean cloth. Repeat this process if any sticky residue remains.

Lastly, if these techniques are not working for certain stubborn stains, call a hardwood flooring contractor who will know the best ways to remove blemishes without harming your flooring.

Place Rugs Purposefully

Every hardwood flooring contractor suggests shielding your flooring by putting rugs at entrances and in high- traffic areas. Interior and exterior rugs capture dirt before it can scratch your wood flooring.

Religiously Apply Furniture Protectors

Felt furniture pads protect your hardwood floors by preventing scratches. A wood floor may be refinished to remove scratches, but this is an expensive, time-consuming procedure best entrusted to a professional hardwood flooring contractor. The more diligent you are about applying felt protectors to your furniture, the fewer scratches your wood flooring will sustain.

Sweep Consistently

Sweep wood flooring every other day to remove dust, dirt and other debris. Unless you have dust allergies, a broom is the best choice since it won't scratch your floors. If you do suffer from allergies, suck up dirt with the soft-bristle attachment on your vacuum cleaner; this will reduce the amount of allergens that are kicked up, and it minimizes the chance that vacuum wheels will cause scratches.

Prevent Water Damage

Because water is one of wood flooring's worst enemies - it can cause the wood to warp as well as stain - it's important not to wet mop your wood floors, no matter how much you may be tempted. When in doubt, always follow the manufacturer's recommendations. For example, laminate flooring can be designed to look like hardwood floors; sellers of laminate flooring typically do not recommend cleaning with water. If you come across a particularly hard-to-clean stain, check with a hardwood flooring contractor for safe cleaning methods that won't blemish your hardwood floors.

Kegel8 Reviews-the Popular Pelvic Floor Toner

A quick internet search reveals a number of Kegel8 reviews and it is fair to say that most of the comments about these popular pelvic floor toners are very complementary towards this particular product range. Kegel8 was devised by a physiotherapist with the aim of providing a satisfactory and workable solution for the common problem of weakened pelvic floor muscles following childbirth or simply due to the aging process.

Until recently, women were always advised to do their "kegel exercises" after giving birth. These consisted of a set of repetitive "squeeze and release" exercises performed by the vaginal muscles.

Now, those of us who have given birth can appreciate just how difficult this can be - on many levels.

Firstly, when you have had a baby, your vaginal muscles feel extremely slack. Indeed, I couldn't tell if I was squeezing or releasing as I seemed to have no muscular tone at all. As the muscle fibres began to repair themselves and some kind of feeling returned, I was just too busy looking after my baby to remember to perform exercises which, in my mind, had little effect. Pelvic floor toners are therefore seen, by many, as an easy answer.

There are a number of Kegel8 reviews to be found at various locations around the internet and it has to be said that the vast majority are very positive indeed, with many women reporting that this range of pelvic floor toners has literally changed their lives, freeing them from embarrassing and inconvenient incontinence and enhancing their sex lives. Indeed, Kegel 8 is used by physiotherapists within the NHS and this in itself provides a degree of "authority" to the claims made by the manufacturers.

There are 2 units in the range-the Tight and Tone and the Ultra. Kegel8 reviews often refer to the range rather than pointing out the differences between the two models. In some ways, this is fine as the differences are subtle and relate mainly to the number of programmes offered (the Ultra has 14 and the Tight and Tone, 9) and the appearance of the handheld units. The probes are interchangeable and both devices come with the option of a standard sized probe or a wider one, which is suitable for toning up particularly slack muscles. One of the additional programmes available on the Ultra is an anal programme and you therefore also have the option of this type of specialised probe should this be a requirement.

In a number of Kegel8 reviews, it is reported that some women started off with the standard Kegel8 Tight and Tone version and progressed to the Ultra, thereby buying two pelvic floor toners. Whether the additional programmes justify this additional expense is, in my mind, questionable and I feel that for the extra few pounds, it may be worth getting hold of the Kegel8 Ultra to start with.

