Archive for the ‘Stone Flooring’ Category

PostHeaderIcon Epoxy Flooring Is Great Do It Yourself Project



Epoxy flooring is a very durable flooring surface for many shops and garages. Epoxy flooring is very versatile and comes in a wide variety of colors too. The advantages are many when it comes to installing epoxy flooring in your garage or shop. Let’s look at some reason why you should choose this type of flooring product for your next garage or shop flooring project.

If you enjoy a clean looking garage floor then epoxy flooring is the answer for you. Epoxy is durable enough to resist many stains and still keep a nice looking floor. You can also repair your epoxy flooring if you get a chip or damage the floor in some way. Most epoxy flooring will come in a kit. You will need to get all the measurements and figure just a bit larger than you may need so you do not run short.

Some of the most popular colors for garage flooring are grey, taupe, charcoal, and beige. These colors give a very sharp clean surface look that goes well with most all garage d

PostHeaderIcon Ideas on How to Clean Your Natural Stone Flooring



Shining, shimmering floors, that would be an advantage of having a natural stone tiled floors. Its beauty and elegance adds value and integrity in every homes they touch. It is very easy to maintain and clean your natural stone floor whether your floor is made of marble, slate, or natural limestone following a basic cleaning routine is very important. The stone floor adds elegance and beauty to your home and will continue to do so for many years with the right care.

The key in maintaining natural stone tile is frequent light cleaning. However, there are occasions that require thorough cleaning only if necessary. Always protect your natural stone with the right cleaning products. Polishing them with wrong ones could harm the appearance of your stone floor.

Some floors need to be mopped very often and some are not also it depends upon the types of your stone floor and how heavy the traffic is on the floor. By doing so, you may need a dust mop, sweep the floor very often, everyday if possible. This will avoid dust or any unwanted particles to be deposited in your floor. Second is to clean your floor by washing it with wet string mop and a stone soap solution. However, you can also clean the floor just with water. The next thing to do is to dry the floor with a clean soft cloth. Sweep and damp-mop your floor regularly to prevent scratches from dirt and sand. This will also maintain your natural tile floor’s luster.

If the shine of your stone fades, the best thing to do is to re-polish them. However, if you have a budget, you can re-polished your stone floors once every two to three years, or have it re-polished professionally.

As a homeowner, one could preserve the appearance and cleanliness of your natural stone floor. The only thing you could do is to be aware of your floors. Wipe any spills immediately to avoid stains and discoloration and also repair any deep scratches in your floor, or have them repaired to experts as soon as you noticed them.

Always be reminded not to use any abrasive cleaning products. This could harm your natural stone tiles and might affect the luster of the stone floor.

PostHeaderIcon Basic Tips For Maintaining Stone Flooring



Whatever thing you posses, you must take good care of it. It could be your clothes, jewels, accessories, books or the parts of your house. When we are mentioning about taking care of house stuffs, first thing that crosses our mind is cleaning. Floor is one of the most essential parts of our house and it gets dirty very quickly as people keep coming in and going out by walking on the floor. Especially, if the floor is made up of stone, the dirt gets stuck very easily. Hence proper cleaning procedure is to be adopted to clean your stone made floor. If you live in Tampa, you will find several companies that offer diverse floor cleaning tools. It is not the fact that, such products are available in Tampa only; you can find them in almost any part of the globe. But, the market of Tampa floor cleaning and Tampa stone cleaning is quite opportunistic.

If your home flooring is done with natural stones, you have to take very good care of it. It takes quite a good investment to develop such flooring and without proper maintenance such investment will go in vein. You definitely won’t let that happen. With proper stone cleaning techniques, you can enjoy new like flooring for many years. Now, the question is how you can keep your stone floor in such a good condition? Here are some vital advises that will help you in proper maintenance of your floor.

