FLOORING
5 Things to Consider When Buying and Installing Bamboo Flooring.
Bamboo flooring accentuates the natural pattern and beauty of bamboo and is a favourite of interior designers and architects. It is extremely durable, moisture resistant, and can help prevent incursion of mould and insects.
1) Solid or floating
Bamboo flooring comes in two formats; solid bamboo, and floating floor, which is laid over an existing floor. Solid bamboo tends to be more expensive than the floated floor variety, which utilises a backing material for strength and stability.
2) Cost
Thicker bamboo floorboards are generally more expensive. Consider what style you would like to achieve: natural, stained, or a more glossy appearance. A strong, durable and attractive surface finish will add to the cost.
3) Colour
Natural bamboo is a great option, but it is light and is often not the first choice for many homeowners. Applying a stain/ colour to the bamboo, helps to accentuate its natural texture. You have the option of a light or dark stain.
The strand-woven bamboo has similar properties to timber flooring and is fabricated from strips of bamboo that have been assembled into a dense solid product under extreme pressure. It is harder than Jarrah and like solid timber, can be pre-finished. It is similar in appearance to Spotted Gum flooring.
4) Installation
Bamboo flooring is both hardy and stable and outperforms other types of natural flooring in terms of its stability and resistance to expansion and contraction. For this reason, it can be a popular DIY project. An experienced professional installer can help save you time as well as your knees, while also ensuring you only purchase as much flooring as you need.
5) Choosing a supplier
As well as choosing a reputable installer, also be sure to select a supplier who can provide a high quality bamboo product with a quality finish and consistent texture, drawn from well-managed, environmentally responsible sources.
A bamboo floor can be a great choice for both residential and commercial premises, and if appropriately installed and maintained can provide an attractive, durable floor surface which is likely to stay fashionable for many years to come.
CARPETS
Your carpet is a significant investment. It has been designed to add to the beauty, warmth and comfort of your home, and it has been carefully engineered to perform and stay beautiful for many years.
In order to get the most out of this investment and keep your carpet looking and performing at its best longer, it must be properly cared for according to manufacturer’s warranty requirements.
Proper care of your carpet will ensure that it continues to add to the aesthetics, comfort and sense of well-being in your home for many years. To ensure long-term appearance and performance of your carpet, planned preventative maintenance is important. Although the frequency of your maintenance schedule can vary from room to room based on the level of traffic, your planned preventative maintenance schedule must include:
- The use of walk-off mats in strategic areas such as entrance areas
- Regular vacuuming
- Prompt spot cleaning
- Interim care
What to look for when buying carpet
Here are some things worth considering when shopping for carpeting.
Cost
Consider your budget and long term plans. If you are installing the carpet in an investment home, have children or pets, carpet comfort and appearance might not be as important to you as durability.
Carpet prices vary according to style, texture, density and yarn and are usually quoted by the square metre or lineal metre. Specifications will generally be available on the carpet sample.
Colour
There are so many colours to choose from and many factors need to be considered. If you have children or pets in the house a darker colour can be a better choice as it will make minor soiling less noticeable. Lighter colours will make the area look bigger and lighter, whereas darker colours add warmth.
Material
Choice of material essentially comes down to a choice between wool, synthetic, or DuPont Sorona fibre. Nylon is extremely durable and resilient, whilst wool offers durability, comfort and is naturally resistant to soiling. The new Sorona polymer made from natural corn sugar, gives durability, unequalled softness and a lifetime stain protection guarantee.
Cut, twist or loop pile
Carpets are manufactured in a variety of styles; namely plush pile, twist pile,loop pile, textured and Berber finishes. Consult a professional as to which finish suits your needs.
Underlay
This is the spongy layer of material that is placed under carpet to give it extra softness and ability to absorb impact. Underlay also wears down over the years along with the carpet, which means that when it’s time to replace your old carpet, the underlay should be replaced too. A good dense underlay is important to prolong the life of your carpet.
Walk Off Mats
The use of walk-off mats in strategic areas such as entrances to the home is strongly encouraged since more than 80% of all soils in carpet come from tracked-on sources from outside the home. By using walk-off mats at the exterior of all entry ways, much of this soil can be trapped before it is tracked onto your carpet. Walk-off mats must be constructed so they will scrape soil off shoes. And they must be kept clean and dry in order to be effective. Otherwise, soil build-up on the mat will be picked up by foot traffic and deposited on your carpet. To prevent this, walk-off mats must be vacuumed daily, periodically cleaned or replaced as needed.
Vacuum Cleaning
When it comes to soiling, preventative maintenance starts with vacuuming and must begin long before any soiling becomes apparent. Routine vacuuming is the most important aspect of your preventative maintenance program. This is especially true since most soil is gritty in nature. These gritty soils can abrade your carpet’s face fibres, causing your carpet to become dull, lack lustre and matted in appearance. Remember – soiling is an everyday and cumulative process and because of this, regular vacuuming is absolutely essential. A good vacuum cleaner will prolong the appearance and performance of your carpet.
The following vacuuming schedule is recommended.
Light traffic: vacuum the traffic lanes twice weekly and other areas once a week.
Heavy traffic: vacuum the traffic lanes daily. Change the direction of the vacuum to help lift the carpet’s pile and reduce crushing and matting. More frequent vacuuming is required in entrances and other high traffic areas.