Wide Range Of Floor Plans Options For Your Home

Good floor plans can change overall look of your home. There are different floor plans to choose. While choosing a suitable style, you must take into consideration individual requirements and specific region of yours. You must rely on professionals for technical drawing of floor plans, elevations and the related things. In this article, we shall discuss about some of the floor plans, which you can consider.

1. Colonial Style of floor plans: This traditional style comes in rectangular shape. floor plans of this type are found in homes with barn roof and chimneys.

2. Floor plans with Conventional Ranch Style: The shape “L” characterizes House designs of these kinds. Bedrooms are arranged together in a single wing that is separated from the master bedroom in the main floor. The scope of these kinds of designs is limited in nature and is generally a storey high.

3. Traditional floor plans: Most of the houses in America have traditional floor plans. The design comes with a lot of grandeur. Interiors come with lot of space.

4. Contemporary floor plans: House plan come with plain exteriors. Some of the characteristics that make it unique include open floor layouts, play of levels. Contemporary floor plans come in asymmetrical designs and bold shapes. Glass, steel are some of the modern day materials used in the floor plans.

5. Floor plans with European Style: floor plans of this type derive inspiration from prevailing styles in Spain, France and England.

Apart from the categorization stated above, there is a different classification of home design plans that are stated below:

1. Single Storied floor plan: Construction and design of this kind requires high investment and more land to accommodate functions. All living areas come under a single level and there are no stairs inside the design. This design is highly suitable for those who find it difficult to climb stairs.

2. Double Storied floor plans: House designs of this kind come with two storied plans and accommodate same number of functions like the single storied structures.

3. Floor plans with Three Stories: This is quite similar to the two storied plans, with the only difference that it comes with another extra floor.

4. Floor plans with Multi Levels: In this kind of design, staircase is used for connecting different levels. Good floor plan has some characteristics of its own. One should not have problem navigating the available space. There should be sufficient scope for natural ventilation and day light to filter inside the house. This helps to reduce energy load on buildings.

These are some floor plan options for you to choose. You can get in touch with the architectural designers, who can help you choose the floor plan according to your taste, available space, and budget. You can browse online to find experienced architectural designers to help you find the appropriate floor plans to increase beauty and utility of the homes as well. Make sure to communicate all your requirements and considerations, so that you can realize your dream of the most beautiful house.

Cork Flooring: The Floor Of Choice For Households And Buildings Everywhere

Cork flooring has observed a boom in popularity within the home marketplace, giving you the two sturdiness and comfort. Even though an a bit expensive alternative regarding floors, cork features a lot of strengths that allow it to be a fantastic investment. Cork is harvested from cork trees within an amount of Mediterranean nations, and it might only be gathered as soon as each nine many years. This aids make the resource of cork actually constrained, driving up rates all through the planet. cork flooring is comparable in price to ceramic floor tile. The many advantages of the cork ground, even so, help to create cork an attractive option.

Since the principal protective mechanism of age aged trees, cork has biological attributes that allow it to be resistant to dampness, pesky insects, and wear and tear. Cork is additionally comprised of about 90% air, allowing it to absorb jolts gently, whilst additionally swiftly rebounding to its former type. This kind of potential provides cork flooring exceptional sturdiness, permitting it to assist these standing on it whilst maintaining balance.

As tree bark, cork floors is additionally extremely tough towards moisture. Rather than a normal actual wooden ground that can warp or buckle when subjected to dampness, cork flooring can keep its shape with no breaking. Easy preservation and clean up of moisture will keep cork floors in prime problem for many many years.

A cork ground will retain its attractive finish for several many years, by utilizing even a little of appropriate treatment. Suberin, a natural compound inside cork, repels bugs and prevents h2o hurt. The compound is also fire resilient, and doesn't generate any damaging pollutants when burned. The springiness with the cork composition moreover permits exceptional noise absorption, absorbing noise instead than bouncing it as hard wooden is vulnerable to do.

Making use of minor servicing, cork floors might preserve for fairly a while, the way in which it's in public properties for years. As cork flooring has become a growing number of well-known, the choices connected to it have in addition improved. cork floors these days could be picked up in a very fantastic spectrum of shades, shades, and patterns.

