Glueless floating hardwood floors

I recently published a page on FloorFacts.com discussing the new hardwood floors with glueless locking systems that you can float over different subfloors, such as wood, concrete slabs and some types of existing hard surfaces materials. The photo I show on the left is a Mannington wood plank with the specially designed tongue for glueless installation that I took it with my Canon Rebel digital camera. Although it's okay I don't feel it really helps consumers understand this terrific new glueless installation system.

While working on a web site development project today I came across a great Quicktime demonstration on RobinaFloors.com that really does a nice job of demonstrating how wood planks are interlocked together with this glueless installation system. Once you see this video I think you will have a better idea how wood planks are interlocked without gluing or nailing. (Just be patient, the Quicktime video takes about a minute to download before viewing.)

Click here for the Robina Floors VR-Loc Glueless wood Plank Quicktime Video.

Benjamin Moore Virtual Fan Deck a great tool

Many times when we are going to buy new flooring the decorating project also includes freshening up the room with a new coat of paint. As homeowners we often make trips back and forth to the local paint store trying to discover the right colors for our decorating project. Well now you can explore your paint color options online with Benjamin Moore's Virtual Fan Deck. This is a fun and terrific way to explore various colors hues. (As a web developer for many floor covering web sites, I also use tools like this to explore new color combinations for showing off the latest flooring fashions online.)

So the next time you want to choose a new paint color for your latest decorating project, just sit back, relax and go to Benjamin Moore's Virtual Fan Deck web page.

Armstrong Premier Performance Hardwood Flooring

I recently read where Armstrong Hardwood Flooring was named a winner in the Home Magazine 2008 American Building Product Awards for its Premier Performance Hardwood Flooring style. This Armstrong 3/8" thick, engineered hardwood floor has a feature they call: "thru-color construction". What this really means is the top wood ply of each plank has been totally impregnated with acrylic and stain. We saw this same thing years ago with Hartco's Pattern Plus product line (was discontinued a long time ago).

The advantage is when a plank is scratched the color doesn't change because the stain and acrylic go all the way through the top finish ply. Also, since the top ply is totally saturated in acrylic it is harder than normal. The disadvantages are you can never refinish or re-stain your wood floor and the appearance looks a little less natural.

Armstrong states on their web site that Premier Performance Hardwood Flooring can be glued-down or floated over most wood sub-floors as well as fully-cured concrete slabs. You can also install these floors on, above or below grade. So if you are looking for a really tough, durable hardwood floor this may be worth seeing at your local specialty flooring store.

Wide Plank Hardwood Floors by Carlisle

Another choice for homeowners today are wide plank wood floors. A site I ran across recently really caught my eye. The site is wideplankflooring.com and it is the home of Carlisle Wide Plank Floors. Looking around their web site it appears they manufacture a wide range of wood species and colors all in wide planks flooring. They definitely have some great looking wide plank floors, including hand scraped wide plank floors as well. They also appear to have a blog as well... see www.hardwoodsurface.com.

Wide plank wood flooring can really give a room an elegant an old charm appeal and with today's finishes are much easier to maintain than the old wax floors Grandma use to have.

FloorFacts.com new flooring articles review

Below are some new flooring articles recently added to FloorFacts.com. These may be of great interest to those looking to buying flooring and want to learn more before deciding on a particular floor.

• Buying A Laminate Floor - helpful information for consumers shopping for a laminate floor.
• Floating Floors - some helpful insights in floating floors.
• Ceramic Tile or Hardwood Floors - advice about the different characteristics and usages for selecting hardwood floor or ceramic tiles.
• Glueless Floating Wood Floors - glueless installation systems are no finding their way into wood floors, read the short article to learn more.
  

Use glass tile for a shimmering touch to your tile

Glass tiles are becoming more popular than ever before. Glass allow brilliant colors that shimmer in light and not achievable with other types of tiles. They are generally used as accents, trims or as mosiac glass tiles. Many tile manufacturers, such as Dal Tile, are adding glass styles to their offerings in a variety of colors , sizes and designs. Glass tiles can be often mixed with other tiles to give a truly unique and a stunning visual appearance.

Todays Premium Laminate Floors Are Amazing

I can remember back when laminate floors first came to the USA. We are all wondering if this new flooring category would catch on with consumers. The designs and realism back then were okay but did look some what fake and had a plastic appearance. It didn't take long for laminate floors, such as Pergo, to took off and become a popular floor covering choice with many homeowners.

Today, we see laminate floors that have really become much more sophisticated and realistic looking with textured surfaces and better tongue and groove locking systems. For homeowners with pets or who want a floor that is extremely durable but looks like real wood or stone laminate floors can be a great option. These floors are very stain and scratch resistant and the premium quality laminate floors offer better warranties and better styling.

By far the most realistic looking laminate floor I have seen to date is Armstrong Laminate Floors Grand Illusions. They have done a marvelous job of adding realistic texture and design to the finish of these 5" planks. Armstrong's Grand Illusions is available at many specialty flooring stores across the country. You can also purchase Grand Illusions online. Click here for Grand Illusions at HoskingHardwood's web site.

Invista launches Luxerell carpet fiber

Invista, the manufacturer of Stainmaster carpet fibers, has recently introduced an exciting new carpet fiber, called: Luxerell. This new carpet fiber has all the elegance and luxury of wool with the durability found in Stainmaster carpet fibers. It has a cashmere feel to the touch but have been engineered to give long lasting beauty and performance. Carpets made with Invista's new Luxerell fibers are already being offered by several carpet manufacturers and you should look for Invista's Luxerell label on the back of the carpet samples to make sure its the real thing.

For those looking for more information there is a short video online at TalkFloor.com from a recent flooring industry trade show that will give you some more detail. Click here to watch the TalkFloor.com Invista Luxerell video.

Two Must Do Things Before Installing a Laminate Floor

Laminate flooring has become a great product of choice by homeowners wanting a nice looking wood or stone visual design that is affordable and can be installed by themselves. These floors are readily available from the big box stores, lumberyards and specialty flooring stores. At the store everything seems great when buying the floor and sounds pretty easy to install with the clic and lock installation systems. This can be true but there are some things that can make this DIY job mushroom into much more time consuming and difficult task to complete.

First, be sure to acclimate all the boxes of laminate flooring before starting the installation. That means put the boxes of laminate flooring in the room that they will be installed at least 48-72 hours prior to installation. This is critical since these floors are sensitive to moisture and humidity. Plus, they probably came out of a storage warehouse that has a much difficult environment than your home does.

Second, be sure to check the sub-floor to see if it is level. This is critical prior to opening a box! If you floor has any unevenness, such as undulations in concrete slabs or areas that are higher or lower in pitch than others areas of the floor you will have trouble getting the planks' tongue and groove edges to lock together. This can make the installation a real pain to do. So begin by laying a long flat 2-by-4 (at least 10 feet long) or other straight edge down on top of the sub-floor and check for daylight between the sub-floor and straight edge. If you have gaps underneath you need to level them before installation. You may need to go and buy a "leveling compound" to fill the voids and make the sub-floor level and flat. you can also consult the manufacturer's written installation instructions for what they recommend. the point here is don't try to install the floor until you correct the problem.