Hand scraped wood floors are created by using a scraping tool to manually dig through the wood to create unique indentations and scratches. This gives the floor an aged, rustic character that sits well with various interior designs. Given its characteristic imperfections, how exactly do you clean a hand scraped wood floor?
The most common approach is to use commercial wood cleaning products or laminate finishes. But if you want to save money, you can make use of regular household ingredients. Here’s how.
The Solution
To create the cleaning solution, mix equal parts of water and vinegar in a big container (i.e. a bucket or big basin). This solution can safely clean and disinfect your floor, without damaging your finish. If you’re trying to clean unfinished hand scraped wood flooring, then you will have to replace the water with vegetable oil. The oil should replenish the wood.
The Steps
First, you need to get rid of loose dust and dirt. Using a soft broom with fine bristles, sweep the floor. You can use a vacuum cleaner to thoroughly get rid of the dirt.
Get a clean rag and dip it in your vinegar solution. Wring out any excess water or oil and start wiping the surface of your floor by hand. Use small circular motions. Take your time and thoroughly work on a 3-foot area at a time. After applying the solution, use a dry, clean cloth to wipe the surface dry.
That was easy, wasn’t it? Whether you’re trying to work with hand scraped engineered wood floors or the regular ones, this is a cost-effective cleaning and maintenance technique. Vinegar is a classic disinfectant, scientifically proven effective against dirt and germs. Not to mention it’s cheaper than your average commercial cleaner. Just try this method and see for yourself.

Teak wood is one of the hardest woods produced by nature. This is why Brazilian teak flooring holds a reputation as one of the more extremely durable wood plank flooring available on the market. Also known as Cumaru or Southern Chestnut, this wood has an exotic grain and will make your floor as the centerpiece of the room.

Brazilian teak flooring is made from select grade of hardwoods. Wood plank flooring made with Brazilian teak has been known to last for decades and helped with the appreciation in a property’s values as time went by.

Brazilian teak is ideal to use in homes to give it that exotic enchanting elegance yet withstand normal day to day foot traffic and furniture.

Wood plank flooring manufacturers like working with Brazilian teak because the wood is easy to work with.

Manufacturers can churn up Brazilian teak flooring with a variety of designs from planks that can be installed by a single person or industry grade planks that are used for big rooms like dance studios and conference rooms. The wood also has a variety of colors that range from gold to reddish brown making it easy to find a particular design that would fit with any room’s current decor.

Due to its relative durability, Brazilian Teak flooring is a breeze to maintain.

As long as you keep the floor free and clean of dirt and grit – which can act as abrasives to the floor, clean up spills immediately to prevent staining, and that moving furniture on the wood plank flooring is done in a lifting manner instead of dragged across – your floor will last for a long time, giving your room a stunning look that will enchant all your visitors.

Some of them might even admire your floor so much that they refuse to step on it for fear that they might damage it.

When it comes to renovations in your home, you want to make sure everything is done as well as possible. The same rule applies if you are installing tile. You can absolutely take this on as a DIY task, and installing tile is actually not that hard if you will prepare some before you start.

One of the biggest hurdles is finding the right tiles to use. With the various brands, styles and colors to choose from – it can often seem a huge challenge just deciding which tile to use.

By learning more about the top 5 manufacturers of tile, you will feel more comfortable going ahead and making a decision. You can figure out who offers the best kitchen floor tiles or ceramic kitchen tile, and where you are going to get the best deal.

5 Quality Places to Buy Tile Flooring

Armstrong Tiles - A Wide Selection of Premium Tiles

One of the best tile manufacturers you can buy from is Armstrong. This is a company that has been around for years and over that time has worked hard to gain such a good reputation. Some of the largest corporations in the world rely on Armstrong for their renovations. They offer a wide variety of patterns and styles, and always stay up-to-date on the latest tile designs.

Dal-Tile - Makers of Quality Ceramic Tile

There is also Dal-Tile, another top name in the tile industry. They are located in Chicago and offer high quality ceramic and other tile for homes and businesses all around the world.

Gambarelli - Durable and Beautiful Glass Tiles

Then there is Gambarelli. They offer top quality glass tile that can withstand all the wear and tear. You know you are making a good investment when you buy Gambarelli tiles because they will last, even in high traffic areas.

Mohawk Tiles – Quality Flooring at Affordable Prices

Mohawk tiles are also quite well known. They sell tile to homes and businesses all around the world and at the most affordable price. You never have to break the bank when you go through Mohawk for your tile renovation projects.

