Carpet

Four Ways To Keep Your New Floor Looking Great

If you have just had a new floor covering installed in one of the rooms in your home you’ll understandably want to take great care of it to avoid any mishaps. And whilst it might not last forever there are a few things you can do to avoid damage over the first few months of its life.

Remove shoes

Many people don’t remove their shoes when they enter the home. This is despite them walking over a multitude of unclean surfaces throughout the day. The primary way carpets and other floor coverings are damaged is due to the debris which is brought indoors on the soles of your shoes. And the easiest way to stop this spreading throughout the home is to remove your shoes and put on slippers or ‘indoor shoes’ when you enter the home.

Entrance matting

If you have good quality entrance mating at all entry and exit points of the home all the members of the family can wipe their feet before they come into the house. Many people choose to install a permanent entrance mat such as coir mating and fit this into the space between the door and the start of the floor covering. But washable entrance mats can also work equally as well with turtle mats working especially well at removing dirt, dust and debris from the soles of shoes.

Vacuum regularly

It doesn’t matter if you have carpet, wooden floor or vinyl flooring the floor surface should be swept or vacuumed regularly to remove debris from its surface. Any debris on the floor’s surface can cause damage to its structure. If you have a carpet, dirt can find its way deep within the carpet’s pile and cause dirty marks or stains which can be difficult to remove. If you have vinyl flooring, grit and small stones can be compressed into the vinyl surface creating a mottled effect. And if you have wooden flooring the grit or debris from shoes can cause scratches on the surface which will tarnish the floor’s look.

Mop hard floors and get carpets cleaned

If you have a hard floor surface such as tiles or vinyl it will need to be mopped on a regular basis to remove dirt, dust and stains from its surface. Leaving debris or stains on any floor surface will only cause damage to the floor and spoil its look. Likewise if you have a carpet it can be a good idea to get it cleaned on a regular basis by a professional cleaning company to keep it looking like new.

Jane Day is a mother of four and knows how difficult it can be to keep on top of the cleaning. She used www.flooring.uk.com when she needed to install entrance matting.

5 Ways To Improve A Room On A Budget

Filed Under: Design

If you’re happier when you’re out of the house than when you’re in it, then don’t despair. Brightening up your home can be fun – and if you have a small budget, remember that making some small changes needn’t cost much at all. You may not be able to completely redecorate and invest in new furniture, but a little creativity and imagination can go a long way to improving any room.

Read on to find out how.

Clear that Clutter

Before you get started, have a good look around at what can be updated and what needs to be thrown away. Surveying a room with a critical eye will reveal what you are fed up with, and what can be made new again.

Update your Sofa

As one of the main features of a sitting room, a tired and worn out sofa can let the room down badly; even more so than a man lying around watching football. A really simple way to solve this is by updating it with a throw. If you want something more permanent, you might want to consider reupholstering it, or investing in new covers. This is far cheaper than buying a new one – and if you’re good at sewing you might even be able to make the covers yourself.

Decoration

A lick of paint can make a world of difference. If you have low ceilings, paint them a light colour in contrast to the walls to add height, or vice versa to make the room appear more intimate. You could also wallpaper a single wall which will interest and focus.

Accessorise

There are so many beautiful objects to be found that will make a room sing. Scour second hand shops and online auctions for things that will brighten up your home. An artfully placed beautiful vase of flowers on a table, a pretty rug, jolly cushions, a painting or a pouffe, will enhance your room and give it character. Don’t be afraid of choosing what you like, just make sure that what you buy complements the theme of your room.

Lighting

Clever lighting is essential for creating mood and atmosphere at night, while during the day, the addition of mirrors will increase natural light if placed opposite a window. Lighting can really spark your imagination – design beautiful lampshades by sewing beads onto plain ones, or create table lamps using upturned vases. Ideally, a soft glow using various types of lighting is far easier on the eye than a central ceiling light.

Flooring

Design magazines will tell you that a neutral carpet in a light colour will make the most of your space. But they have obviously never lived with children and pets. Instead, invest in rugs to cover over a boring carpet. A textured pattern won’t give away the fact that you haven’t vacuumed, and a vibrant colour will instantly uplift a room and add an immediate focus. If you are lucky enough to have old floorboards, these can be far more practical and beautiful than any carpet. And if they’re not in a good state, painting them will cover any flaws.

Rob Rudd is a professional journalist who dabbles in DIY in his spare time.

Installing Vinyl Over Vinyl Sheets

Filed Under: DIY Installation

Vinyl tiles are an easy and affordable way of giving a room a totally new look. They are easier to install than vinyl sheets, and if you are not very experienced at DIY they are definitely the best option. But if you already have a vinyl floor, a common concern is whether installing vinyl over vinyl sheets is possible. In most cases, installing over sheet vinyl is possible, but you will need to prepare the floor correctly.

