When you have attractive hardwood floors, you want to keep them looking new without spending a fortune on special cleaning products. Is there a way of cleaning hardwood floors without using smelly and expensive chemicals? Yes! In many cases you can use vinegar to clean hardwood floors. Its an inexpensive and effective way to keep your hardwood floors looking clean and new.
What's wrong with using commercial cleaning products for hardwood floors? Besides their expense, many of them contain harmful chemicals, which you don't want to expose your family to. They can leave an oily residue on top of your floors and ruin their lustrous shine. Some cleaners may actually strip the sealing from your hardwood floors and make them more vulnerable to stains and warping.
One way around these problems is to use all-natural vinegar to clean hardwood floors. You may be aware of other uses for vinegar - cooking, deodorizing, and cleaning glass, to name a few - but you can also use vinegar to clean hardwood floors and keep them looking shiny and new.
Before you start mopping your floors, be sure to perform some preventative maintenance to keep them in good condition. Start by dust-mopping often, since dirt tends to scratch hardwood floors and make them appear duller. Also, remember to wipe up spills as soon as they happen to avoid stains and warping. As with any cleaning product though, make sure to test a small inconspicuous area to make sure the cleaning solution won't damage your floors. It's also a good idea to start with a more diluted solution. There are a variety of different finishing products for hardwood flooring so make sure the cleaning product you choose is right for your floor.
When you're ready to clean, just mix one-half cup of vinegar with one gallon of warm water. You may want to adjust the ratio of vinegar to water if you find that it's not cleaning as well as you would like. Use this solution to mop your floors as normal with a damp (not wet) mop or cloth, taking extra care to not leave any standing puddles of liquid. Allow the floor to dry naturally, or use a floor dryer to speed up the process.
Hardwood floors require some special care, but using vinegar to clean hardwood floors might make buying special cleaning products unnecessary. You can find vinegar in any grocery store, it's inexpensive, and it can actually remove odors from your home. You may even find that using vinegar to clean hardwood floors will leave your floors looking better than those expensive cleaners ever did.
Antique flooring is a truly magnificent kind of flooring. You must be wondering, what's the price for something like this, and where can I buy? The answer to this is simple - all you have to do is browse for the right price. Wait, we know what you are thinking, "what if I don't know what price is the best?" Well, the answer is fairly simple as well. Antique flooring can range between four dollars a S/F to ten dollars a S/F and higher. It all depends on what type of wood you are ordering, what kind of planks they are, long, short, thick, or thin. Since the price can vary a bit, it is a good idea to find the one that you like best for the price.
Of course, you can always go extravagant, but most people prefer choosing something simple and with a lower price for the quality. Antique flooring can be bought online, from a local craftsman, or from major companies that allow you to search a wide variety of different floors until you find the perfect one for you and your family.
Most companies will give you the option of allowing the company itself to find you a contractor for the installation. This is a good option because it leaves you with a lot less hassle when trying to find a trustworthy contractor. They can assist you in finding the perfect floor. They have specialists who can identify what you want and work with you to find what you need in antique flooring. Any of these options can be a good choice for purchasing antique floors. Buying online gives you the option of variety, for you have a lot to choose from, and in some cases they can even provide you with free shipping. Another thing to remember when buying antique flooring, is that you should always buy extra for cutting. Also, there is the occasional mistake that people make when installing wood floors is - not taking careful measurements. As the saying goes - "Measure twice, cut once," well, it can save you a lot of time and money.
Variety in Woods
Antique flooring comes in three main woods they are, Oak, Pine and Elm. All of which make a great wood floor. Oak is good because of its beauty and the fact that it makes a interesting dark wood pattern, a lot of people like oak because of its visual appeal. Pine is different from oak. The pine tree used to make this wood can take a considerably longer period of time to grow than oak. Even though some oak wood floors can be dated hundreds of years old, the pine tree also lives a long time, and makes a long lasting wood floor.