Cork flooring can typically be set in by the two gluing down portions, or employing interlocking sections referred to as a "floating ground. Interlocking sections are a bit far more pricey, but you will definitely expend significantly less on installment costs, in addition to a lot better overall reliability. Cork flooring can be a wonderful replacement for hardwood, and it's found at present in tons of fairly priced types.

Make Your Old Tile Floor Look New Again

If you have tile floors that are dated, you can paint them instead of tearing them up for cheap interior decorating. There are several ways that you can paint your tile floors inexpensively and quickly, using a variety of different paints. Before you put any paint on the tile floor, you need to prime the tiles first with primer paint. Primer paint will allow the paint to adhere to the tile.

If you have dark, dingy tiles, painting them is the inexpensive solution that will allow you to give your entire room a new look. After you have painted the tile floors, you can throw down an area rug or area rugs to even give it more color and pizzazz. You should make sure that you either use an enamel paint to paint the tile floors or use a gloss overcoat to enable you to keep the floors clean and the paint on the tile.

Here's some information to help you in choosing the paint - latex and enamel paints are two kinds of paint used for tile floors. Latex is less dangerous and is water soluble, while enamel paint is more toxic and has to be cleansed with a paint thinner or alcohol because of its fumes content. This kind takes longer to chip off, thus lasts longer. Latex paint should be covered with a gloss overcoat for protection and for long lasting quality. Using a gloss enamel paint can finish the job faster.

There is an option for painting other than with a brush - spray paint. This is faster and more efficient. With the aid of an enamel spray, you will have easy control on the surface, even the hard to reach ones, and you will have a more even paint application. Spray paint dries up quicker too, so no need to wait it out for hours. Just make sure that you have ventilation to let the air out. Even if this paint dries fast, give it ample time before putting down the area rugs.

If you want to change tile floors in the bathroom or the kitchen and want to make use of area rugs as well, choose those that have a secure hold by selecting heavy materials. This is to prevent slipping accidents, especially in the bathroom. There are rug guards used for securing rugs to the floor so it can't be moved about. This is a good preventive measure notably if you have kids at home.

Another alternative to rug guards are area rugs that are rubber backed. This kind sticks on well to the floor and is especially useful in the bathroom when water can make the floor extra slick. Protection is better than cure. Let's bear that in mind.

10 Steps to Floor Sanding

Floor sanding is not really a DIY job. It is in fact a job for the professionals. Anyway just in case you want to know how to sand a wooden floor I will give you a a little guide to sanding and restoring wooden flooring.

First of all you will need to use a belt floor sandin g machine with a very coarse 36 grit on to remove all of the old seal and to level the floor. Always sand the floor going with the wood grain or at a 45 degrees angle to the grain.

Next you will need to start the smoothing process by using a 50 grit sanding belt. This will remove the scratches left by the previous 36 grit belt.

Next use a 80 grit sanding belt to remove the scratches left by the 50 grit sanding belt.

Next you will need a rotary sander or a buffer with a 100 grit or 120 grit disk to remove the fine scratches left by the 80 grit sanding belt. The buffer will leave the floor very smooth and prepare the floor for priming.

You will then need to apply a wood flooring base prime to prepare the wood floor for lacquering.

After you have primed the wooden floor you will then need to run the buffer machine over it with a 150 grit disk to remove any raised grain, leaving the floor very smooth.

Hoover the floor to remove all traces of dust and begin to roller on the lacquer of your choice e.g Bona or Junkers.

Next apply the second coat of lacquer after the first coat is dry.

You can then apply a third coat of lacquer if it is a high traffic area to protect the floor more.

You should then try your best to keep the floor free from any grit and dirt to keep the floor looking at its best for a longer period of time.

Floor sanding and restoring wooden flooring can transform a whole room from looking dull and dirty to looking new, fresh and very trendy. Wooden flooring is a very expensive material for flooring when you include the product and the installation cost, so it is therefore very beneficial to sand the floor and restore it as the cost is kept very low. Floor sanding again is a professional job so if you can help it do not try and start a floor on your own as it may end up ruining your beautiful wooden floor.

