Refinishing Your Antique Heart Pine Flooring

There is no denying the charm exuded by antique heart pine flooring. It can blend in quite well even with modern home settings and bring a uniquely classic beauty to the rest of one's abode. It is, however, needless to say that such material is old. Hence, homeowners should realize the importance of taking necessary care and precaution when refinishing it.

Pine flooring has been popular for centuries. This is made out of the soft wood of pine trees. The most known type is the heart pine flooring because of how dense it is. In fact, this is the densest one, which can be attributed to its durability and ability to resist damage.

In addition to that quality, this type of flooring is a really nice addition to one's home considering its colorful tones of red, amber and hues of gold. This is mostly composed of the tree's most inner part, which is the main reason for its unique hue.

To make sure that the entire refinishing process is done smoothly and effectively, one can go through the flooring and check out the damaged areas. There might be some parts that need replacement while others simply have to be hammered to fix them in place. Any holes in the flower can be plugged with a dowel.

After the entire flooring has been cleared out and the highly damaged boards are replaced, one can proceed to clean up the entire area of antique heart pine flooring. This is done by sanding the flooring with #80-grit sandpaper and following it up with thoroughly vacuuming the entire floor. To complete the cleaning procedure, it is recommended that the floor be wiped with tack cloth.

Before the actual staining takes place, it is recommended for pre-stain wood conditioner to be applied. The main purpose of this solution is to keep the stain from looking blotch or streaked. The said conditioner can be applied with the use of clean rags or a brush and should be left to dry for about 15 minutes.

When staining the floors, one should use a solution that is specifically formulated for antique floors. It takes a maximum of 15 minutes for the stain to be penetrated by the wood. There is a positive relationship between the time the stain is left on the floor and how dark the wooden floor ends up to be. A darker finish can also be achieved with additional application.

For sealing, polyurethane can do the job. A thin coat of it can be brushed on the floor and left to dry for around two hours. After which, one should sand the floor's surface with a #220-grit sandpaper. After the dust is vacuumed, one can wipe the floor with tack cloth as done earlier. It is then possible to add another layer of topcoat.

The process of refinishing one's antique heart pine flooring is not really a hard task to do. It does take time and a good amount of work, but any homeowner can do the job himself with a good set of instructions and advice on how to do so.

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Why Are People Attracted to Harmonics Laminate Flooring?

There are more and more people who are opting for laminated floors than authentic hardwood. Aside from durability, laminated floors are also preferred by those who are tight on the budget. If you want to opt for the glueless kind, you may want to check out the lines of the Harmonics laminate flooring. This is exclusively distributed by the Costco Wholesale Corporation and other affiliated warehouse stores. This type can also be referred to as floating floor for the mere reason that the pieces are simply placed on the surface and connected. There are no adhesives used to make these stick on the ground.

To avail of the Harmonics laminate flooring, you have to become a member of the Costco warehouse club. You can take a closer look and inspection of the materials available if you are already a member. The products appeal in terms of price and, of course, the look, even though there are not that many styles to choose from. The available styles are limited to four. These include the Vintage Chestnut, Skyline Maple, Harvest Oak and Royal Mahogany, all of which try to imitate the look of wood. The pieces utilize the Uniclic joinery method, which is so much alike as the tongue and groove kind of joint. The main difference is that with Uniclic, there is no need to utilize fasteners in order to connect the planks together.

One great feature that many people love about the Harmonics laminate flooring is the 35-year residential warranty that comes with it. This warranty includes the common causes of damages to such kind of product such as water smash-up, staining, fading and wear. It must be clear to you that this warranty is pro-rated and the benefits that you can get from this will decrease as the date of the coverage ensues. To be able to use this warranty, you must always have your sales receipt for any claims that you will do for this purpose. The products can be placed over concrete sub-floors at the basement for as long as you use an underlayment before you proceed with the installation.