Elm is light and gives a airy feel to the room by brightening things up a bit. Elm can be a good choice when you are looking for something that adds a certain flair to your room. Ancient Chinese Elm is popular because when it comes to antique floors, this kind of flooring can be dated back many years while still looking new. It is really a matter of personal preference in the case of choosing the right wood. All of them are wonderful in their own way, and it is up to you to find the perfect one.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a homeowner who doesn't want hardwood floors. Wall-to-wall carpeting is out, and hardwood floors are in. But are they worth the price? Let's face it: at $8-$10 per square foot (installed), wood flooring is more expensive than carpeting or the increasingly common laminates that offer a similar look.
If you're on the fence and can't decide whether to install hardwood floors (or maybe peel back your old carpeting and refinish the wood underneath), this list may be able to help. We're going to take a look at some of the benefits of hardwoods:
1. Longevity
Thanks to durable finishes that are easy to repair, solid-wood floors can last for a hundred years or more. There are very few flooring materials that have been around as long as wood. Over the centuries, it has shown itself to be a lovely and durable floor choice. Other newer materials have yet to prove themselves.
2. Coziness and Warmth
Not only is hardwood more pleasant to walk on than laminate (which always feel cold and a little "plastic" underfoot), but it is naturally warm. Wood is an excellent insulator, thanks to its thousands of tiny air chambers per cubic inch, which hold in heat.
3. Hypoallergenic
Got allergies? Unlike carpets (read: breeding grounds for mold, mildew, and dust mites, all of which can be tough on anyone with allergies), wood floors don't give pollen, animal dander, mold, etc. any place to hide and thrive. Even when you steam clean carpets, it's impossible to get them entirely clean. In fact, getting them wet just makes things worse. Hardwood flooring is an excellent choice for anyone with any kind of environmental allergies. (And it makes good sense for everyone else too--who wants to lie down on a floor that's hiding mold?)
4. Easy to Clean
A little sweeping and a little mopping, and your hardwood floors will keep looking nice for a long time to come. Even families with dogs and kids are realizing that it's easier to mop a hardwood floor than try to spray/scrub/wash grape Kool-Aid out of a carpet. Another perk is that a scratch here or a gouge there really just adds character to wood floors (of course, you can always have them refinished if you prefer perfection).
5. Increase Home Value
Unless you're going to be living in the same house for the rest of your life, you should think about how the flooring choices you make today will affect the price you can get for your home when you sell it. Carpet will look old and used in just a few years, whereas wood floors last a long time and add value to a home (if you've ever watched those house hunter shows on television, you've doubtlessly seen just about every potential buyer looking around hopefully for hardwood floors). Even laminate flooring, which looks like wood flooring, is a distant second choice for homebuyers. It just doesn't have the same warmth and feel.
These are just a few of the benefits of hardwood floors. We didn't even mention the aesthetic value: at the end of the day, they just look better than the alternatives. If you can afford to pay an extra couple dollars per square foot, go with hardwood. If you have hardwoods hiding under your existing carpets, tear those suckers up and get the wood refinished.
Hardwood floors seem simple to clean when you are considering installing them in your home. You don’t have to worry about the dirt sticking to the floor, stains from food and drinks, and other issues you have with carpet. Carpet tends to lose its luster after a few years and can be irreparably stained. While it is more difficult to damage hardwood flooring, it is still possible. You will want to have the proper cleaning supplies when you consider your hardwood floor. Some chemicals can actually be too harsh stripping away the floors finishing. Scraps in the floor can be difficult to repair, and of course pet stains on hardwood flooring are difficult to remove.
A very simple hardwood floor cleaner recipe is taking 1 teaspoon of vinegar, 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil and one quart of water. You will combine these ingredients in a bucket and either use a mop or a washrag to rub over the floor after you have swept the area. Once you have applied the cleaning recipe to the floor you will want to go back over the floor with clear and clean water. It is also best that you take a rag and clean in the corners to help get the dust out of the corners before you begin the treatment.
If you have any scratches on the floor that are not deep you will be able to use a finishing lacquer to cover the scratches. More involved scratches will need to be sanded and refinished. If you have a deep stain you can still use the simple floor cleaner above. It may take a little extra work or you may have to sand the area first to remove the uppermost part of the stain.