Robbins – One of The Largest Selections of Flooring Available

Robbins is another top competitor. They offer hardwood flooring, ceramic and glass tile and more. They always have the largest selection to choose from so you can always find the tile for your needs.

These are definitely the top picks for manufactures of glass kitchen tile, ceramic tile and other types. It is up to you to decide where you want to buy from.

Area rugs remain a mainstay in homes the world over. Beautiful and refined – they offer design inspiration lifting room appeal to new heights. For over 80 years, Karastan has been a byword in the interior decoration industry, starting from its beginnings in 1928 at a North Carolina mill.  While they may be a bit on the pricey side, a Karastan carpet or Karastan area rug is always a good investment.

Let’s take a look at good places where to find these high-end and good-looking carpets.

Where to Find Karastan Rugs

Karastan itself has a very detailed website and this is often the best place to look, as its entire collection is available to view, with complete information on color, design and price.  There are even some useful tips on how to choose the right Karastan carpet, and the Inspired Luxury Program allows customers to create their own Karastan area rug, choosing from up to fifteen styles and one hundred colors.  Its full features and user friendliness make the Karastan website a good starting point for the would-be buyer.

Your local department store is also a good place to look, as retailers normally allow customers to get an up-close look at the rugs and carpets of their choice, allowing them to feel the texture and easily switch between options before making the actual purchase.

However, not all department stores stock Karastan, and if available, not all designs may be available due to limited storage space.

Choosing Your Area Rug Online or With a Rug Store

Going back online, there are a lot of third-party websites that offer Karastan products for sale, and they are often sold at lower prices.  But this may not always be a prudent option, as some rugs may not be in the best of condition.  Same would apply to smaller, independent stores.

Looking back on these four options, there are many ways for you to get the Karastan area rug or Karastan carpet of your choice.   If one method doesn’t work, feel free to try the other.

Once you purchase these high quality products, it’s sure to make a nice addition to your living room or den, not to mention a sound purchase despite the cost.

Today, installing hardwood floors can be accomplished using various methods. It can be done using the conventional nailing technique, or through the use of pneumatic staplers and other types of wood floor fasteners. Hardwood floors have been a popular option among meticulous homeowners due to their longevity, reliability, versatility, and adaptability.

Unlike other flooring materials, hardwood floor boards are considered as the most resilient flooring type in the market.

Refinishing a Hardwood Floor

The great thing about hardwood floors is the fact that they can be refinished several times to make them look brand new again. Instead of buying new wood floors, you can just opt to refinish the old one to get bigger savings. When installed and cared for properly, these floors can definitely last a lifetime. Moreover, they are capable of withstanding everyday wear and tear as well as constant abuse.

Despite the fact that hardwood floors can offer humongous benefits, installing them can be a challenge. That is why, expertise of a professional is often required to ensure that the wood boards or planks will be properly installed on the floor.

Types of Hardwood Flooring

Before you go into the specifics of the actual hardwood floor installation, it is critical that you first select the type of wood floor that you want to integrate in your home. Generally, hardwood floors are available in three basic types, which include the following:

• Parquet Hardwood flooring – This wood flooring typically comes in standard 6×6 inches boards that feature sensational and unique geometric effects. They are configured using small wood blocks that are joined together in order to form different floor patterns.

• Hardwood planks – These are 3 inches wide, wood flooring installed using nail and screwing methods. They come in different wood finishes, designs and styles. Their screw holes are usually covered by wooden plugs to keep them out of sight.

• Hardwood floor strips – Most households use this kind of wood flooring. They are available in varying widths ranging from 1 ½ to 3 ¼ inches. Wood strips are installed on subfloors using the nailing technique.

Apart from determining the type of hard wood flooring you need to use, you also have to take note of its grade and quality. These are basically important preliminary concerns that you need to address before commencing with the actual hardwood floor installation.

Contemporary area rugs offer a great solution for slicking up any dull space or room in your home. Area rugs are both an important aspect of home design and home comfort – just like your furniture, furnishings or any other décor.

Furthermore, these rugs will not only accentuate your home décor beautifully, but they can also be put in any of the rooms of your home. They exude a warm and soft underfoot feel when walking across them in the house.

For adding a modern touch to your rooms, you can do so by filling up some of the empty spaces in the home with exceptionally beautiful contemporary area rugs.