Is The Old Floor Lifting Up?

First of all you will need to check out the conservation status of your existing vinyl flooring. The most important thing to look at is whether it’s perfectly bonded to the subfloor. Old vinyl flooring in need of maintenance often shows signs of lifting from the subfloor, and will need some vinyl flooring repair in order to install vinyl tiles on top. Use vinyl flooring glue and wait a few days to see if the old vinyl flooring lifts again. If it does, removing vinyl floor with a knife may be easier than installing over vinyl flooring that is in such bad shape.

Are There Marks Or Deep Scratches?

If the existing vinyl flooring has cuts, holes or deep scratches, those imperfections will make installing vinyl over vinyl difficult and will need to be fixed before continuing. If there is a lot of damage you may be better off removing the old floor and preparing the subfloor for laying vinyl floor directly on top of it. If the imperfections are minor, you can fix them using a self-levelling embossing solution to fill the holes, and make sure the entire floor is perfectly flat.

Installing Vinyl Tile Over Existing Vinyl Floor

In order to install your new vinyl luxury tile you will need the floor to be perfectly clean and flat. Start with using a good floor cleaning liquid, but avoid those that have wax or give a glossy finish. Use a clean mop, and change the water as soon as it gets dirty. You need a really spotless surface for the self adhesive vinyl tiles to stick properly. Dry the floor using towels, and make sure there is no soap residue at all. Leave the floor to dry (and make sure you don’t step on it with dirty feet) and apply a coat of vinyl primer on the vinyl sheeting to improve the adhesive effects. Once the primer is dry it’s time to lay your new vinyl flooring on top of the old one.

If you are using vinyl tile squares it’s better to start in the middle of the room and move outwards towards the walls, so if you need to cut any tile it’s only one that is close to the wall. Be careful when cutting vinyl flooring over existing vinyl, as you could make a hole that would need to be fixed before you can install the tiles. Depending on the size of the room, this work can take less than a day. Just make sure you are very careful and align each tile perfectly with the ones next to it so the effect is of a professional vinyl tile installation over your old vinyl sheet flooring.

How Do You Remove Vinyl Flooring

Filed Under: DIY Installation

All the good things come to an end, and vinyl flooring is not an exception. Whether you are tired of your existing vinyl design, want to install a new one or opt for a totally different flooring material, learning about removing vinyl floor is almost as important as learning how to install vinyl flooring tiles. Thankfully, it is a very simple procedure that can be done by anybody, and all you will need is a utility knife and lots of patience.

Removing Vinyl Floor With a Knife

The first thing you’ll need to do if you are removing vinyl tiles or sheets with a knife is to cut them into strips using the knife. In order for the strips to be easy to handle it is best to make them about 10 to 12cm wide. Insert the knife into the incision and slowly cut the adhesive below so the vinyl sheet separates from the floor. Peel the strip as you do so, and repeat until all the vinyl is out of the way. This is a messy and quite slow process, so a little trade secret that may help is removing vinyl flooring using dry ice.

How do I Remove Vinyl Flooring Using Dry Ice?

First of all, remember to always wear gloves if you are handling dry ice, as otherwise your hands will easily get frostbitten. Dry ice is a very cold substance, the solid form of carbon dioxide, so you will also need to be on a well-ventilated area and be careful not to inhale too much fumes, though it is generally not very toxic.

To remove vinyl flooring using dry ice, just cut the ice into cubes about 30cm big and place them on top of the vinyl. The dry ice will evaporate and cool off the vinyl, making it brittle and easy to break after a few minutes. The broken pieces of vinyl can be swept away easily. If you are working on a large surface, such as vinyl commercial flooring, this method is much more cost effective in terms of time.

Preparing The Floor After Removing Vinyl Floor

It doesn’t matter which method you used to remove vinyl flooring, there will be traces of vinyl and adhesive for vinyl tile on the floor which needs to be removed. This is a process that requires first the use of a scrapper and can be quite a bit of hard work but it is necessary if you plan on installing any other type of flooring as the surfaces need to be flat and clean. To make scrapping easier, you may want to use boiling water to soften the adhesive up but use towels to contain it and don’t try this if you are trying to remove vinyl adhesive from porous substances such as wood.

Some stubborn spots may be resistant to manual scrapping, in which case you will need to use a chemical stripper to soften the adhesive up. However, make sure to follow the instructions from the manufacturer, wear protective equipment to avoid breathing in the fumes and keep the area well ventilated.