When you have hardwood floors you need to deal with spills quickly. While the finishing is supposed to protect the floor from damaging water can still get through. Most importantly you need to know the type of hardwood flooring you have. Some of the newer floors are so simple to put in that the sealer is not applied so the grooves are protected. This means that a spill can leak through the grooves and damage the flooring beneath. On this type of floor it is best to use small amounts of the recipe above and water on the stain and to clean the floor to avoid damaging it.
Another great recipe to use on hardwood floors is using a vegetable soap or Murphy’s oil soap to create a watered down mixture that you can apply to the floors. The same rules apply as above. You do not want to use excess moisture when cleaning the hardwood floors as it can warp the wood or cause more severe damage. You may use a spray bottle to make sure that you have the correct amount of solution come out. A rag or the new Swiffer mops are great for getting your hardwood floors clean because they don’t require the pads to be soaked.
The floor you use inside your house could be a reflection of what are inside, people and things. As such when you choose to install hardwood flooring, be sure to know at least the basics of it or consult a professional to help you choose the best kind of hardwood flooring for your house.
There are certain types of hardwood flooring that are suitable for certain locations in the house. It is in this case important to understand where such kind is to be installed. Installing it in the right place enables you to conserve your time, money, and effort for the years to come. If you do such, you need not reinstall another in the next 10 years but only need maintain it and refinish in time.
Hardwood flooring is one of the best investments you can have for your house. If you want wood, you may not want to go with cheap woods like plywood, instead, choose to install a nice hardwood to really increase the value and aesthetics of your home.
One of the considerations in installing hardwood is its wear layers. The thickness of this layer varies; though, the thicker the better. Thick wear layers can be refinished more times than thin ones. Hardwoods may be worn out as it used over time. There may be scratches, small cracks on the floor but with this thick wear layers, you can reconstruct it to look as good as new. However, thin wear layers are sold in lesser cost. With thin wear layers, it could still be durable but not as much as those with thick ones.
Refinishing could be done once in every five years. With think wear layers or veneer, refinishing could be done at least two to three times depending on the worn out part. Flooring with thin wear layers may need necessary reinstallation when damages occur where there is no way to refinish it. If are keeping a lot of heavy furniture in your home that could cause your flooring to be damaged when they are dragged or rearranged, it is best to install it with thin veneers.
Wear layers of could measure from ¼ to 1/8 inches. Other wear layers have 9/16 or 3/8 inches measurements.
Another consideration when choosing to install this great investment in your home is the ply of the wood. Again, the thicker the ply is, the better. These products could vary from two to ten plies. Though those with more plies could last longer, they are more costly that their lesser plies counterpart. In any case, should you plan to stay in a house for five to ten or more years, choose those with thick wear layers and more plies for durability and longevity sake.
After those two considerations, you can now choose the size or style of your flooring. You can have something with different colors that matches your taste and could even look like its ceramic or marble counterpart.
You may choose to install planks that are made of wide pieces of wood or strips made of smaller pieces. Other preferences include single piece which can give a solid look and parquet that looks like a tile.
There are many different types of hardwood floorings in the marketplace today. Exotic hardwood floors are one of the most important design elements in any home or business.
Real estate agents and real estate investors often use hardwood flooring as part of their overall strategy to pump up the value of the houses they buy, fix up, and resell for a nice profit. If you have a hardwood floor that is seriously distressed you can easily clean, repair, sand, stain and refinish it and it will look like new. When shopping for new wood flooring check for special discounts or coupons from the many retailers and manufacturers online and offline.
Many people are even installing hardwood floors in their kitchen. Custom wood flooring can range from some inexpensive painted features to more high-end, handcrafted borders and medallions. If you have a lot of square feet to cover, many of the hardwood flooring retailers and manufacturers offer discounts for large orders.
