Slate Floor Tiles – How to Avoid Slate Floors From Looking Dull

Slate floor tiles are attractive and timeless, and because of the strength and long term durability it maintains, have increased in their popularity in homes.

Slate is ideal flooring for kitchens and bathrooms as well as other living areas and can enhance the look and feel of a home considerably. As slate tiles come in so many variations, it can suit both traditional and contemporary homes.

Available in a variety of colors and shapes, slate flooring can make each room individual and unique.

Slate is a hard wearing stone, ideal in a family home and very practical. It is a naturally occurring non-slip surface and has become a favorite in areas of the home with high traffic.

However, as all natural stone is slightly porous to varying degrees, it is important to clean and maintain the slate carefully to ensure its longevity and attractiveness.

One of the most important factors when first having a slate floor laid is to ensure the slate is sealed thoroughly. If you find flakes of slate come off when you clean it, chances are the slate hasn’t been sealed correctly.

Once your slate floor is laid and sealed, these tips will help to stop your stunning looking floor from turning dull and lifeless;

Use a good quality, non-oil based dust mop.

Dry-mop the floor every day to remove surface debris and grit to avoid scratching the surface of the floor

Avoid rubber-backed mats as the rubber may stick to the slate and cause damage.

Use a soft brush attachment when vacuuming slate floors to avoid scratching the surface

Try not to walk on stone floors with shoes to avoid unnecessary scratches

Follow the maintenance advice given by your stone floor professional – they know what they are talking about!

Use a mild detergent when cleaning your slate floor and preferably one that has been recommended by a professional

Get an expert in to clean the grout between the floor tiles – professional cleaning of this area can make a huge difference to the look of your floor.

Treat your natural stone floor to a make-over once a year by a tried and tested professional to get rid of the buildup of substances that occur over time.

To remove stains;

First wipe the stain with a paper towel or soft cloth – if your slate tile has been properly sealed, the spillage should sit on the tile, giving you ample time to wipe it away.

Use a hand-held scrub brush with nylon or other non-metal bristles. Use a small amount of water and detergent to scrub the area and rinse.

The floor should be allowed to air-dry. Prevent anyone from walking on the area while it is drying.

Natural slate stone is one of the few materials that improves with age and if treated correctly, will last a lifetime.…

The Benefits of Having Epoxy Flooring for Your Warehouse

While warehouses don’t necessarily have to look fashionable and stylish, they need to be clean, organized and professional-looking. They also need to have good flooring. With busy traffic inside warehouses, floor flatness should be very well considered. A good floor profile is very essential to achieve a better flow of movement. If floors are bumpy or have lots of holes in them, however small, they can do heavy damage to equipment.

A much recommended type of flooring in warehouses is epoxy flooring. But what exactly are its benefits?

First up would be that epoxy flooring is quick to install. You can stop worrying about the downtime needed in its installation because you will not have to extend hours to set it up. Installing epoxy flooring only takes a short time. Because it is quick to install, you save a lot of time and you can start on your operations early.

Next is that it is easy to do a clean-up. When you use only regular floors, you waste so much time cleaning them up when they are soiled. And you will be disappointed to see that after hours of cleaning, they still look dingy and disgusting. These are unlike epoxy floors. They are characterized by a non-porous surface so they do not absorb the liquids that are spilled on them. Spilled liquid on epoxy flooring only beads and can be cleaned in a breeze. Because they are quick and easy to clean up you do not only save a lot of time but also money from buying many cleaning materials.

Thirdly, epoxy floors have chemical resistance. Most of the time, warehouses and industrial factories carry chemical substances. During operations, they can get spilled onto the floor and once they do, they can damage it. Some chemicals like acids and abrasives wear dents and pockmarks on the surface. This can definitely affect your floor profile and your floor flatness. But when you use epoxy flooring, you will not need to worry too much on spilled chemical’s effects because it will resist them. Epoxy flooring can withstand a wide range of chemicals and maintain your floor flatness.

And last but not the least is its durability. Epoxy floors can withstand all sorts of abuse that it can last through years. It can withstand daily traffic from heavy-duty equipment like forklifts and such. These vehicles can mar the floor surface by scruffing, scraping and putting other kinds of stress on the floor. The strong cohesiveness of epoxy floors enables it to endure stress and maintain the floor profile. Its durability saves builders money from repairs or replacement. Creating that perfect flooring for your business warehouse is not that easy. You don’t go discovering the proper floor flatness and say ‘all is ready’ just like that. There are actually a number of things to consider such as the appearance of your warehouse. Just like any business operation, everything needs full-on research for the success of …

Raised Floor Labeling in a Data Center, a Worthy Obsession to Guarantee Uptime

I’ve had people call me obsessive compulsive, anal retentive and other not so flattering names in my data center career, but when it came to managing a mission critical facility and ensuring continuous uptime, being a little controlling is a good thing.

