The Benefits Of A Laminate Floor

Do you currently have carpets, but constantly struggle to keep them clean? It can be a never ending job, particularly if you have pets and children in a high traffic area. Indeed that nice cream carpet that looked lovely and clean before you had children may now be looking more than a little worn out!

Well, have you considered laminate flooring?

Unlike a carpet you can easily install it yourself, as if you cut a board to the wrong length then you can simply use another one, but if you install carpet yourself and cut it too short then you have a big problem as you will end up writing the whole carpet off.

Laminate flooring is great for very many reasons. Firstly it does not mark or stain as easily as carpet does. Secondly it is very hard wearing and scratch resistant. Also being made of wood it is a great insulator and always feels warm on your feet even on a cold morning.

It is also now available in a wide range of styles, with not just wooden strip block effects being available but it is also now available in the style of tiled floors.

Installing it is very easy with the majority of the flooring now simply clicking together rather than the older style laminate flooring which had to be put down by using a hammer to tap the boards together and every joint being glued up.

Whilst this seemed fine to many DIY people it did mean that if just one board was damaged it meant replacing the whole floor. Which for an average room cost around £300.

The simple click lock systems that are now used mean that you can replace a damaged wooden board, sure you may have to take up a lot of the floor to replace it, but now with click lock flooring then you can do this rather than writing the whole floor off just due to damage to one board.

It is also very easy to maintain, just hoover the dust off of it and then wipe it over with a mop. Even the most stubborn of stains will come off with a simple scrub.

To lay down a wooden floor you only need a few basic tools such as a jigsaw, tape measure, a set square and some spacing blocks.

So if you have not considered laminate flooring before then why not have another look at it today?

Alternatives To Carpet

When it comes to thinking about changing the flooring in your lounge have you considered the alternatives to carpet? Maybe you are fed up with the carpet getting marks on it due to it being in a high traffic area? This may not have been an issue initially but now maybe you have had kids or bought a dog or cat, or even all three.

Well there are only a few obvious alternatives to carpet, one is to put a tiled floor down, which should be very hard wearing and not scratch or mark easily, and if a tile does get damaged they are very easy and cheap to replace. Installing a tiled floor can also be done easily by anyone with basic DIY skills. Or it will not cost a lot to get them installed by a professional.

However tiled floors will feel cold on your feet in the mornings and can seem a bit clinical, also if you have children then you need to remember that tiles have no “Give” in them if children fall over on them, and they will fall over more on tiles as they are naturally more slippy, even more so when wet.

They are however very easy to keep clean with a simple mop over being required each week. Also they cannot be stained by the odd glass of red wine being dropped on them.

So if a tiled floor does not sound ideal then why not consider a laminate floor?

They are very cheap to buy these days and can be easily installed over the course of a weekend. Again you only need basic DIY skills to install them.

Unlike tiles they feel warm under foot, as wood is an insulator, indeed the majority of laminate floors are laid down on insulating boards anyway, which helps retain more heat in the room.

They are very easy to clean with just a mop or a Hoover, and they are pretty much stain resistant to anything other then a dye being spilt on them.

Or you could opt for a laminate with a rug over the top of it. This approach gives the best of both Worlds with the rug giving the comfort of a carpet yet you can easily get it dry cleaned if you spill anything on it. Most dry cleaners will be able to get red wine out of a rug. The same cannot be said for a carpet cleaner.

Wool or Nylon Carpet?

Another part of the lengthy process of choosing which carpet to buy, is deciding on which fibre you want to have in your carpet. Most often found is wool, but a high percentage of nylon can be found more regularly in cheaper carpets. However just because one is found in less expensive carpets, doesn't mean to say it doesn't have its benefits.

More often than not, seeing a carpet which is 100% wool or 100% nylon is unlikely. The majority of carpets are a mixture of the two. For a quality carpet, the recommendation is to have at least 50% wool, or more if you can afford it.

So what are the advantages of the two?

