Hard Surface Part 1

Under this category we in the biz include ceramic tile, hardwood, laminate flooring, and resilient flooring. In part 1 I will cover tile and hardwood.

Ceramic Floor/Wall Tile: These are commonly made of ceramic or stone, although recent technological advances have resulted in glass tiles for floors as well. Ceramic tiles may be painted and glazed. Small mosaic tiles may be laid in various patterns. Floor tiles are typically set into mortar consisting of sand, cement and often a latex additive for extra adhesion. The spaces between the tiles are nowadays filled with sanded or unsanded floor grout, but traditionally mortar was used.

Natural stone tiles can be beautiful but as a natural product they are less uniform in color and pattern, and require more planning for use and installation. Mass produced stone tiles are uniform in width and length. Granite or marble tiles are cut and polished or finished on the facing up side, so that they have a uniform thickness. Other natural stone tiles such as slate are typically "riven" (split) on the facing up side so that the thickness of the tile varies slightly from one spot on the tile to another and from one tile to another. Variations in tile thickness can be handled by adjusting the amount of mortar under each part of the tile, by using wide grout lines that "ramp" between different thicknesses, or by using a cold chisel to knock off high spots.

Ceramic tile is one of the funniest products available. The sky really is the limit when it comes to pattern you can design just about anything you can think of. There are so many patterns and colors, and styles, and materials, and, and, and...... What I will sometimes suggest when my customers are having trouble with design is to get some graph paper and colored pencils and draw out your ideas.

Tile can be used any where, but is you want it set outside in colder climates you will need to use a porcelain tile. Tile made this way are less porous so when it freezes the water the tile won't crack.







I've seen great styles at Emser, Dal-Tile, and of course R.C. Willey has a large selection of in stock tile.



































These are just a few examples of what can be done that I pulled of the web. I'm about to start a big tile project so I will post those pictures in the coming months.










Adding ceramic, glass, metals to stone tile can be very attractive and different.













Tile can be considered a "do it yourself project" but doing it yourself doesn't always mean you should do it yourself. I am all for saving costs, but tile is art and a great installer is an artist. Tile is an investment that will never wear out and if your careful with colors never go out of style.


Hardwood:Wood flooring is a made from the timber of hardwoods, or of spruce or hard pine. There are two basic manufactured types of hardwood. Wood flooring comes unfinished, and once installed is sanded, then finished on site. More modernly, the product is pre-finished in a factory. The products that are pre-finished are often a polyurethane finish that has added aluminium oxide, however some companies use titanium dioxide or other oxides instead. These metal oxide finishes are used in various types of floor coverings and increase the wear a hardwood floor can handle
Solid
Solid hardwoods are typically 3/4" or 19mm thick, although some do come in 3/8" (10mm) or 5/16" (8mm) thicknesses. Typically the wearing thickness, i.e., the thickness that can be sanded over the lifetime of the floor, above the tongue-and-groove portion, is approximately 7/32" approaching 1/4". This type of hardwood flooring can be installed with a nail-down installation method over wood sub floors. This type of hardwood is also very susceptible to the effects of moisture and temperature, because hardwoods expand and contract with moisture and temperature changes in the atmosphere. Since hardwoods expand and contract in the width of the grain, this type of hardwood flooring is not recommended to be installed over a concrete slab, unless otherwise stated by the manufacturer. There are some instances where 3/8"-thick solid hardwood can be installed on a concrete slab.

Engineered
Rather than having one solid piece of hardwood, the engineered hardwood method uses layers of hardwood veneer to create a product that can range in thickness from 3/8" or 8mm up to 9/16" or 14mm thick. The wood veneer can range in thickness depending on the manufacturer, as will the top wearing thickness. In order to create an engineered hardwood, these veneer layers are stacked one on top of the other with the grain of adjacent layers oriented perpendicular to one other. Once the desired thickness is achieved, the boards are then cut into the correct board width. From there, the boards are then manufactured to have a tongue or groove on the edges. The final step is to add stain if necessary, and add a finish. By doing this, the engineered hardwood becomes less susceptible to the effects of moisture and temperature change, because wood expands and contracts in the width of the grain direction. Therefore engineered hardwood is referred to as being dimensionally stable. Solid hardwood does not have dimensional stability because all of the grain runs in the same direction. Because of its dimensional stability, engineered hardwood can be glued directly to concrete above or below grade, as opposed to solid hardwood which cannot.



In my opinion Engineered is by far the best method. There is much less wood waste there by making the product more GREEN. Also just the ease of installation. The product can be glued directly to the floor, nailed, stapled, or even floated like a laminate floor. By the way, there is no difference in appraisal value for your home between sand and finish or engineered.






With the popularity of hand scrape and distressed wood if you purchase a engineered the warranty is at least 10 years but most start at 35 years on the wear. That doesn't mean your floor won't scratch or dent, it means the finish that protects your wood from staining will not wear off. My experience with sand and finish wear layer is that with normal traffic you will have to have your floor re finished about every 5-7 years. Every time you refinish you have to add the hand scraping or distressing. Now if you purchase a pre-finished engineered in a hand scrape or a distressed you have the same issue. when you re finish you lose the best parts you paid for.