One of my more obsessive traits involved labeling.

Most of you are aware of the importance of having labeled power whips in a raised floor environment. But there are many other things in a data center raised floor area that should also be labeled. Proper labeling can prove very helpful when trying to locate infrastructure under the raised floor in a hurry.

Let me share with you some of the areas where labeling really provides big benefits, yet very few data centers actually implement.

Smoke Detectors

If you have smoke detectors under your raised floor I highly recommend adding some type of label on the raised floor panel right above it. There is any number of ways to mark the panel; we used a template to router a big red X with the detector number on it. A large floor plan layout is put at all the exit doors with the location of each detector on it. That way if a detector was in alarm, we knew its exact location, and finding the right floor panel to pull was much easier once it was labeled.

CRAC/CRAH Water Supply and Return Valves

Labeling your water supply and return valves to the CRAC/CRAH units can be a real time saver in the event of a water leak. Every second can mean gallons of water under your raised floor, which can shut down your data center in a heartbeat. We used a template to router a big blue V on each floor panel with a water value under it. Each valve had a brass tag indicating which A/C unit it fed and whether it was a supply or return valve.

Electrical Junction Boxes

If you have any type of electrical junction boxes under your floor, you will want to be able to locate them and also make sure no one puts any servers over them. We used a template to router a big blue E on each floor panel with an electrical junction box under it.

Using Multiple Colored Floor Panels

Using a different colored floor panel to create an egress route or pathway to the exit doors was a great safety measure in the event of an emergency. It can get pretty overwhelming when you find yourself in the middle of a large data center if a fire alarm goes off. We referred to it as “follow the yellow brick road” to safety. We also would use different colored tile around our PDU’s and CRAC/CRAH units to let everyone know there was a code clearance requirement around certain electrical equipment. Nothing could be left or stored on any colored floor panels.

These are just a few of …

Tips For Selecting A Vendor To Build Your House

If you think your house needs some basic repairs or perhaps you are willing to erect a new house then modular floor plans or modular home floor plans will be your perfect guide. But the problem comes in the selection of experts as there are numerous, if you search the house building market. So what you can do is hire a suitable retailer who can help you in taking decision. If you are going with the option of retailer or a vendor then you have to keep some of the important considerations in mind. Here are some of the tips which will be helpful on addressing the issue:

1. A good experienced seller is more advisable. He should be good with his past record. From past record, you can check his previous clients; it will give you a better click.

2. You can have a better idea, if you go and visit the site where the house segments are being developed. This will highlight a brief picture of the skill of the labor and their methods of working. You can take a rough assessment by asking different questions from the constructor. Don’t hesitate in posing any questions regarding your house construction.

3. If you feel that there are some changes required in the base of the floors, you can have a conversation with the builder and tell him about your choice. When it is about choosing a retailer for modification or repair work, there are different agents that work on the same aspect. Just look for the offer which matches your needs and requirements. You can go for the separate modification experts but a better option would be to find any builders who include modification in their construction offer. It means they will not charge you extra for modification if they have constructed your house as the price is adjusted at the time of your construction contract. There are vendors available which will give you a good building offer. Try to go with the one which best suits your criteria of choice and your preference.

4. Reach out to that contractor who takes the responsibility of the entire project. This will satisfy you as you do not have any tension regarding the miss management or improper working of the laborers. By this, contractor will employ special personnel to check and manage the entire work progress of the project. It is more suitable when you can’t be on the construction site all the time. When the construction will take place under the influence of the contractor, then automatically the project will be completed soon and the labor force will work with more efficiency.

5. Find out the important aspects of the contract like the servicing department, the time of the warranties and if there are any damages then who will take the responsibility of the damage and the repair work. It creates a reason to take referral from the old clients.

6. …

Interceramic Timberland Tiles – The Finest Alternative to a Wooden Floor

If you are looking for the best d?�cor for the interiors of your house, then the looks of wood on the floor probably will strike you first. The richness and the natural ambience provided by wood are impeccable in nature and style. This is the reason why anyone who knows about the decoration of the interiors of a house would always recommend the looks of wood.

When there is wooden furniture inside a house, the d?�cor automatically gets a touch of exotic. If you would have visited a log cabin perhaps on a jungle safari on a previous occasion, you can relate to the looks of the place. This is the reason why anyone who is interested in getting the wood d?�cor installed in his/her house would be absolutely certain of the looks especially when one has viewed a place like that before.

