Flooring Tips, Advice & News

Laminate flooring: an overviewWhen laminate flooring was first introduced it was initially very popular due to its hard wearing nature However in order to increase profits, some manufacturers began to make it from poorer quality materials to make it fit a price point which caused it to fall from favour So what’s changed? Well these days laminate flooring has undergone a transformation that could have it described as an almost entirely different product It looks far more realistic, it’s hard wearing, compatible with under floor heating and, vitally, it’s easy to maintain Why should you choose it?One of the big perks with laminate flooring and the reason that it is so popular is that it is long lasting

Wood flooring: an overviewNatural, warming and organic are all words that spring to mind when thinking of wooden flooring It’s a popular choice for homeowners due to its unique style, its organic nature and the fact that it fits in with almost any decor If you’ve settled for wooden flooring then here are some key terms that can help you to understand more about what you’re buying Adhesive is the glue used to keep floor boards together Some adhesives are only applied to the tongue and groove i

We have already considered what type of flooring is best for upstairs rooms such as the bedrooms, landing and stairs, and have also considered the best type of flooring for rooms where the floor is likely to get wet, such as the kitchen or the bathroom This post will now consider the remaining “high traffic” rooms, which are rooms which have floors that are walked on quite frequently These are the lounge, dining room, hallway and conservatory The good news when it comes to choosing flooring for these rooms is that there is really very little that can’t go in any of them, so a large part of the decision is going to come down to personal taste, and the look and feel that you are trying to achieve for your room or for your house as a whole The following are your five key options: CarpetCarpet is the option for you if you want to walk or sit around in your lounge, dining room, conservatory or hallways in bare feet, because it is soft, warm and comfortable

When it comes to choosing what type of flooring you want for the upstairs of the house, you can separate the rooms into two categories: wet rooms (such as bathrooms) and then the rest This article looks at the rest: bedrooms, the landing, stairs, and any other rooms you may have upstairs To read about what type of flooring to include in wet areas, please click here Carpet – the popular choiceIt is quite normal for people to put the same type of flooring throughout the upstairs of the house, usually carpet But why is carpet such a popular choice for the upstairs rooms of the house? Because more often than not you will be walking around barefoot upstairs, whether that is last thing at night when going to the bathroom to brush your teeth, first thing in the morning when heading to the shower, or walking to your child’s room in the middle of the night when they’ve had a bad dream

One question that we are frequently asked is what type of flooring is suitable for certain rooms in the house Quite often this is regarding rooms in the house that are likely to get wet The key rooms that fall into this category are the bathroom and the kitchen Out of the five main types of flooring – carpet, wood, vinyl, laminate and Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVTs), wood is the most unsuitable choice for a wet area We would advise against putting it in a kitchen, and would categorically refuse to put it in a bathroom

Before you go to look at buying carpet or flooring for your home, there are a few key questions that you need to ask yourself These include: · How often are you going to walk on the floor? · Who is going to be walking on it? · How many people are in the house? · Have you got pets, particularly large ones such as dogs? · Have you got young children? · Do you and your visitors take your shoes off at the front door or leave them on? · Is your floor likely to get muddy? However, it is important not to let the answers to these questions limit your thinking! You just need to be aware of the issues so that you can think about the solutions There are ways around the issues! So, you can still have three kids, four dogs and a carpet in your lounge, as some carpet fibres are manufactured to shrug off staining Or you can choose a mottled blend - dark coloured carpets show bits, light coloured carpets show soiling, so if you choose a darker coloured carpet to hide the soiling, and then hide the bits with a two tone effect you can get away with it The bits will still be there – you just won’t see them