Your main concern must be fighting dirt, sand and grit. These things do the maximum damage to the stone floors, especially if natural stones are used in the construction. These particles are rough and hence cause damage to the luster and sheen of the floor. The basic tip for keeping the dirt away is using dry dust broom and mop on a regular basis. Dust must be frequently mopped and a vacuum cleaner is a good solution in this regard. However, you have to be careful to use a good vacuum cleaner so that it leaves no scratch or mark after cleaning the floor. The reason why vacuum cleaners are handy because, these tools come with several attachments and such attachments can reach delicate corners where it is not possible to clean with mere hands and broom.

You can also put area rugs or walk off mats on the entrance of your home, where the maximum dust and dirt assembles. If you put such mats over your stone floor then the loose dirt will be prevented from reaching the stone floor. However, placing a mat does not end your responsibility; you have to clean the mat or rug regularly to keep dirt out of the stone surface.

Regular mopping not only cleans your stone floor, but also makes it look gorgeous. Use a good cleaner that is not rough on the stones to clean your floor. Regular cleaning, mopping or uses of mats are very common ways to maintain stone floors in a good condition. If you take care of these simple things, you will enjoy your stone floor for long years.

PostHeaderIcon Best Hardwood Floor Tips To Save You Money



Most consumers choose hardwood flooring for the feeling of warmth, beauty and comfort it can give a room. Because of today’s modern technology, many manufacturers are coming up with great new synthetic flooring that not only looks good, but is also durable and low-maintenance, a definite plus for those who are always on the go but want stylish floor coverings; however even though synthetic flooring is a great alternative, many people still crave the look and feel of all-natural floor coverings such as stone or wood.

There are many other reasons to go with hardwood floors, such as the value they add to your home, easy care and easy cleaning, great style and durability and they’re natural and safe for the environment. Although carpeting is an easy alternative to floor decorations, many home decorators are now setting a new trend with exotic hardwood flooring.

If you know a building contractor or hardwood floor contractor, they may be able to help you get a nice discount. In most cases, refinishing your floors will increase the value of your home, not to mention, adding style and beauty. Some of the most well known hardwood floor manufacturers include Bruce, Shaw, Mohawk, Mannington and Armstrong.

If you’re looking for great ideas get a copy of Hardwood Floors magazine; it’s sent to more than 24,000 hardwood flooring professionals throughout the world, including contractors, dealers, distributors, manufacturers, builders, architects and many other industry professionals. If you own an older home, if the floors are structurally sound, why not go ahead and refinish them and bring your old hardwood floors back to life. After all wood is wood, and what can be more ecologically clean than natural wood planks after very little chemical processing?

There is no need for cleaning chemicals, carpet shampooing, or replacement carpets whenever you have big spills. When you’re deciding on what type of flooring is the best for you and your home, the first step to making sure it’s really right for you is to list all the pros and cons. Many people are now installing hardwood floors in their kitchen and it can also be installed over concrete.

Today’s hardwood flooring has made advances in style, durability, maintenance and care, making it more widely usable throughout the home, except in the bathroom where its use is not recommended due to possible moisture problems. You may be able to get your flooring or prefinished planks through a hardwood floor lumber liquidator or supply; shop around for discounts and low cost flooring buys. The cost of hardwood flooring depends on what type you choose.

With tons of web pages online, you can easily check online for all types of hardwood flooring including: red oak, white oak, American cherry, Brazilian cherry, maple, red birch, ash, hickory, walnut and even bamboo. And many of the hardwood flooring retailers and manufacturers offer discounts if you have a lot of square footage. If you’re thinking about a do-it-yourself project, you can easily learn how to install flooring with a few of the proper tools like sanders, nailers or nail guns etc. which you can easily rent or borrow.

Summarizing, we can say that hardwood flooring provides the utmost warmth and beauty for your home. Most hardwood floors almost never need to be replaced and can add thousands of dollars to the value of any home.

Hardwood floors are the healthiest choice for interior living, especially if you live with children. If you’re looking for a great way to improve the look, durability and value of your home, they are definitely the way to go. They are one of the most important design elements in any home or business.