There is undoubtedly no reason for the installation of wood not looking good, however the costs and the effort required in the maintenance are two major concerns. Whenever wooden floor is installed, the procedure requires three steps for completion. The first step is the removal of the current floor. The second step involves the installation of a temporary floor on top of which the wooden planks are installed. This is the reason why the installation procedure of a wooden floor takes time. The second reason is the cost involved in getting wood installed on the floor.

However, now there is a solution that will give the floors the authentic looks of wood and also will be cost effective. The Interceramic Timberland Tile is one of those tiles that look exactly like a wooden plank. This tile has been designed as an alternative to real wood being installed on a floor. The Interceramic Timberland Tiles look exactly like a plank of wood and are available in the size of six inches by twenty four inches. The Timberland series is available in a variety of colors which include chestnut, suede, golden saddle, mountain timber and nature valley. The tiles are made out of both ceramic and porcelain.…

Designing the interior of your home requires a lot of knowledge, such as the proper way to arrange furniture and how to select a color Kitchen Renovation scheme. The following article contains ideas to help you get started. Read on to find great ideas that can help you fix up your home.

One thing everyone should keep in mind whenever they are designing a room in their house is to create a mood. Because of this, you need to think about a mood you want to convey when selecting the items that are going to be in your rooms. For instance, if you want a mood that exudes calmness and tranquility, use colors that are soft and warm.

Picking the right colors is essential for every design project. You should think about what looks good together and what will not so your room looks balanced. Avoid using a lot of bold colors in a single room.

Think about how bright your space is. Rooms that do not have a lot of windows should be painted in a light color so the room will not feel dark and claustrophobic.

Set a budget. It feels awful to get halfway through a project and find out that your funds have dried up. For a stress free project, plan ahead to make sure your design plan is within your budget before your first dollar is spent.

Get creative with your framed pictures. They are just as much part of the decor as everything else. They don’t have to be hung in straight, horizontal lines. Use geometric designs as you hang them. The contrast of these items to surrounding white space is often enough to change a room’s mood.

You will find some wonderful tips you can use in the home. Now that you’ve been provided with this advice, you should have the knowledge you need to use on designing your home. Start improving your home’s look today!…

The Merits of Floor Lamps Discussed!

One could use various methods to light up their homes. While many people use the bulbs, chandeliers or tube lights, some even go for the traditional method of lighting using candles if they are living in a locality where there is a shortage of electricity.

Irrespective of the methods applied, by using extra lighting at certain places, one can create an interesting air or atmosphere in their homes. One can use brighter lights in places of study and in those places where it is extremely dark and use soft lights to provide an elegant touch and a calm ambience. All this said, the light’s extremity depends totally on how useful it is in the room.

Using a lamp to provide extra lighting is a very common method. One can use the lamp not only to light up a dark area in a room but also to fill up an empty space. There is a wide variety of lamps which one can use and floor lamp is one among them.

The lamps come in various styles which enhances the room’s appearance by complimenting the furniture in that room. Moreover it is flexible too as you can change them as per your wish. You can change the shade, the location or the bulb and you will get a new setting instantly.

There are various sizes and shapes available in floor lamps. There are various styles also available. Art Deco, Contemporary, Craftsman, Tropical, Traditional, Retro, Rustic, Modern, Mission, Country are the most popular of them. The floor lamps come with both halogen and incandescent elements for lighting. The purpose of lighting could be utility lighting or ambient lighting or spot lighting. The lamps are also available in different textures such as wrought iron, metal, glass, chrome, wood, etc.

While other sources of light occupy a permanent place, these lamps can be moved anywhere. One can just pick up these lamps and move them anywhere. This is more beneficial to those who keep changing the furniture in their house. Also the installation of these lamps is easy as you just need to buy and plug it where you want.

One needs to take into account various things when purchasing a floor lamp. The factors are the available space, the kind of switch on the lamp and the purpose of lighting. One can buy them from supermarkets, furniture showrooms or even online.…

3 Door Wardrobe – Style Options To Consider Before You Buy

A 3 door wardrobe can come in a variety of styles. First things first though, you should have already measured your bedroom to ensure that you have enough space to accommodate it. Let’s look at some of them.

One of the first things people think about when buying their new armoire is what colour they actually want to have in their bedroom. So for some people they will default to the natural wood colour. In and of itself, natural wood can vary in shades though, so if you are a bit concerned about that you will need to think about whether your 3 doors wardrobe should be in a light or dark shade / tone. For other people, they will actually want to have their wardrobe with 3 doors to be in a painted colour. The most common painted colours available are white, cream (or beige) and ivory. These can look great in any bedroom, although with a white 3 door wardrobe in particular you will have to consider that you will need to clean it regularly as dirt will show up more easily on lighter colours. On the flip side, you could also get yourself a black 3 door wardrobe. This colour is quite a nice colour to have, but is also harder to get – obviously how it fits in with your bedroom depends upon your colour scheme and decor. You can get these wardrobes with different coloured trims, or with patterns, some with striking contrasts.