Wool carpets are extremely resilient, naturally being very tough. One of their main selling points is the fact that they are flame retardant, making the carpet a lot safer than the other two choices. With the natural resilience comes a better length of life too, with the carpet looking better for longer. Wool is also notoriously easy to clean and keep looking great. Buying a wool carpet is good for the environment too, being a sustainable material and of course being environmentally friendly.

On the other hand, Nylon carpets have their own benefits too. Typically cheaper, nylon is the hardest wearing of the lot, being the most resilient of the three. While nylon carpets will generally feel harder than wool, it's simply down to being a tougher material, allowing for better stain resistance, and better wear in general. A nylon carpet can last longer than wool, but is generally found in a carpet blended of wool and nylon in order to take the benefits of both; the high resistance of nylon, but also the comfort of wool.

 

The Advantages Of A Polypropylene Carpet

 

Along with the two most popular fibres used in carpet, wool and nylon, is polypropylene. While less common that wool or nylon, it has its own distinct advantages which are slowly but surely seeing the material make a more regular appearance with flooring retailers. While wool or nylon might be the only offering of carpet retailers at the moment, you can expect to see polypropylene to feature in carpet stores very soon too.

Polypropylene is a popular flooring choice in America, growing steadily into Europe. So why is it coming into popularity?

One of its biggest selling points, is how stainproof the fibre can be. In comparison to wool and nylon, polypropylene fibre carpets are extremely stain resistant, making it ideal for families with young children, where spillages and accidents are likely to happen more often than not.

Rather than polypropylene on its own, the fibre is usually found in a blend of wool, similar to the way nylon is blended with wool. While a carpet with a mixture of nylon and wool has the tough characteristics of nylon and the comfort of wool, a wool-polypropylene carpet has characteristics which comprise of stain resistance and comfort - making it an ideal choice for areas of the home which are prone to staining; while a nylon-wool carpet would be more ideal to a heavily used area, perhaps in the workplace.

It's not just the stainproof qualities which sees polypropylene coming into popularity, though. With the material being naturally high wearing, it can last on the floor for years to come - though not quite as resilient as nylon, it does the job. The carpet also shows great ability to hold colour for a much longer period of time than wool or nylon.

Therefore for homes, especially with young children or areas which are likely to come into contact with stains, a mixture of polypropylene and wool in a carpet can be absolutely perfect. While in Europe you might find it difficult to buy a carpet other than a mixture of nylon and wool, it might be worth looking around for a retailer who can stock a polypropylene carpet, if only for the stain resistance properties being more beneficial than the resistant but hard nylon fibre.

While nylon is great in the workplace, being durable and tough, a soft comfortable floor is more ideal for the home, and with young ones about, it can be perfect.

 

 

Why Underlay Is Vital For A New Carpet

With any new carpet, comes the recommendation to install underlay underneath the carpet at the same time. As an extra expenditure on what is an already expensive product, it can be very tempting to simply ignore the advice and go without. However advice from virtually all carpet retailers and even the office of fair trading is not something to ignore, so why should go for underlay, and what purpose does it serve?

Simply put, buying a carpet without underlay is like buying bricks without mortar. The reason being that a carpet without underlay will not be flat and even on the floor; it simply won't sit correctly. With parts of the carpet being uneven and lower than others, wear on the carpet will also be uneven, and cost you more in the long run as it wears out faster.

As well as ensuring the carpet wears correctly, evenly over the carpet rather than all in one area, underlay helps a carpet to keep a high level of appearance for longer too. As well as lasting longer, your carpet will look better for longer too.

With the wear on the carpet being much less, an underlay can see the life of a carpet be increased by up to 40%.

Secondly, underlay improves the feel of carpet under your foot by an untold amount. Suddenly your carpet will go from a very solid and uncomfortable feel, to something luxurious and ultra comfortable.

Underlay reduces costs further, as well as ensuring the wear on the carpet is even, by being a great insulator. Underlay helps keep heat and sound within the room, therefore reducing your bills now and in the long run.