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Considering Red Oak Flooring for Your Home

If you're choosing to add hardwood flooring for the first time, going with a tried-and-true wood is recommended. Domestic and exotic species are available in North America, and, out of these, the most popular is red oak flooring. Known for a reddish color, red oak has coarse grain and is one of the more dense American woods available. This factor makes it one of the more durable and resistant varieties of hardwood flooring.

The ability to finish and stain easily is an advantage for this flooring. The wood, in general, has larger and more absorbent pores and, as a result, is more welcome to finishes and stains and won't experience blotching or an uneven texture, like other species. If you're looking to highlight the grain, using a darker stain will accent the texture.

Some, however, want their hardwood flooring to have a glossy or glass-like appearance. This is more difficult to achieve with red oak, but it's possible. Using pore filler before adding any finish is recommended.

Manufacturers and retailers of hardwood flooring have several options for red oak flooring. As a domestic species, this flooring is available in higher and cabin grades, with the latter showing more of the grain. If quicker installation is a priority, this flooring is commonly available as prefinished hardwood. In general, however, prefinished wood is best for adding new flooring to a larger space. Unfinished wood is best for seamlessly matching newer to older flooring. Engineered flooring, additionally, is sold and is better for homes with a concrete foundation or radiating heat source.

The color contrast, grain, and durability of red oak flooring make it ideal to cover a large space, be it a dance studio, loft, or open floor to a building. As the most popular hardwood on the market, red oak is practical for many purposes.

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Everything That Makes Heart Pine Flooring A Good Choice

Whether we are talking about a modern home or a cottage-like abode, no one can deny the fact that heart pine flooring is a really good option. It can blend in well with the rest of the fixtures and may actually be also used as the basis of how the rest of the interior is going to be.

Aside from being highly attractive in any modern or traditional home setting, there are a bunch of other good things this type of flooring brings around. Here are some of them.

1. Durability - Actually, heartwood pine floorings have been highly popular during the thirties and sixties. A number of manufacturers work with this kind of material for a number of reasons. It takes faster for kind of tree to grow. Other durable woods such as oak and walnut are not as cost-efficient as pine, which adds to the value of pine flooring in general.

In addition to that, there is presently a preference for reclaimed pine flooring which has become harder because of its past. It is made even more durable as pine sap and heartwood gets harder over time.

2. Environmentally friendly - Since heart pine flooring is made of trees, it is basically ECO friendly. The production and growth of trees occur naturally. As long as responsible logging is practiced, and cut down trees are replaced immediately, there is not much harm done to the rest of the environment compared to the wastes resulting from the production of concrete construction materials such as cement. Reclaimed pine flooring is really popular these days. This option lessens the number of pine trees that have to be cut down.

3. Measurements - Most lumber products are processed in mills, where customized cutting and preparation of lumber is offered. Because of this, it is possible to produce pine floorings with the specific widths and lengths preferred by the consumer.

4. Grading - Everyone has a different taste. This works even when it comes to the flooring. It is possible for one to request that the timber be sawed and cut specifically according to the grading of the lumber one prefers. It can be something with a lot of knots, one with a vertical grain floor or a cleaner one minus all the knots.

5. Affordable - As pointed out earlier, pine trees are most cost efficient to grow, cut and sawed. This makes it a preferable choice over all the other lumber options available in the forest before and even today. There are other people though who are filled up with thoughts that this kind of flooring is more expensive. After all, it brings a specific character with it that can make an impression on homeowners and guests alike.

All these good reasons make heart pine flooring another good option, if not the best one, a homeowner should consider. It helps create a beautiful home that fits exactly what one has in mind. It might be really affordable, but its overall appearance and value makes it a perfect material for anybody's home.

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Hardwood Flooring - Inexpensive & Durable - Your Next Floor!

Increasing the value of your home or your flip house is not that difficult. Everyone is looking for help to sell their home before they go belly up or they are just looking to downsize in this bad economy.

There are a few ways that you can increase the value of your home very quickly and relatively inexpensively. Some of the ways include: updating kitchen, updating bathrooms, external appeal, updating windows, and installing wood floors.

