Are Rugs Safe For Wood Floors?

When choosing rugs for wood floors, they should be made of natural materials that absorb moisture. Plastic rugs should not be used on wood floors as they trap moisture under them especially during the hot months in the year. Rugs placed on the wood floors moved and laundered regularly to discourage the growth of mold and mildew.

If you have pets and children living in the house, close monitoring is essential to discover spills and accidents that can go undetected causing extensive damages on your wood floors.

High traffic areas in the house should have cotton rugs placed to collect the dust and grit brought into the home. These rugs laundered often to reduce the transfer of the dust into the home. Heavier rugs are preferable for wooden floors to avoid slippage that is common with lighter rugs. When vacuuming the floor. Move the rugs out of the way and clean underneath.

Some of the reasons why you should use rugs on the wood floors include:

• Protect your wood floor from the sun

The sun can bleach Wood, when the blinds are opened; the sun reacts with the exposed wood bleaching it. The extent of the bleaching will depend on the type of wood. Rugs made of natural material placed on the floor will protect it from the direct exposure.  Avoid rubber rugs that can sweat and collect moisture underneath.

• Protect from scratches

Rugs placed on the wood floor underneath furniture protect the wood floor from scratches that can result from moving furniture. Wood flooring north London recommends the use of pads under the feet of furniture.

• Pet friendly

When you have pets in the house with wooden floors, you have to trim their claws often to stop them scratching your floors. The rug will offer a comfortable resting place for them.  When they start scratching the rugs, you will remember to trim their claws.

• Absorb spills

When you have wood flooring, beverage spills can cause damage to your elegant floors especially after solid wood flooring installation is done. Reactive liquids on your wood floor can cause staining that will require replacement of the floor. A cotton rug will absorb the spill before it reaches the floor. Cleaning of the floor should be done as soon as a spill is noticed. Remove the rug and clean as necessary.

• Rugs are attractive

Attractive rugs make the room décor warm and inviting. The rugs can be chosen according to the color theme of the room. Since rugs are easy to remove, a touch up can be given to the room in a few minutes when expecting visitors. If you were too busy to clean the floor, the rugs will provide a covering on the floor until your guests leave.

• Ideal for the winter months

Rugs made of natural material will retain the heat in the room. This saves on energy since the heat from the air conditioning is not lost. Less energy used. Walking barefoot is relaxing especially for the modern woman who wears high heels in the market place. A silk rug placed on the living room wood floor near the fireplace will offer the luxury, and create a romantic mood for the love buds in the home.

Remember to replace old rugs that have hardened over the years to prevent them scratching your gorgeous wood floors. For more information visit http://www.indigofloors.co.uk.

Top Reasons Why Hardwood Flooring Is The Best

Hardwood Flooring

Oak wood flooring is just one type of hardwood flooring you can buy but it certainly is one of the most expensive as well seeing that it gives off a lovely finish and can last for many years. Looking after a hardwood floor isn't an expensive process either which is good to know when you may have spent a small fortune laying oak hardwood flooring in every room of the house.

If you can't afford oak there are cheaper alternatives which you can use that have a similar colour and grain but look just as impressive when it comes to hardwood flooring. If you plan to use hardwood flooring for your home you need to go and see for yourself what's on offer. Looking on the Internet under wood flooring Watford for example and having a look at the pictures on the websites that come up will give you some idea but it's best to take a look in person so you can touch and feel the wood that you plan to have beneath your feet.

Before applying your hardwood floor you may need to build a subfloor on which to lay it but this all depends on if you use solid hardwood or engineered boards instead. Engineered boards are pre-fabricated boards that don't necessarily need a wooden subfloor to nail to as these can be glue down instead. However, with solid hardwood you have no choice so depending on which type of hardwood flooring you choose you will have to take into account the extra preparation work and time needed.

Some of you may think that there is a lot of work involved with laying a hardwood floor and the cost may make your eyes water but in many instances it's worth it because the durability and long-lasting nature of solid hardwood will see you through having to replace carpets every so many years. Add to that the fact that all you need is a mop and bucket to clean the floor and you’ve got yourself a something that looks wonderful, add a natural feel to the room and is virtually maintenance free.

Hardwood flooring is also just like any other fashionable item and it's very much in vogue at the moment because of the many advantages that it possesses over other types of flooring. It also fits in very well with pretty much any decor a room has which is very handy when you don't fancy completely redecorating as well.

It can also make a tired looking room really brighten up especially when you use light woods for the floor.

Hardwood Floors - Best design for your floor

Now I did say that it lasts a long time as it's very durable but this doesn't mean that you can drag furniture across it anytime you like and stamp down with you're high heels because this will obviously create marks and scratches. It just requires a little common sense to avoid such blemishes so isn't a real problem. If you do happen to get some scratches then these are quite easily fixed with a little sanding and some more finish to coat and protect it.