In many flooring plans, wood brings a great deal of atmosphere to a room and makes it feel roomier and natural. First you need to find a reputable hardwood floor company to help design and create the type of flooring that you want. You may be able to find pre-finished wood planks through a hardwood floor lumber liquidator or lumber supply companies. Make sure to shop around for the best discounts and low cost flooring buys. If you're a senior ask for a senior discount. Look for wholesale outlets.
If you're looking for some good ideas try to get a copy of Hardwood Floors magazine. This trade magazine is sent to 24,000 hardwood flooring professionals throughout the world, including contractors, dealers, distributors, manufacturers, builders, architects and other industry professionals.
Solid hardwood floors can give a room an expensive and high quality finish that is usually only connected to the higher-end apartments and designer homes. Your new flooring may need a few refinishing, sanding and finish coats over the years. When you consider that carpets and vinyl floors will need to be replaced at least three or four times in that same time period then the long run costs of hardwood flooring are very economical.
Although Bruce brand flooring seems to be the most popular some of the most well-known hardwood floor manufacturers are Bruce, Shaw, Mohawk, Mannington and Armstrong. After all wood is wood, and what can be more ecologically clean than natural wood planks after very little chemical processing? Cost can vary depending on whether or not you can find discounts or buy it wholesale.
Besides being beautiful and hardwearing, hardwood floors are environmentally friendly as well. Whether you're looking for information about pre-finished hardwood floors, job-site-finished hardwood floors, or even tips on refinishing hardwood floors, the Internet can provide you with all the resources you need to help you with your shopping decisions.
Most hardwood floors rarely need to be replaced and can add many thousands of dollars to the value of your home. There are many benefits to installing hardwood floors, such as the added value to your home, the easy care and cleaning, the great style combined with durability and they're natural and safe for the environment. No matter what your lifestyle, wood floors add value and comfort to any room and make it possibly the best choice today.
For more info on buying and choosing the best hardwood floors online and offline go to http://www.Hardwood-Floor-Contractor.com for money-saving tips, help, facts, reviews and advice including do-it-yourself on all types of hardwood flooring
Hardwood floors are one of the valued features for homes. If a property has an existing hardwood flooring, the main concern when floor cleaning it is its wood age. Usually, if it's mature, it requires hardwood floor refinishing or hardwood repairs (minor renovation).
Hardwood flooring has three existing types in the market with three varieties to choose from. The hardwood floor varieties are the strip, plank and parquet: the wood strips are usually about 1.5 to 2.75 inches wide, the plank sizes are wider than the strips, and the parquets are composed of individual squares that make up of a geometric pattern. If you have sized-up the scale of your floor plan, you can now choose which type of wood flooring to install - whether the solid hardwood, engineered wood or the laminate flooring is fit for your interior furnishings and house style.
Engineered wood flooring is an alternative to solid hardwood flooring embraced by more and more interior professionals. This type of flooring is a sandwich of finish wood and plywood. The finish wood is what you see and walk on; underneath it is the plywood that comprises about 80 to 90% of the engineered wood flooring each giving dimensional strength to the sandwich.
If solid hardwood is not ideal for usually moist areas, engineered wood flooring can be best installed in basements and bathrooms.
Another great thing bout engineered wood is the range of installation options. The thinner varieties can be nailed down; the thicker kinds can be installed as floating floors. Floating floors are the great boon to do-it-yourselfers--no heavy staplers to lug around, no sub-floor. As long as your existing floor is level and stable, you can install the floating floor right on top.
Engineered wood flooring's greatest weakness is its thin top layer. Remarkably, this 1/16" to 1/8" finish layer can be sanded. But only once or twice - three is pushing it. In any case, I strongly recommend you seek the advice of a reputable hardwood installation company before doing a project. Unlike solid hardwood, deep scratches and dents in engineered wood cannot be sanded out, but can be refinished depending on the flooring company.
Laminate flooring, and what you really have to know, is not a real wood. It is comprised of a thin top layer of resin-infused paper, all on top of a wood-chip composite. Technically, it is a wood but if you are to really take a closer study on it, it is just paper-like: the resin-infused layer is essentially a photograph of wood.