There are many reasons why hardwood flooring increases the value of your home. For example, in classified ads every words cost money, so there is a reason why people put hardwood floors in the ad. The reason why is that it HELPS SELL THE HOME!!! Hardwood flooring is easy to maintain, brings warmth to the home, durable, cost-effective, and provides numerous options.

The economy is turning towards green products and what better than to put something from nature in your home. Building green also cuts down on costs of owning a home.

If you were to install a hardwood flooring today, you wouldn't need another one for the rest of your life. On the other hand if you were to install carpet you will probably have to replace it at least once or twice while you still are in the home. Can you name another product where you have as many choices and can with stand the amount of wear and tear that a hardwood floor can?

So what else can be said about wood floors.

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Tips For Finding Discounted Hardwood Floors

Once concealed by carpeting, hardwood floor has recovered its place an enormously popular option for flooring. From bamboo floor to simple to install woof coated floor options, wood flooring may now be seen just about each space at home. Above all, it is probable to buy cheap one if you only know where to find them.

Looking for price cut hardwood flooring is easy as visiting the flooring shops and searching on the internet. If you wish to renovate your house flooring with limited budget, discount hardwood is the great option. If you are not picky with the type of wood for your flooring, you can save more with the discount wood floors. Make sure to purchase a authentic wood for the hardwood flooring and not the imitation hardwood, engineered hardwood, press-board or the laminated flooring.

How to buy discounted hardwood:

1. Classify the color, size, hardness, texture and grain of the floor that you like to install before you research for the typical flooring costs of the hardwood. This will provide you the baseline to match up the discount hardwood to. The less selective you are, the bigger is your chance to find a bigger price cut.

2. The finest place to start your search for cheaper hardwood floors would be in your neighboring home improvement stores. Instead of centering your attention in the kinds and grades which are displayed prominently, you have to shed your eyes into the section wherein returns, seconds and discontinued products for flooring are being kept.

Second are hardwoods that have flaws which are very hard to detect, however, they are frequently sold almost half the price of the new products. In the same manner, discontinued flooring and returns are also being sold much lesser than the actual retail cost. Just ensure that there are adequate numbers of the low- priced materials in order to complete successfully your project for flooring in your house.

3. Decorators are also a brilliant source of less expensive hardwood floors. Some flooring that was purchased for design project and was rejected later by the customer is frequently made accessible at decorator's price or even lesser. However, there is only a slight chance that transactions like this will be announced or promoted. You have to visit the shop of the decorator to make a careful query so that you will know if shop currently has rejected hardwood products on hand.

Saving some money on cheap flooring may create supplemental funds that may be utilized to cover up the prices related with the floor installation.

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How To Install Laminate Flooring Products

When thinking about what style floor to put in your home, there are a few things to think about. First point to think about is what type of style do you want featured in your home? Secondly, how much do you want to spend on your flooring? Do you want something that will be easy to install? If you are thinking of any of those questions when wanting to remodel your home, you should be thinking about?laminate flooring products. This feature is so simple, you will be able to install it yourself, and not worry about the extra money for the installation fee.?

If you are going to install your laminate hardwood floor by yourself, there are some things to do first. If you have your old carpet or other material down, you will need to rip that up as best as you can. Make sure that all of the past padding is up. Take out all of the base boards, so that you will be able to install better. Here is where you will start using your?laminate flooring products. Start by installing your fresh padding. After that, you will want to start laying down the flooring. A great type of wood could be bamboo, because it is not easy to get moldy.

Laminate is sometimes called floating hardwood, because it is all stuck together expect to the walls. Start at one wall and work your way across. You will need to use a mallet to keep things tight. Once all of the floor is down and in its right spot, install the base board back in. All of your?laminate flooring products will come in handy when doing it yourself. There are ways that you can buy kits that have been engineered to work just for do-it-yourself projects. It will come with an instruction manual.