The downside to solid hardwood flooring over engineered wood and laminate flooring is the fact that it can be damaged with water so it’s not ideally best suited for places such as the kitchen or the bathroom. These are high-risk areas for spillages and so you should avoid using solid hardwood such as oak and other types of high-end boards. Prefabricated boards on the other hand and flooring such as Parquet hardwood flooring is designed to be a lot more resistant to not only water but the heating and cold as well.

Rugs provide a good cover on lots of hardwood floors and can further add to the warm feel of the room so if you are concerned about scrapes and scratches then just add a few of these in selected areas.

Your hardwood flooring north London adviser can help you decide on what the best option is for the type of hardwood flooring you need for your home, It's also important to choose a supplier who is located in the area as this will save you time and petrol money when going to get your supplies. They can also advise you better based on the type of climate that you're in. This is in stark contrast to speaking to somebody over the Internet who lives in a different area or even a different country because they won’t be fully aware of what the temperatures are like which can have an effect on the wood. To get some advice visit indigofloors.co.uk.

So this hopefully will have given you some insight into the benefits of having a hardwood floor along with a couple of the weak points. Rest assured, very few people are disappointed with the end results so hardwood flooring is definitely worth your consideration the next time you're planning on some kind of home improvement.

All About Engineered Hardwood Flooring

A day may come when you would like to install hardwood flooring in your home and as such you have a couple of options at your disposal. You can either opt for real solid hardwood flooring or you could go for the engineered hardwood flooring instead. Now real solid hardwood flooring looks great but it's not without its shortcomings because it is very susceptible to humid and damp weather as the wood tends to swell which can then lead to warping of the floor boards.

So it's not exactly the best type of flooring to use in a lot of places even though you might be tempted to use it anyway. In the old days if you wanted to have a hardwood floor this was one of the risks that you have had to have taken unless you lived in a very temperate climate but time has moved on since then and with it so has the hardwood flooring industry.

Now you can get what is called engineered hardwood flooring which is basically indistinguishable from a real solid hardwood floor once down. It's made from a combination of fibreboard or plywood with a top layer of real hardwood and its designed this way to avoid the problems that you get with a real hardwood floor.

The most obvious advantage to this type of hardwood flooring is that it can be put in just about any climate as the bottom layer readily absorbs the moisture in the air allowing the wood to expand but without fear of warping. Excessive heat with solid wooden floors can be just as damaging because the wood dries out causing that horrible situation with warping again but engineered hardwood also counteracts this problem due to the way that it is designed and treated. So this opens up a wide range of areas that engineered hardwood flooring can be used where solid hardwood flooring can't such as in the basement for example.

Another advantage to having engineered hardwood flooring is that you can either glue or nail the floor boards down unlike real hardwood where you really have no option but to use nails. If you take a look at what goes into laying real hardwood flooring as opposed to engineered hardwood flooring you will see that you need a subfloor in which to nail the boards to whereas with engineered hardwood boards, because you can glue them down you don't actually need to take this extra step. As long as the floor is clean and level you can go ahead and lay engineered hardwood floor boards down without too much of a problem. This is especially useful when the surface you're working on is made from something like concrete as it saves a lot of time. By all means you can still nail an engineered hardwood floor in if you like but you will need to put in the subfloor first so it's up to you.

One point to bear in mind is that if you do decide to glue down the floor boards this is more of a permanent option although it is reversible if needed. It's just not as easy to undo as the nail down method. You might wonder why you would want to take the boards up anyway but sometimes floor boards need to be repaired or if you decide to move home you might want to take the hardwood flooring with you. In this instance that is where going to the extra effort with the subfloor and nails has its advantages.

If you're unsure which way to go you would be well advised to contact an expert on hardwood flooring, in Hertfordshire or wherever it is that you live and ask them what would be best.

Now the third advantage to having engineered hardwood flooring is that it's actually a lot cheaper in most cases compared to the solid hardwood alternative which can be extremely expensive when you pick a wood like oak. So for those that are on a budget choosing engineered hardwood flooring really is a no-brainer because you'll save a lot of money.

Engineered hardwood floor boards tend to be pre treated as well so this again cuts down on time as you won't have to finish the boards yourself unlike many solid wooden boards you can buy so that is yet another advantage in using engineered hardwood flooring over the solid hardwood alternative.

There are different types of engineered hardwood finishes and some are more sturdy than others so it's a good idea to bear in mind how much the hardwood floor is likely to be used and get some advice on which type of wood would be best for the top layer.

Finding engineered hardwood flooring suppliers is quite an easy job these days as you can just go online and type in hardwood flooring Hertfordshire for instance and you'll get a number to choose from for that area. You may as well find a supplier as close to you as possible as you may get a discount for picking the hardwood up yourself.

Make sure you order a little extra as well as it's always better to have to much rather than too little. It can be quite annoying if you start laying the floor only to realize that you're not going to have enough wood to finish the job. Also check the wood when you get it to make sure there aren't any defects. It's less likely with engineered hardwood but you never know.