Some of the manufactures I reccomend are Mannington, Anderson and Bruce(Armstrong). And of course R.C. Willey has a huge inventory

Carpet Styles-Residential

Most residential carpets will fall in to about 5 different styles. Now of course there are no absolutes so I will try to cover as many of the variables as I can think of.

Sculptures:

The multi color sculpture is still available, a little harder to find, but still a great style to choose for hiding stain and traffic. We have a really nice nylon style from Gulistan on our showroom floor in R.C. Willey Meridian, ID

Now ...... the newer updated versions of this type are called Loop Cut Loop (LCL). You can get vines, floral, basket weave, geometric, deco, and even palm fronds. It's crazy they have just about any pattern you can think of.



It is a cool style....I really love this type of carpet. The durability is awesome. In fact, I have this type of carpet in my own home.

FUN and FUNKY...................................... Some of my favorite LCL's are from Tuftex, Dixie Home and Masland.

Plush:

These have not changed much over the years. There are pretty much two kinds. Saxony and Plush(velvet).

Plush(velvet) has a really fine finish so all the fiber has a smaller denier yarn and no crimp to the yarn. That means the yarn is standing straight up. In the right area this is a very elegant style. Not for the kiddies though, because the fiber stands straight up it shows the light and dark sides of the fiber when you vacuum.

Denier:

a unit of fineness for yarn equal to the fineness of a yarn

The difference between the two styles is in a textured they give the yarn a crimp towards the top of the yarn. This allows for texture thus giving the carpet a better ability to hide traffic.

LOOP:

This style is commonly referred to as a berber, however a berber is a color reference. Loop can provide exceptional durability. There are drawbacks if you chose a full looped version.
When you have pets their claws can can grab and pull the loop. If this happens the beater bar on your vacuum can catch that yarn and run. Leaving a line in your carpet with no yarn. Like I said this can be a very durable style in the right circumstance.

Frieze:

This is about the most popular style right now. It gives a nice warm soft feeling, and a lot of texture to the floor.

You can find quite a bit of variation within this style due to the length of yarn and multiple deniers (or thickness) of yarn.

In this picture you can see the different yarn deniers.

When you pick a carpet style think about what best suits your circumstance. For example, if you have larger dogs, loop pile is probably not the best bet. However if you love that look consider a loop cut loop, you get a very similar look but the yarn is tufted(stitched) to where it won't run if snagged. If you want a carpet that hides the day to day traffic choose a frieze in what ever length you are comfortable. With this style the carpet will lay down when you walk on it, this is a good thing, walking on the sides of the fiber extends the life of that fiber. It is much harder for the yarn to untwist and wear.

The more conscious you are about your carpet style and the way it will perform, the happier you will be.

FYI: I don't think I will ever talk much about color. You the consumer will know more about what suits your home than I will. Just remember that carpet in general will install a shade lighter. Have fun; re-carpeting your home can be a great experience that can change the entire feel of where you spend a lot of time!

Carpet Fibers

Hello

With this blog I hope to answer all questions concerning floor covering.

I think for starters we should look at the various fibers used to create carpet.

Carpet can be made from many single or blended natural and synthetic fibers. Fibers are chosen for durability, appearance, ease of manufacture, and cost. The most important yarn constructions are:

Wool and wool blended with synthetic fibers:
Wool has excellent durability, can be dyed easily and is fairly abundant. Blended wool yarns are extensively used in production of modern carpet. Wool is relatively expensive, most wool is imported and the method of acquiring it is labor intensive. One recommended manufacture is Godfrey Hirst

Nylon:
This is the most popular synthetic fiber used in carpet production. Nylon can be dyed topically or dyed in a molten state (solution dying). Nylon can be printed easily and has excellent wear characteristics. As nylon is petroleum-based, it varies in price with the price of oil.

Polypropylene:
This polymer is used to produce carpet yarns because it is inexpensive, but it does not wear as well as wool or nylon. It is primarily used in outdoor(grass) or low pile commercial carpet.

Polyester:
Polyester, also known as "PET", is used in carpet manufacturing in both spun and filament constructions. After the price of raw materials for many types of carpet rose in the early 2000s, polyester became more competitive. Polyester has good physical properties and is inherently stain-resistant. Color is infused in a molten state (solution dyeing). Polyester has the disadvantage that it tends to crush or mat down easily. It is typically used in mid- to low-priced carpeting. It also soils faster than nylon or wool.

PTT:
PTT (Polytrimethylene terephthalate) polymer, also called Sorona or 3GT (Dupont). It is a variant of polyester and new to carpet production. At this point the durability in my mind is up in the air. But this is the softest fiber I have ever felt.

In my opinion the best all around carpet fiber is nylon. The durability is excellent, it is cleanable and you can still, even with the volatility of the petroleum market, find it in most price ranges.

Now for the most important tip I can give on the purchase off any new flooring.....find something you can love. Really, if you love your flooring you will be happy for years to come.