Carpet Solutions recommends the use of vacuums equipped with a rotating brush or beater bar and brush for use with most carpet to loosen deep embedded soils. Certain carpet constructions such as Frieze, Shag and Berber tend to be sensitive to brush agitation, which can cause the pile yarns of these carpets to burst and become fuzzy. Carpet Solutions recommends suction only vacuum models or vacuum models equipped with an adjustable brush and beater bar that can be placed where it will not come in contact with the carpet’s pile yarns. Vacuums should be adjusted to the correct height setting for these carpets. The easiest way to do this is to raise or lower the beater bar and brush until the contact is only enough to slightly agitate the fibres.
Spot Cleaning Carpets
Your Carpet Solutions carpet was made from the finest materials under strict standards for quality and workmanship. Although most carpets today are stain resistant, no carpet is entirely stain proof. To prevent stains on your carpet you must act quickly, following the proven stain cleaning guidelines. No other household cleaners or other ingredients should be used other than those recommend since they may contain chemicals that could damage your carpet. If you are uncertain as to what type of spot cleaner you should use, start by gently using volatile dry cleaning solvent or spot cleaners designed specifically to remove oil, grease and tar. Never apply these products directly to the spot you are trying to clean. Instead, apply these types of spot cleaning products to a clean, white absorbent towel and blot clean.
Avoid over-wetting. In general, foods and other solids should be gently scraped off your carpet, before spot cleaning, using a blunt object such as the edge of a spoon, or back of a knife, scraping from the outside of the spot towards the centre. Wet spills should be promptly and repeatedly blotted by pressing down on the spot using clean, dry white absorbent towels, working from the outer edge of the spot towards the centre. Remove as much moisture as possible.
Always be prepared to remove spots and spills immediately. The longer spots and spills sit, the more likely they can become a permanent stain. The use of non-approved spot cleaners will invalidate your carpet’s warranty.
Interim Care
Interim care includes the other steps that are recommended to help maintain the appearance of your carpet in between deep cleaning cycles. These steps include the use of floor protectors under the legs of heavy furniture to help distribute their weight and avoid indentations in your carpet. We also recommend that you move heavy furniture occasionally for this same reason.
Note: Interim care also includes keeping your carpet dry to avoid the potential for mould and mildew. Today there are many do-it-yourself extraction-cleaning models that are suitable for interim cleaning cycles. A listing of approved interim extraction cleaning makes and models obtained on request.
Always vacuum before extraction cleaning.
Carpet Solutions recommends at least two cleaning solution passes followed by at least three dry vacuum passes. Avoid over-wetting. One additional vacuum pass for every solution pass will help ensure the highest level of residue removal. Ambient heat and humidity conditions can extend your carpets drying time.
To avoid rapid re-soiling, avoid traffic on your carpet until it is dry. Interim cleaning equipment and cleaning cycles are not intended to replace the required professional cleanings by hot water extraction (steam cleaning) every 12 to 24 months to maintain your warranty rights.
Deep Restorative Cleaning Requirements
We recommend that you keep a close watch on your carpet’s maintenance needs and adjust your deep restorative cleaning requirements accordingly. Don’t wait to have your carpet professionally cleaned if it begins to appear soiled before the required cleaning cycle. When carpeting is maintained before it becomes unsightly, it is easier to clean. Hot water extraction, often referred to as “steam cleaning”, is the required method for deep, restorative cleaning of your Carpet Solutions carpet. This method of carpet cleaning relies on the use of a floor tool or wand that injects a solution of detergent and water through a series of jet applicators at a controlled pressure and temperature to loosen and suspend soils for immediate extraction by an attached vacuum.
Extensive studies have shown that hot water extraction, which can be performed using a truck mount unit or a portable unit, is the most effective method of carpet cleaning. It will not damage carpet texture, and it removes the highest amount of residues, often responsible for rapid re-soiling. Professional cleaning must be performed according to the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) Carpet Cleaning Standard S001 using carpet care products that have been tested and certified by the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Seal of Approval Program. Although ambient heat and humidity influence drying time, when properly cleaned in a well ventilated room carpet drying time can occur within 4-8 hours. A list of Carpet and Rug Institute’s Seal of Approval certified extractors can be obtained at request.
Note: If your carpet is protected by our CarpetShield topical stain and soil resistance treatment or other similar treatments, it will help your carpet resist many wet, dry and oil-based soils. Although these treatments typically withstand up to three deep cleaning cycles, re-application of similar approved topical stain and soil resistance treatments after each professional carpet cleaning will help keep your carpet looking newer longer and make it easier to clean.
Before You Go
Your Carpet Solutions carpet is made using the finest materials and the highest quality control standards, and is intended to last for many years. Like all floor covering materials, it will be subjected to significant amounts of traffic and exposed to many types of soils. It is up to you to make sure you have selected the right carpet for your needs. It is also up to you to see that your carpet is properly maintained. Routine preventative maintenance and periodic deep restorative cleaning allows you to remove and dispose of unwanted substance, restore and maintain your carpet’s colour brightness and fibre integrity, and control odours. When you choose the right carpet for your needs and see that it is properly maintained, your carpet will appear and perform at an optimum level for many years.