These rugs are multipurpose in design, which makes them ideal for use in living rooms, bedrooms, hallways, and children’s rooms. The striking geometric shapes and the bold vibrant designs are the features that distinguish contemporary rugs from all others. The exclusive style and sophistication that these alluring rugs bring to rooms make them great choices for any type of flooring in homes.

Contemporary area type rugs are either hand-crafted or machine-made using natural or synthetic fibers and are available in different patterns and styles. Some materials that are used in making these rugs are bamboo, jute, sisal, mountain or sea grass, wool and nylon. Apart from this, you can also make your choice from the various sizes and shapes like rectangle, square, oval, round, and more that are available today.

There are time, money, and energy-saving advantages in that that these modern-day rugs require very little maintenance. However, to retain their appearance and keep them in good condition, you’ll only need to vacuum them periodically. While it’s true that some loss of fibers may occur initially on most new rugs, this will decrease significantly over time.

Like all other rugs, contemporary rugs also are prone to spills and stains with usage, but these can be easily addressed with the help of a good quality stain remover or any other suitable cleaning supplies recommended for rug cleaning.

Contemporary area rugs can add an element of modern beauty and sophistication to your home. All you need to do is to go online and view the extensive collections that many sites feature.

You’ll be amazed with the area rugs you see – and will find many options that fit your sense of style and taste.

There are a few good choices to select from when it’s time to rev up your garage with floor coating or covering. In this article, we’ll look into some great garage ideas as we profile three of the best garage floor coverings; epoxy, rubber interlocking tiles, and rolled.

Epoxy Concrete Floor Coatings

Epoxy garage floor coating protects your garage floor from cracks, stains, and makes cleaning up a whole lot easier.

Over time, the constant abuse on a garage floor takes a toll on concrete. Without protection in this area of your home’s flooring – cracks will eventually begin to form. By the time you start to see them, it’s too late.

Serious foundation work will be in order to restore the concrete to its original state. It’s better to be proactive – save the headache and money involved with fixing a broken garage floor by applying a sealant before the cracks begin to set in.

Epoxy coating is one of the best solutions to protect and make your garage floor look great. It’s not as cheap as paint, but it has attractive appeal and only needs to be applied once, as opposed to a painted floor needing regular touch-ups to maintain the concrete. Applying epoxy coatings to your garage floor does take some effort and time – but it isn’t hard to do. Set aside a weekend to work on it, and by Monday you’ll have a garage floor you can be proud of.

This form of covering for your garage floor is highly resistant to spills. Grease, oil, and dirt don’t stand a chance at intercepting your concrete and causing devastation to the look. And by pouring it, you’ll provide protection to the foundation of cement over time.

An epoxy garage floor is high on the resistance scale; it’s also easy to clean up messes that commonly occur on garage floors and gives protection against leaks, spills, and dropped items – such as heavy tools and the constant pressure of vehicle weight.

You’ll also find clean up tasks much easier on an epoxy-based floor than on a floor with no protection, or a painted floor.

Laying down an epoxy garage floor costs around 1.75 per square foot – it’s affordable floor coating, and if put down correctly, is a good way to go about covering and protecting your garage’s floor.

Rubber Based Interlocking Garage Floor Tiles

Using rubber interlocking tiles to cover your garage floor is better than it sounds. In fact, this is the premium option when it comes to garage floor protection. Rubber is resilient to stains, has high durability, and the softer versions give a comfortable surface to walk on.

The downside is its price. It’s one of the more expensive ways to give covering to your garage floor. The installation of rubber tile flooring in your garage is perhaps best left to a professional company. You could do it on your own, but it won’t be as easy as laying a few coats of epoxy.

Advantages to this method are reflected in its price. Garage floor tiles start at around $2.00 per square foot and go up from there into the $3.00-$4.00 range. But this is the best garage floor covering money can buy.

The look of interlocking tiles is an excellent way to break up the monotony other methods of garage flooring leave. You can get creative with the tiles and make your garage floor really stand out from the crowd. Tiles will turn your garage into something special and certainly cause some envy among your friends and neighbors.

Interlocking tiles range in their consistency. It’s possible to find very soft rubber tiles or hard pvc tiles. This is really a matter of taste and what you’ll be using your garage for. If auto work is being done in your garage frequently, consider harder versions of tile. If you’ll be using part or your entire garage for other activities, such as parties with friends – consider a softer type of tile.