PostHeaderIcon Marble Flooring – An Elegant Choice



All natural stone floors exhibit different style and characteristics. However, all of them are beautiful and elegant in their own ways. Travertine is very common and offers minimalistic designs, limestone is the choice for property developers, slate is the choice for people who are looking for rustic look and distinctive colours. The list goes on with granite, quartz, basalt etc.

Marble is one of the most durable materials of all natural stone products. It can be used in commercial applications and high trafficked areas without any problems. As people are getting to know more about marble, it is worth mentioning below the most common marble floor tiles that are commercially available:

1) Crema Marfil Marble: The world renowned Spanish marble is commonly known as Crème Marble. Depending on the selection, Crema Marfil marble tiles can either have very limited veining or variation (which is very expensive) or have distinctive veining going through the tile (which is more cost effective). Property developers or DIY enthusiasts mainly prefer this marble as they are beautiful in colour and available in bigger sizes for large areas. Also they come in honed or glossy finishes.

2) Nero Marquina Marble: Originated from Italy, these marble tiles have black background colour with very stylish white veining within the tile. The source material is scarce and also very fragile which results in high consumer price. This is the choice of professionals and the ones with no budget constraints.

3) Carrara White Marble: Carrara is a city in Italy and this stone originates from Carrara region. Normally the tile has very pure white background colour with limited veining. One important rule in natural stone is that if the tile exhibits limited variation, the consumer price must be very high. Therefore, budget options of this stone are also available with blackish and greyish veining. Some designers use this product with Nero Marquina marble to create checkerboards.

4) Bluestone Marble: Originates from Turkey, this marble tile has dark blue colour with different shades. Also the edges are tumbled for a rustic look. It can be used with a white tumbled marble (mainly Carrara marble or similar) to create a checkerboard effect.

There are many other types of marble tiles available in the market. The important message here is that marble comes with different colour choices; black, white, brown, cream, blue, grey. Contrast colours give limitless ideas to design professionals. Even 10mm thick marble tiles are more durable compared to other types of natural or man made flooring. Therefore if you decide to choose marble flooring, we guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

PostHeaderIcon Commercial Floor Cleaning



Commercial floors will generally be exposed to more ‘traffic’ than floors in domestic environments, and the type of flooring will vary greatly depending on the type of business. Stone and slate have become increasingly popular choices in commercial environments due to a variety of factors:

-A wide variety of designs and colours which offer a certain touch of style and individuality

-Slip resistant surface, due to a slightly rough surface

-Durability, as a material – stone or slate scores very highly in terms of cost durability

Some types of flooring such as ceramic tiles offer the perception that they are simple to clean and maintain, but slate isn’t so simple. Slate can stain if not sealed correctly, and over time any sealer applied to the floor can wear off over time leaving the surface exposed.

It is generally recommended to try to maintain the floor and clean it as often as possible. Maintenance tips involve periodic, daily if possible, sweeping and any cleaning should be done with water only or a small amount of detergent. Care should be taken while moving heavy objects such as furniture.

It is recommended that a professional install the slate or stone flooring and apply the grout. If the floor and grout (the construction material used to seal joints and fill gaps) isn’t sealed, it will stain very easily as they are generally porous substances. Surface scratching and abrasions caused by furniture or walk in dirt and grit can give a place for bacteria to build up over time, and will only become visible after a certain period after which general cleaning methods will probably cease to function.

Grout can also be problematic as it is usually recessed at a slightly lower level than the tiles, so if there is a spillage it will invariably affect the grout first. Stained grout and tile is notoriously difficult to clean, and the uneven colouring that results can often leave an unsatisfactory finish compared to how it was originally. When the floor reaches this state it may be worth considering contacting a company which specializes in commercial floor cleaning.

Once a floor has been cleaned a good sealer is recommended to protect the floor, make it less permeable and aid cleaning efforts. Some types of sealer are wax based and are not usually recommended as they can affect the appearance and the slip resistant quality of the material. If a floor has not been treated for some time it may still be wise to be proactive and strip and re seal the floor before it becomes marked.