There are also times when you can get products on wholesale, during off-peak seasons. Keep your eyes open for great deals when you are getting ready to redecorate. You may also be able to find great deals on the laminate flooring products that you will need.?When looking for types of wood, such as bamboo, there are different pre-finished hardwood varieties to choose from. There are different stains that are available that will make any home look great.?

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Adding Brazilian Cherry Flooring

Exotic hardwood flooring has carved out a niche in North American markets, and the most popular species out of the dozens available is Brazilian cherry flooring. Known for a distinct red color with highlighted grain, this flooring has a rating of 2350lbf on the Janka scale. The wood, despite its name, isn't related to domestic cherry species and, in fact, is not a cherry tree. Sold as "Brazilian cherry" in North America, the common name for the species is Jatoba. As the tree occurs in Central and South America, the wood may also go by such names as "Brazilian Copal," "South American Locust," or "Stinking Toe" because of the odor the tree's pulp creates.

Brazilian cherry flooring is often only available in higher grades. It's most common characteristic is the color, a tan to pink tone overall highlighted by darker red stripes. The wood itself is fine-grained and stain resistant. The wood, however, is heavy and installation procedures vary to those used for adding domestic species.

The flooring should be brought indoors to adjust to the temperature before Brazilian cherry is installed into your home or building. While all boards need to line up for installation, Brazilian cherry must be installed perpendicular to floor joints. Once the flooring has been added, it should be swept and vacuumed once a day to keep up the appearance. As little moisture should be used when the flooring is cleaned, and the boards should be air-dried afterward. Additionally, no products with wax, vinegar, or an acidic base should be used to clean the floor.

Retailers carrying Brazilian cherry flooring offer it in unfinished and prefinished varieties, in addition to engineered hardwood. As with all types of flooring, prefinished is ideal for replacing or adding new flooring to an entire area, while unfinished blends in better with existing hardwood.

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Timber Flooring - Introduction, Benefits and FAQs

Timber is a synonym of wood. It is used for flooring purpose. You can make your home and office more attractive by installing wooden flooring. Timber flooring has some difference with the normal wood flooring as it is made by recycled woods. It is an art of creating a floor with colors and textures.

It is very critical to choose which type of timber flooring will be most suitable as it has different types in terms of appearance, looks, price, and durability. It is up to you which one to choose according to your need.

Before installing and taking services from any wood floor suppliers, you should keep some points in mind which are following:-

Always ask for types of various product lines.Do comparison of some qualities like wear warranties.What is the thickness of timber? What is the type of construction? What is the type of coating or polishing? What is the number of finished coats?

The benefits of timber flooring as follows:-

Superior strength, durable and good appearanceIt is easy to install. Re-sanding is required but not as compared to other flooringThese are stylish and modern. Maintenance of this flooring is easy with some precautions. Timber floors would cool in summer and warm in winter so it will give your feet good feeling in any weather. It has large number of designs according to color and textures. It is beneficial for Asthma and Hay fever patients as it is non-allergic. It is environment and Eco friendly product.

All and all, the beauty of timber is timeless. It is one of the popular and best ways to make your home stylish and modern in look, as it has many benefits along with it as well. It suits the need and budget of the people that makes this type of flooring more suitable and attractive too.

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How to Keep Your Floor Clean

With so many different kinds of floor available, you are bound to find there is plenty of choice on your hands when it comes to selecting a product for your home. But no matter what you end up choosing, whether it is lino flooring or something different, you are bound to want it to look its best for as long as possible.

Keeping on top of floor maintenance should prove to be a relatively easy task and by doing so you can extend the life of the product for many years.

This is particularly true when it comes to cleaning your carpet. By vacuuming it on a regular basis, perhaps once or twice a week, you can stop dirt from becoming ingrained into the surface.

But while this should ensure that the majority of solid debris does not result in a carpet becoming stained, you will find that a different approach is needed if liquid is spilt on it.