Among the advantages of laminate flooring are its scratch-resistant feature and that it works very, very, very much in moist areas like bathrooms and kitchens; and it's easy to install. On the other side of the coin, laminate flooring cannot be sanded.
Solid hardwood floors come either unfinished or pre-finished. This type of wood flooring is solid all the way from top to bottom. Unfinished hardwoods are a bit inexpensive to purchase and it requires immediate sanding, optional staining, and sealing after installation, which will require you at least 48 hours for the sealant to dry. With unfinished hardwood, the advantage is you can stain it and seal it to your liking, however, with pre-finished hardwoods, the advantage is easier to install and less down time. Pre-finished hardwoods are factory-completed product, which means there is no on-site sanding and finishing.
Since solid hardwoods are prone to scratches and dents, you need to pay special attention to its species (i.e. Oak, Maple, etc.) and how to better take care of it. But the great thing about solid hardwood floors is that it can be refinished or re-sanded numerous times, extending its life literally for years to come.
Solid hardwood floors are easy to maintain. They are durable and can withstand time. The value of hardwood floors is evident to homes that are decades of age. Upscale homebuyers are willing to pay top dollar for homes that have solid hardwood floors.
If you think that hardwood floors are for sophisticated homes, think again. Hardwood floors are creatively designed to blueprint contemporary-styled houses. With so many types of woods like oak, cherry, maple and walnut, and different options to style the wood from staining to sanding, there is always something fit for your style.
Hardwood floor installation, and hardwood floor cleaning and maintenance are costly, but they are worth it. Trust Me!
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DHORJ ESCUSA is a web copywriter for a web design company that build websites and increases visibility through optimization and promotion.
Hardwood flooring has rocked the groundwork of interior designing, making homes look more elegant, rustic and pleasant to the eye, depending on the kind of wood used. The wood flooring industry has gained a good amount of the market share, making it possible to use almost any wood for flooring. Though, there are plenty of choices in hardwood flooring, the latest species that are used are becoming a trend, since they add the old world elegance. Manufacturers have moved on from the traditional use of oak floorings to exotic species that are imported from Africa, Brazil and elsewhere from the world.
Wood from species like Bamboo, Cork, Oak, Cumaru, Beech, Santos Mahogany, Teak, Walnut, and Brazilian Cherry are rapidly picking up as popular hardwood flooring choices. The hardwood floors might set the ambiance of the room, giving it a different look and feel. Besides, other factors like foot traffic, purpose of room, and location should be considered since each of the hardwood floors has different benchmarks for wear and tear, resistance, moisture etc. So the hardwood materials durability, toughness, darkness have to be considered. Keeping all of this in mind, besides the ever-durable, timeless oak hardwood, hardwood floors made of Australian Cypress and Brazilian Cherry are becoming a rage.
Those who have never seen it before cannot easily spot Australian Cypress flooring. It has an earthy tone and bears a resemblance to knotty pine. This gives it an added advantage, making it balance with the furniture around the house because of its subtle brown, shadowed amber and sporadic green. The Australian Cypress hardwood flooring is much more durable and is able to hide signs of wear because of its intricate knots and swirls. In the past five to seven years, another wood species has become very popular as hardwood flooring, known as Brazilian Cherry or Jatoba, Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring has a different appeal from that of traditional hardwood floorings made of Oaks and Maple. It has darker shades of tan and reddish browns that will complement practically every piece of furniture in your home.
The use of Australian Cypress and Brazilian Cherry in hardwood flooring has become trendy because of their unique look. It might not agree with your tastes because of the swirls, knots and golden appearance or erratic spread of shades. This doesn't mean that these trends have to be forced in your home. There are other trends that are fast picking up like Bamboo hardwood flooring, Distressed hardwood flooring, Santos Mahogany hardwood flooring, Cumaru hardwood flooring etc. Each of these has their unique display of ambiance that can add to the finesse of home interiors.
Matt Freng is a owner of Blackriverfloors.com; Visit site (http://www.blackriverfloors.com/) for more information about Hardwood Flooring, Bamboo flooring, Laminated & Solid Wood Floors.