Configurations Of Wardrobes With 3 Doors

Most configurations of triple wardrobe look completely uniform on the outside. Although on the inside the unit, there will usually be the usual space to hang clothes behind two of the doors. This could be the first two doors, or the first and third door of your three door wardrobe. Behind the other door will usually be a set of shelves for you to fold and store away your other types of clothes. This space is fantastic for storing away clothes that are currently out of season, i.e. Spring / Summer clothes if it is Autumn / Winter and vice-versa. The wardrobe may be further accessorised; you can buy a 3 doors wardrobe with mirrors on one or more doors. If you need a vanity mirror in your room because you do not have space for a large enough mirror elsewhere, this accessory is nice to have. So that is something else to bear in mind.

Natural Oak or Pine 3 Door Wardrobes?

A pine 3 door wardrobe will include all of the painted wardrobe types mentioned earlier. Pine triple wardrobes are one of the two common wood types used to build wardrobes. The other is oak. As far as style is concerned, some people may prefer the style of natural pine which is less knotted than that of oak. Other than style there are a few other interesting considerations.

Triple pine wardrobes are more …

What You Need to Know About Wooden Floor and Carpet Floor Before Making Your Choice

Wood flooring has been the trend of home owners and home builders nowadays. Since the mid 1990’s its trend has climb up compared to what it used to be. You may wonder why it beat the carpet flooring that used to be very popular. There are numerous reasons why more and more people and home builders prefer wood flooring.

Although carpet flooring still have a lot of colors and designs to choose from, it is very hard to keep it clean. It requires very laborious effort and regular attention to look at its best all the time. Aside from that, it fades over time and looks least appealing over a period of time. Also, carpet floor requires constant shampooing to remove dirt that can’t be taken out from just the vacuum. So it’s really time consuming and can be expensive to have.

Carpet floors can also be hazardous to health overtime. The dust, dust mites and other dirt that can stay on it over time can be dangerous to people with allergies. Even if you clean the carpet regularly still it has some negative effect on people. So more and more doctors are already recommending the use of wood floors over carpet to avoid this hazards to one’s health. Also it is not environment friendly as the chemicals used in manufacturing the carpets are highly toxic. Old carpets when dumped will not break readily since its fibers are manmade and unnatural. That factor alone will create hazards to the environment.

On the other hand, wood flooring adds a wow factor to any home. Initial cost can be very high depending on type of wood used as well as installation cost but the savings are enormous in the long run. Wood floors usually last for the life of a home compared to carpeting which wears out far too soon.

Wood is very easy to maintain compared to carpet floor. It is timeless and will not adhere to one’s fashion or style. It ensures fashion proof to your home for future generations. If there is any wear over the years, they can be refinished to look like brand new. If you have a hectic schedule this is favorable to you since you don’t have to spend your free time vacuuming every now and then. Just a quick brush or mopping is good enough. It doesn’t contain allergens that would cause hazards to health as dust, pollens and other dirt can easily be swept away.

Looking at all these advantages of wood over carpet, it is not surprising that many people and home builders prefer wood floor over carpet floor. Clearly it suggests long term savings, longevity, and implications for good health. No doubt that investing in wood floor can be one of the best decisions you can ever make as a home owner.…

Use Modern Rugs To Add Some Comfort And Style To Your Wooden Floor

A wooden floor can be a great addition to your home, it can help to create a stylish look and has the added benefit of being very simple to clean and maintain. However, it can also give a fairly plain and subdued look in some situations and it is certainly nowhere near as comfortable as a plush new carpet would otherwise be. To combat this, the best thing that you can do is to purchase one of the many modern rugs that are available. Doing this can instantly resolve both of the aforementioned problems and can give the room a completely new look.

If you decide that you are going to look for a rug to break up the look of your floor and add some comfort then using the internet can be the best option. With so many retailers having an online presence, you can quickly and easily browse the hundreds of variations that are available. Clearly whatever you choose is going to have to fit in with the rest of the decor within your home so if you have a particular colour in mind then you can search for that online.

Finding a rug that has got a bold, contemporary pattern on it can give your a room a stunning centre piece and will instantly convert the look that it currently has. With so many different options available in terms of both pattern and colour, no matter what the decor and colour scheme is in your home, you won’t struggle to find something that fits in.

When it comes to the comfort of your home, purchasing a rug can be of great benefit. A wooden floor can undoubtedly look good and does have a certain elegance about it but it is by no means a comfortable surface. It is naturally hard underfoot and as well as this it can feel very cold during the winter months. Choosing a rug that has got a nice deep pile to it can make a drastic change to the comfort level of the room as well as creating a warmer feel when necessary.…