Important Features Of Limestone Floors

Limestone floors make a perfect choice for residential establishments and this is apparent from builders and constructors using this flooring material for designing apartments, condos and other residential units. They believe that this particular flooring has the capacity to withstand everything from high temperature to scratches and from moisture to spill. In recent years the demand for limestone has increased to manifold because it has demonstrated that it can last long even under adverse conditions. This stone is suitable for kitchen, bathroom and high traffic areas like entrance, terrace and patio. The beauty is limestone is this that it is convenient to install and easy to maintain.

In this time and age, when people have little time to look after their home decoration, limestone floors provide the best option. Once installed correctly, this flooring lasts much longer than the concrete, wood or tiles. Limestone slabs require less maintenance as they have excellent resistance power. They remain unaffected from moisture, caustic and acidic liquids, fruit juices and vinegar. It is due to this feature that limestone tiles are recommended for use on kitchen backsplash wall, shower area, entrance and backyard porch. These tiles will never let you down, if you take care of them.

When remodelling your home, you have two options - full remodelling and selected remodelling. Full remodelling is required when floor and walls start displaying signs of aging. Selected remodelling is done when home owners want to accentuate or improve the look of a particular portion of their dwellings. If you are going for full remodelling of your home floor then use limestone floors and get peace of mind for decades. If you are going for selected remodelling then consider using limestone because it comes in a wide range of colours and textures. In addition, you can cut limestone tiles easily into different shapes and sizes according to your requirement. These tiles are quite handy to use hence you will find no difficulty in working with limestone slabs.

Limestone floors are said to be maintenance free flooring because of its high resistance capacity. This flooring can brave bulky objects and also it doesn't develop cracks or breaches overtime. You can construct a comfortable sun bath area using limestone tiles. Or create an amazing pool floor with these slabs. Since they are easy to install, you can try fixing limestone tiles with the help of a quality adhesive and a few helping hands.

Condo Flooring Options

The floor may be the one thing you use most in your condo. Unless you can fly, your floor is in constant use when you are home. Given the large amount of use it gets, it is worth spending some time thinking about your floor, whether you are buying or selling, or just thinking of ways to improve your condo. The four types of flooring we will discuss are carpet, hardwood, laminate and tile.

Carpet - There are few homes that do not have any carpet in them; it remains one of the most popular floor coverings available today. Available in a huge variety of colors, quality and styles, many people have carpet in areas like living rooms and bedrooms. Carpet is cozy and exudes a feeling of warmth. At the same time, it may not be the best option in high-traffic areas like doorways, as it will become worn and dirty. And in places like kitchens and bathrooms, carpet gets dirty, and sometimes ruined, rather quickly.

Hardwood - While hardwood is one of the most expensive of the floor-covering options, it probably is the most desirable. If you are selling your condo, replacing the flooring with hardwood is a great way to catch the eye of potential buyers. One of the best aspects of hardwood floors is their durability. Though it is a large initial investment, hardwood can last for decades. It also is easy to clean and maintain. If something spills, simply sweep or soak it up. Hardwood also is available in a variety of colors. It naturally reflects light and lends a more open feeling to your condo, and choosing a light color can actually make your space appear larger. Some people have nothing but hardwood hardwood floors and put down area rugs in places like bedrooms and living rooms.

Laminate - Laminate flooring is designed to look and function like hardwood, but at a cheaper price. It is a good option for people who do not want carpet, but cannot afford hardwood floors. It does not last as long as hardwood, but most laminate floors have a longer useful life than carpet. Like hardwood floors, laminate floors can make a room seem larger.

Tile - For many people, tile occupies a small flooring niche. This floor type is a good option in bathrooms because it is not sensitive to moisture and water. Many people also like tile in their kitchens because it is easy to clean up spills. And tile is especially popular in high-traffic spots like doorways. One of the main drawbacks of tile, especially in cooler climates, is that it does not retain heat well. But if you really want tile, and you have a healthy budget, you can always have heating elements installed underneath it.