Lots of suppliers also sell other things such as the tools necessary to lay the floor so it's a good idea to make a list of any tools you may be short of before you set off. Doing it this way you will be fully prepared before you start with all the right tools and materials. You can get helpful ideas about engineered hardwood flooring from IndigoFloors.

So as you can see there are plenty of advantages to using engineered hardwood flooring over solid hardwood but it's surprizing how many people don't choose it even though solid wood has several disadvantages. The fact is that a lot of people either don't know about engineered hardwood flooring or they are ill-informed which is a shame because it has proven to be one of the better inventions of the 20th century.

Taking care of your hardwood floor

Wooden floors unlike other materials provide a warm feel to a room that is hard to beat due to the fact that wood is an organic material that is probably the most natural substance used in any type of building work. The downside to using wood though is that it isn't very resilliant unlike other materials such as concrete, stone and metal and is a victim of wear and tear incuding decay. However, this is easily remedied if you take good care of it. In fact a properly treated hardwood floor, whether it is a pre-finished Ted Todd floor or a floor you've treated yourself, can last up to twenty years and more with the right care. For more information on everything flooring go to www.indigofloors.co.uk.

A well cared for hardwood floor which lasts for years and years can also prove to be a very astute investment for it isn't cheap, even if you've taken up the job of laying the floor yourself. Seeing as you are reading this page I can only assume that you already possess a hardwood floor and wish to know how best to keep it in tip top condition which I will explain shortly.

It doesn't matter whether you've bought pure untreated hardwood, Ted Todd prefinished hardwood or if you've bought old hardwood from a builder who has removed it from a previous house, the maintenance still applies.

The Main Elements That Damage A Hardwood Floor

Sunlight

A major element which damages wood is sunlight believe it or not. The UV rays penetrate the wood and will at the very least fade the coloring so if a lot of sunlight comes in through several windows or one large window it's best to use a suitable window covering. As they say, prevention is often the best cure. Sheer curtains are a popular choice but perhaps a better one is to use blinds as you can keep blinds open but angle the sunlight away from the floor. You could also use shutters for the same purpose depending on what your preference is.

Furniture

Furniture is a major cause of floor damage whether it is stationary or not. If furniture remains in the same spot without the legs being cushioned at the base expect to have dents in the floor due to the weight. You can avoid this by simply placing felt contacts underneath each leg thereby stopping the furniture from having contact with the floor. All the weight is absorbed into the felt and the hardwood floor remains without marks if and when you decide to move the furniture around or move out of the house altogether.

Speaking of moving furniture this is probably one of the most common causes of scratch marks due to the fact the people are lazy and will often drag the furniture across the floor instead of lifting it up properly. Sometimes there is no choice as the furniture is too heavy to lift for one person but it's a prudent idea to wait instead and call on a friend or neighbor to help you so no damage is done. The other alternative is to use a dolly which you can lift the furniture onto and then slide it where you want.

By taking these two simple tips onboard you'll save your hardwood floor from much of the damage seen on other wooden floors and will have no scratch marks, dents and a worn out faded look due to the sun. Think of how much time this will save in the long run if you just use some common sense and don't rush things. I assure you that repairing a damaged floor is a lot more time consuming and in some cases costly if you don't treat your Tedd Todd harwood floor right or any other wooden floor for that matter.

Accidental Spills

Unlike vinyl or tiled floors any spillages can have damaging effects on a hardwood floor. Even plain water can be a problem when it gets into the wood and this is why the wood is coated and finished to help prevent any damage caused by liquids and other causes. So if the floor has just been laid with brand new treated and finished boards you don't really have too much to worry about. You should still clean up anything spilt on the floor as sonn as possible but it won't usually cause any damage.

However, if the floor has been down for some time and hasn't been coated with anything for a while then there is a chance that the finish has worn away somewhat allowing liquid to penetrate the wood. If this happens you'll end up with a bad stain which will need to be taken care of which, you guessed it, will require time and patience to remove. In worse cases you may end up having to remove the damaged board altogether and replace it with another.

Keeping Everything Tidy

It goes without saying that a floor should be kept clean as much as possible and non more so than a hardwood floor as it will attract dust if left which at the very least will be unsightly. So you need to regularly sweep the floor with a brush with fine bristles. Don't go for one which is too soft mind as you need a broom that attracts as much dust as possible. You can buy brooms, cloths and other cleaning material which are specially for hardwood floor cleaning. Just do some research on the internet or speak to a hardwood floor supplier. If your floor has branded prefinished wood such as Ted Todd speak with your supplier who should be able to help you also.

In Summary

Your hardwood floor if treated right in the sense that you take care of it properly should last an awful long time and it's worth doing because a well kept wooden floor really looks great in most any room. I once laid a hardwood floor in the master bedroom and it still looks as good as it did when I first put it in. The best thing about taking care of your floor though is the fact that you don't need to break your back doing any extra work mending scratches or removing stains. It also makes a hardwood floor a very cost effective option and one I'm glad I chose as my bedroom floor is going to be one that lasts indefinately.