Have you seen the new high-gloss laminate floors?

I was handed a piece of flooring a while back and thought it was an absolutely beautiful plank of exotic wood. One thing escaped my notice as I was admiring the warm color and distinctive grain pattern.....it wasn't real hardwood. As I flipped it over to look at the backside, it didn't look like hardwood; it looked like laminate flooring. Was I impressed? You bet! This was one of the most realistic looking laminate floors that I have ever seen.

It was an Armstrong laminate from their Grand Illusions collection. The color I had was Cabreuva. And yes, I'm thinking of putting it my living room. There are other brands that now have it as well such as Lamipro in their Steinway collection. Quick Step is also coming out with a high-gloss laminate which will be called Illustra. That line should be out shortly and I have high expectations for it going by Quick Step's high reputation.

I'ts amazing what they can do with the appearance of laminates now. If you like a rustic look, they have managed to mimic a handscraped hardwood appearance as well. This style has been out for a few years now and keeps improving.

Anyway, for all of you high-gloss fans the scene of laminate flooring is looking quite nice. Do yourself a favor and check them out. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Pep talk

Sometimes it can be an intimidating thing for the average homeowner to consider installing his or her own flooring, but in reality, it's something that most people can consider doing. We routinely get letters from customers that have done their own work and are quite happy not only with the results, but also from the significant money savings. The way the economy is these days, folks are trying to save wherever they can and this is a good way to save a fair chunk of your hard-earned dollars.

My best advice is to take your time. Don't rush through the project, plan it out ahead of time so you know exactly what you are going to do and what tools you will need to have on hand when you are ready to start laying the floor. Most manufacturers make instructions available. Many have a video available either on a dvd or at least viewable on their website.

In the testimonial section of our website we have posted a few pictures that were sent to us by customers that did their own installation and I have to say they look great. You can take a look at them here: http://www.affordafloors.com/store/testimonials.php So, try not to be so intimidated. Relax and take a good look at it. If you need some advice, give me a ring on the phone and I'll do my best to help you with some good answers to your questions. You can reach me through the toll-free number at www.affordafloors.com

Another tip for DIY laminate installation

From time to time I have people come to me with a common problem: "why is my laminate starting to have peaks or high places?" This question pops up every once in a while, and most of the time it can be traced back to a unnoticed mistake when the flooring is being installed.

Laminate flooring requires a gap of around a quarter of an inch (depending on the brand of laminate and the size of the area it is installed in) to be left between the wall and the flooring itself. Herein lies the rub--laminates will expand and contract according to changes in the room temperature and climate. If there is no expansion gap allowed, then the floor will begin to buckle because there is no room for it to grow. "but I left a gap" you may say. Usually when this happens it is because of one tiny point that goes unnoticed. After the laminate is installed, normally trim is put down to cover the gap. Usually quarter-round or base molding. Sometimes the when the trim is nailed in place, one of the nails can angle downward to the floor, hitting the edge of the laminate. That one nail can effectively eliminate the gap on that side of the room because it will stop the laminate from expanding into the gap.

Sometimes the problem can be in other areas that "bind up" the edge of the laminate flooring, such as when you don't undercut far enough under a doorway and the laminate is hitting part of the wall structure, or perhaps not leaving any expansion gap under a transition trim that is installed in the middle of a doorway or up against a fireplace.

So one of the keys to a reliable installation is to make sure there is a 100% continuous gap all the way around the perimeter of the laminate floor. It's a small simple thing, but it can make a huge difference in a smooth trouble-free installation.

Revolutionary new floor - Part 2

In my last post I talked about a collection of vinyl tiles called Oasis from a company named Zaxxon. These tiles really do have some revolutionary features that I found to very interesting. Well, in part 2 I am going to talk about another vinyl tile from Zaxxon that, to me, is even more interesting. This collection is named Ionique.

So what makes Ionique vinyl tile so revolutionary? Here's the scoop: These tiles are uniquely engineered to help clean the air in the room in which they are installed. They use a technology similar to what many state-of-the-art air purifiers do, which is release negative ions into the air.

There are two ingredients taken from nature and used in this product that give it the ability to do it's part in keeping the air clean. One of these are ionizing volcanic minerals. These are mixed with a powdered form of a semi-precious gemstone called Tourmaline. Together they provide a rich source of negative ions into the air, and the more traffic it gets, the more negative ions are released.

So air pollutants such as germs, pollen, molds, odor particles, VOCs (such as Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, mp-Xylene, o-Xylene and formaldehyde) and other pollutants which are positively charged in their nature, are greatly reduced by the negatively charged ions that are released into the air by these tiles. The negatively charged particles neutralize the active state of the positively charged pollutants.

It's also nice to know that negative ions are quite safe. If you have ever been around a waterfall or splashing waves of water, you have been bathed in negative ions without even knowing it. It is something that is naturally occurring and contributes to better air quality.