If you’re going for turning your garage into a showcase or game room, not only is tile the way to go – it’s a prerequisite to looking the part.

As far as safety is concerned and maintenance eases, garage tiles rank well along with epoxy coatings. Tiles are a safe way to go as well as making clean up a breeze when compared to no coating or tile whatsoever.

Although one person’s idea of what looks good is different than another, it’s hard not to acknowledge the great atmosphere a well-laid interlocking garage floor can create.

Rubber Garage Floor Rolls

Rubber rolls are a different, yet good choice to ensure the protection of your garage floor. These rolls come in strips that range in 7 – 10 ft width and 15 – 20 ft lengths. They’re commonly seen in coin shaped or lined versions. This type of vinyl garage flooring is the safest type of flooring you can get. Both the lined and coin shaped types provide extra grip to prevent against slips and falls on a greasy floor.

Rubber garage floor rolls are also easy to install. In fact, this method will allow you to finish installation of a normal two car garage in about a day because the strips are so wide.

Price-wise, it isn’t the cheapest material, which would be paint – and we don’t recommend painting your floor at all. Rubber floor rolls run on average about $2.50 per square foot. Because the costs are high and this material has been known to stain easily, tile may be a better choice for many situations. But, of course that depends on what kinds of activities will take place in the garage.

Vinyl garage flooring is a harder material than some types of tile – yet offers a greater amount of injury control. It is good at withstanding a lot of punishment over years of time.

Overall, all three of these methods will give you much to be proud of. All three look much better than a plain old concrete floor, soon to show signs and stains of age.

Garage flooring is one of those things many homeowners don’t consider until the concrete has begun to crack. Be proactive and head off the damage before hand. A new garage floor is going to save you money in the long run, allow for much easier clean up, and provide a safer environment for you and your family.

A simple Google search of “vacuum cleaner bag replacement” will show firsthand how diluted the internet is with vacuum cleaner replacement part stores.  Many of these sites look similar, selling nearly the same products.  Without spending a lot of time researching, it isn’t easy to tell which websites offer the highest quality services you desire.

One high quality retailer that a friend told me about is www.bestvacuum.com.  This website provides vacuum reviews and recommendations – as well as selling vacuums.  This makes visiting the site comparable to hitting two birds with one stone.  You can do your research on what you’re interested in, and then purchase the item a few clicks away.  The site sells most major vacuum cleaner bag brands, including Miele, Sebo, Dyson, Oreck, Nacecard, and others.  I have heard that their service is outstanding, so be sure to take a look.

Govacuum.com is another reputable vacuum parts retailer.  One major benefit to this website is free ground shipping within the Continental US. This is a nice treat for customers, since shipping can secretly add a good portion of money to your order.  They also provide many coupon codes for their products throughout their site, helping to keep your vacuum cleaner maintenance bill low.  They carry nearly every brand, including Advance, Hoover, Dirt Devil, and more.  This is another site to consider when shopping for vacuum cleaner bags.

If you’re not interested in shopping to possible discounts through a third-party retailer, be sure to browse over to your vacuum brand’s official store.  This can be found through Google, or in your owner’s manual.  Your brand’s site will often include articles relating to your ownership of their products, an extra resource that could potentially be very helpful.  You will also have the trust of knowing which bag style you should buy for your vacuum if you use your brands site.  If you are uncertain about what to buy, consult your brand’s online home.

Be sure to consult several different resources before buying new vacuum cleaner bags and other accessories.  It is good to see different prices and opinions before you make a final purchase.  You can find other quality sites by doing internet searches as well.  Be careful buying products online, buy from trusted resources such as an authorized retailer.

When it comes to garage floor covering examples, there are several different options to choose from. Which options look the best? What about coverings that are low-cost?

When it comes to re-doing your garage floor, epoxy floor paint for the garage is inexpensive and durable, but can a disaster if installed incorrectly. Floor stain for garages can look amazing, but it is just for superficial appeal. There are also various floor mats and protective covers you can use as well – depending on what your needs are, but these generally leave unprotected areas and do not do a great job at full area coverage. A more versatile approach would be to cover your floor with garage floor tiles.

Garage floor tiles are easy to install, fairly inexpensive, and give you a variety of options. You can choose from an array of styles and colors to achieve the look you’re going after. If you spend a lot of time working in your garage, tiles are also the answer for comfort. Lying on tile floors while working on your car is much more comfortable than the cold hard floor! These tiles are great for protection too, as your tools will last far longer landing on tiles than crashing onto the harsh concrete. How’s that for your garage covering saving you money?