In the event that you end up knocking a glass of water on to your carpet be sure to soak up the excess using a dry paper towel. However, liquids that are more likely to leave noticeable marks - for example red wine, tea and coffee - may need to be removed using a special carpet cleaner.

Keeping a vinyl floor clean, however, involves a different technique. You should find that using warm soapy water and a damp soft cloth will remove the majority of marks.

However, if you're trying to remove more persistent stains then you may have to use something that is a little stronger. One product you may want to consider when it comes to keeping your floor clean is bleach. Dilute the chemical with water before soaking a rag into the mixture and placing it over the stain. Isopropyl alcohol may prove to be another effective product with which to remove tough marks.

If you plan on using chemicals to clean your floor you may want to try out the solution on an inconspicuous area before applying it to the actual stain to make sure you know what you're doing.

No matter what kind of flooring you have in your home, you should find that with a little time and effort you can keep your floor looking as good as new for many years to come.

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Care Tips For Your Karndean Flooring

If you have made the decision to go lay Karndean flooring then you have ultimately chosen a unique and stunning surface. When you have had it fitted, you are obviously going to want it to remain in top condition for as long as possible. To do this there are certain cleaning tips and precautions that should be followed that will ensure your new floor stays in top condition.

It should be noted that in order for you to keep your manufacturers guarantee, you need to use the products from Karndeans cleaning range as they are made especially for their surfaces. If you decide to use other products then they may possibly contain ingredients that can damage the floor.

When you come to clean your surface you should use a soft brush to get rid of any surface dust and debris. It is important that a soft brush is used as any other brushes bristles could potentially scratch your floor. To actually clean the surface you should use a damp mop with the recommended cleaning products to ensure a quality, risk free finish to the job. It is also important that you never use any bleach to try and clean the floor as this can again cause damage to it. If you are placing a mat on the floor then you should check that it will not leave a mark as some black rubber varieties may do so. If you are unsure then it is best to check with your carpet supplier.

Generally, if you use some common sense then you should not have too many problems. Any spillages should be dealt with immediately and it is best for people to either take off their shoes or at least give them a good wipe on a mat before walking on the surface. If you follow the above tips then you should find that your Karndean flooring will keep its quality for a much longer period of time.

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Garage Floor Coating Tips

Is your garage floor made out of concrete? Does it have accumulated stains and chips in the surface? If your answer is yes to both of these questions, keep on reading this article. You will soon learn about the latest strategy to protect your floor and you can be assured of its effectiveness. It is also easy to apply and lasts a very long time. I am talking about applying an epoxy based garage floor coating. In fact, this is considered today to be the best choice for a floor treatment.

Epoxy is a very tough material that is the result of the combination of a resin and a hardener. If you know what fiberglass is, you are familiar with this sort of composition only fiberglass is made from a resin and a hardener plus cloth. Once cured, it so tough that such things as boats, race car bodies and construction machine parts are produced out of it. The very same idea is applied with an epoxy floor coating minus the cloth since the concrete floor serves as the supporting agent.

The procedure is really easy to understand and follow. First of all, you remove all the items on the floor and thoroughly clean the surface with a high quality degreaser. Then, clean the floor with a solution of soap and water and make sure that all remnants of degreaser are washed off. Next, you perform a beading test. If the floor is properly cleaned, when you spray a light coating of water on the floor surface, beads are formed since the water will just set on top of the concrete. If beads are still present, you have to repeat the application of the degreaser. Once the water spray does not bead any more, you know the floor is clean. Lastly, you should wash the floor with a weak muriatic acid solution (around a 10% concentration) for de-acidifying of the surface.

The two liquid chemicals - the resin and hardener are then mixed together to form the coating and this is applied on the floor using a nap roller. If the current temperature is only 6o degrees Fahrenheit or lower, you should use a space heater so that the temperature increases and the curing speeds up. After 24 hours, the garage floor surface can be walked on again and, after three days, it is cured enough to have the hardness that can stand a normal traffic.

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