Due to the noise insulation properties of underlay, acoustics of the room will be significantly improved too; echo is reduced and quality of sound in the room, with correct sound insulation, will sound superb.

Ultimately and perhaps most importantly, if you buy a new carpet without underlay, you're putting yourself into a safe position. Nowadays if you buy a carpet without the underlay, therefore increasing the wear of the carpet in certain areas, you virtually tear up the warranty on your carpet right there on the spot. Most carpet manufacturers won't accept responsibility for excessive wear or damage to a carpet if there has been old underlay used, or worse yet, none at all.

So don't ignore the extra expenditure. Invest in underlay with your new carpet and you can be seeing the benefits for many years to come.

 

Choosing A Carpet Depending On The Room

Some areas of the home need more attention to the flooring than others. With certain rooms being used more often than others, it goes without saying that a harder wearing carpet or flooring will be required in the busier areas of a home. In comparison, another less used room in the home could benefit from an expensive good looking carpet, if you know it will be enjoyed more rarely and will therefore last longer. But what's the most suitable flooring depending on the room?

We're looking exclusively at carpet, and we'll start at the most traditionally anti-carpet room in the house; the bathroom.

Here it's frequently assumed that carpet isn't suitable for the bathroom, with the risk of water ever threatening. The only time you'd ever want to avoid using carpet in a bathroom is if it's likely to be continually drenched, perhaps where you might have young children and the risk is that little bit higher. However, a synthetic carpet is completely ideal for the bathroom, being hard wearing and durable, able to be resistant for those times that it will inevitable come into contact with water.

Onto the busier areas of the house, where carpet is a much more frequent sight; from the living room, the hallways, the stairs and the landing, hard wearing carpet is a must in all of these places. A carpet with 80% wool content or more is ideal, and look for a carpet which has a Quality Mark in the Heavy or Extra Heavy Domestic area. This way you'll have a carpet in the busiest areas of the home which is up to the task when it comes to being used regularly day in, day out.

However, take a look at a room which is used much less regularly, somewhere where perhaps a lot of pride is taken into ensuring it's always well kept. A dining room is a perfect example, where it's perhaps used only once or twice a day at most, where a carpet can be as unique as you like. Here you can be safe in the knowledge that a carpet used only once or twice a day will last for a significantly longer time than a carpet placed in the hallway, so be indulgent and splash out. Take a carpet with a unique design and make the room look great. While a patterned or silky carpet might be less durable, with the room being used much less often, it's worth the investment.

Plain Carpet Versus Patterned Carpet

With buying a carpet, you've got a lot to think about. Whether it's the huge range of price, the quality of carpet to choose, or whether it comes down to picking a carpet brand or carpet style. However additionally, you've also got the important decision to make of how the carpet will physically look. Plain carpets are a common sight throughout a home, but a patterned carpet makes an appearance just as often, in fact perhaps more often than you might expect. Next time you're round the home of a friend or family, take a look at the carpet they use; it's likely that a few of their carpets will be patterned as opposed to plain.

But why choose one or the other?

Plain carpet is the traditional and safe option. The colour can be easily chosen to match the room, and a plain carpet is timeless; it won't ever go out of style, while a patterned carpet might. The fact that the design is completely plain makes it a popular choice in the majority of homes, meaning that wallpaper and furniture is easy to match to the colour. What's more, a plain carpet can make the room look larger, expanding the depth of the room, which with an expensive looking carpet can really make the room stand out.

Patterned carpet on the other hand has its own benefits too. A patterned carpet doesn't have to mean out-of-fashion 60s or 70s floral type patterning, in fact the majority of patterned carpets are quite the opposite. With modern designs, whether it be simple stripes or a colourful design meant to stand out from the background, most designs these days are quite fashionable and desirable. Stripes and swirls will hold their own for years to come, whereas a more modern artsy design might not last so long; make sure when you're buying a new carpet to bear this in mind. While a patterned carpet might look great today, in ten years time it might feel dated and completely unwanted, warranting a very quick replacement.