Before you commit to one method of floor covering, learn all you can about which type works best for your budget and taste. One good source we recommend is Floors-web.com. It’s a great resource to help match your needs and ideas with perspective. Whether you go with tile or any other garage floor coating – this informational resource is a free one that won’t you cost anything. Whether you’re intending to beautify, protect, or fix your garage floor; Floors-web.com is a good place to start when researching your future flooring solution.

Look into putting tile down on your garage floor, first.  It’s one of the best options to go with – because it looks great, has durability that saves you money, and you won’t have to worry about your floor having some spots covered and others lacking.

Find more garage ideas from our homepage at hometempo.com

We live in a “have a go” era, where money is tight and we want to avoid spending unnecessarily on things we can do ourselves. So when you get a serious stain on your carpet or a cigarette burn, you might think about trying to repair the damage yourself, rather than calling in a professional carpet repair service.

However, some tasks are more challenging than we imagine. Even if you have read a hundred and one instructions from the web, it is experience which counts in these matters. Above all, you have to be careful not to make the problem worse.

There are however, some things worth trying before you call in the professionals. If you have a cigarette burn which has actually just discolored a few fibers at the top of the pile, for example, these can be snipped off with a pair of sharp scissors, provided you are just talking about a few fibers and you only remove a fraction of an inch from the top of the pile. If your carpet has had a hole burned into it, that is another matter. It is also worth repairing some stains yourself, as the upholstery and carpet cleaning sprays you can get at the store these days, are really very good. You may need to make a few attempts but using these can make all the difference to the look of your carpet.

It is when it comes to cutting out a piece of damaged carpet and replacing it with a remnant piece that a professional service pays off. You need a seamless join between the old carpet and the new piece. It will already be a little bit obvious that you have replaced a piece of carpet until the new piece has been walked over for a while, but if the join is not good it will always be obvious. Leave this type of work to the professionals. It can save you the price of a new carpet, and that is service well worth paying for.

Bathrooms can prove difficult to decorate effectively while keeping expenses down. In addition, fewer accessories are available for bathrooms than for living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens or dining rooms.

Often, bathroom decorating must be comprised of re-tiling the room or completing a refurbishment or renovation; but these are expensive options.  Don’t worry though, there are some accessories and furnishings to be found on sale that improve the look of your bathroom. Using large bathroom rugs is a great way to build a new look in these areas of your home at a relatively low cost. [...]

Are you planning to redo your concrete garage floor any time soon? If so, then there are a couple of things that you need to think about in order to make sure you get the best “stick” when it comes time to lay down a solid coating.

The garage is one of the last places many homeowners think of when they think, home renovation. Yet, it’s a part of the home that is used, and seen regularly. Using garage floor coating epoxy is an easy upgrade to add polish to pale concrete, and can transform the entire look of your garage, especially if it is drywalled and painted. [...]

Round art deco rugs with genuine vintage themes prove that to find one is a rare treat. This is because art deco isn’t just modern art or geometric lines. It’s a school of artistic thought that emerged and staked roots around 1925, and continued into the 1940s. It placed emphasis on the art and architecture of 1930′s interior design. These designs were representative of wealthy opulence tumbling into wartime austerity. [...]

There are a number of high traffic areas in the home where you may find the carpet wearing at an alarming rate.  When this begins to happen, there is good chance that the carpet is going to become threadbare before too long. A good way to avoid this from happening is to place runner rugs over the top of the carpet.

One of the main areas in which the carpet tends to wear quite quickly is on the stairs where not only there’s a lot of traffic but the feet tend to hit the carpet harder than in other areas. For this reason it is more likely that you will need to use stair runner rugs on your stairs. [...]

Article By Max Michael

There is a stigma that comes with “do it yourself” projects because people are sold on the fact that they will be easy. Then they get caught up on a few frustrating steps in the process and the project never actually gets finished. Most people would rather just pay more to have a guarantee that the project will be done in a reasonable amount of time, with no stress, as well as the comfort of knowing it was done correctly. I’m here today to tell you that if you’re thinking of installing a laminate floor yourself, DO IT! They’re like a big puzzle, that’s laid out on your sub-floor. All you have to do it cut them to different lengths and snap them together. [...]