Does it wear out? According to the company, it continues to do this throughout the life of the product, which should be a very long time. Applications for this product are many. Obviously it would be great in the home, but it's also used in business offices (to reduce "sick building syndrome") and medical clinics and offices.

Here are a few facts from the folks at Zaxxon:

• Up to 87% of bacteria eliminated in the first hour of exposure
• Up to 85% of E. Coli eliminated in the first hour of exposure
• Up to 17% Staphylococcus Aureas eliminated in first hour of exposure
• Up to 85% of common odors are diffused in first hour of exposure
• Up to 26% of Formaldehyde reduced in first hour
• Reduces up to 16% of Legionella in first hour of exposure

Sounds pretty amazing huh? Needless to say I was very intrigued when I was introduced to this product. I believe it is going to be quite a popular item with anyone that has allergies, chemical sensitivities or just plain interested in the quality of their indoor air. The nice thing is that you aren't sacrificing anything in the decor department. This is very nice looking stuff, and very well made.

Now I've got to go home and see where I can fit this in. Hmmm........the bedroom would be a nice place to start.

And of course, you can find it here: AffordaFloors.com

Revolutionary new floor - Part 1

Every once in a while I run across a product or company that really grabs my attention, and this is one of those times. I was introduced to a company named Zaxxon. They have a couple of unique flooring products that I will tell you about, but first a little about the company.

They are located in Asia, with factories based in China and Taiwan. Zaxxon has been making vinyl tile for nearly 40 years and shipping it around the world. One of the things I appreciate is that they make every effort to operate by green principles, and their products do not require any trees to be cut down. They do use recycled materials in the manufacture of their flooring. No ozone depleting chemicals are used and there is no acid waste generated by manufacturing. Their flooring has excellent indoor air quality, with little or no VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds) and will not promote microbial or fungal growth. And last but not least, throughout the manufacturing process, they strictly enforce environmental technologies that do not pollute the air, ground, or water.

I guess that's a nice start huh? Now for the product. I am going to talk about two products, one in this entry, and the other in my next entry which will be "Revolutionary new floor - Part 2". The first one is called Oasis. It is a luxury vinyl tile that is basically a peel-n-stick tile. (albeit a very high quality tile, not to be confused with those cheapies you get at the building supply or discount store) That's revolutionary? No, but the manner in which it works is high-tech.

To get the tiles to stick to the floor, they use something called LAYTAC™. This unique substance is like millions of microscopic suction cups that grab on the the floor underneath the tile and hold it tightly in place. There is no adhesive at all used in the installation of Oasis tiles.

The interesting thing is that these tiles are removable and can be re-installed. When you remove them, there is no residue of any kind left on the floor underneath. And even though the tiles are removable, they stay put unless you intentionally remove one. Even under heavy traffic, the floor stays solidly in place.

Like I mentioned earlier, these tiles are a very high quality. They look great and are available in a tile look and a wood plank look as well. And for my shameless plug: They are available at AffordaFloors.com.

Nifty new laminate repair tool

Quick Step recently came out with a tool that makes it much easier to replace a damaged laminate plank without having to completely disassemble your floor. Replacing a plank isn't so bad if it's close to the edge of the room, but if it's out in the middle of the floor it can be pretty time consuming. So Quick Step has an answer. They call it the Unifix tool. It's pretty simple in it's operation, but quite effective.


You can also check out a video to see it in action on Quick Step's website. So if you need to replace a plank that is out in the middle of your floor, it might be worth it's cost to save a lot of time and work.

And of course for a shameless plug, it's available here: AffordaFloors.com

An important detail for a professional look

I have seen some do-it-yourselfer floor installations that looked quite good except for one detail that kept it from looking like a professional job, and that is: they didn't undercut the doorways. If you are one of those folks who like to install it yourself and have it look like a pro did it, this is one detail you need to pay attention to.

Undercutting the doorway is simply using a saw to cut the bottom of the door jamb and trim so that there is a gap between the jamb/trim and the subfloor, allowing you to slide the laminate or hardwood flooring under the jamb and trim. The picture below shows an installation where the doorway was undercut so that the laminate could be slid underneath resulting in a professional looking installlation.

You can use a regular handsaw turned sideways to do this, or you can pick up an undercut saw from your local building supply. If you click on this link it will take you to Home Depot's website so you can see what one looks like: Home Depot Undercut Saw Most building supply places should have one, and maybe even a little cheaper.

When you are ready to undercut the doorway, use a piece of laminate along with a piece of the underlayment under the laminate piece as a spacer. Lay the those pieces up against the door jamb and lay the saw on top to cut at the right height.

If you are going to flow from one room into an adjoining room, you will want to undercut all the way around the jamb. If you are only doing one room, you will only undercut halfway through the doorway, as in the picture above.

Be sure to have patience and take your time. You don't want to rush through something like this. It's not as bad as it looks, and yes, a do-it-yourselfer can get the job done and have it look like a pro did it.