4 Simple Yet Effective Steps to Remove Sticky Substances From Wooden Flooring

Wooden flooring has become the latest buzz word among the homeowners and the home designers and developers all over the world. It is becoming increasing popular and has become the hottest flooring option for large number of people, as it lends elegance and beauty to the room and enhances the overall decor of the house.

Wooden flooring looks amazing but requires special care and attention when compared to other regular flooring. This is all the more true when sticky substances like chewing gum get stuck on the wooden flooring and cannot be removed by normal cleaning methods. Removing chewing gum and other sticky substance from flooring is a tricky affair and requires special technique. Resorting to impulsive method of applying too much force or using chemicals cleaners may damage the flooring further.

Sticky substances like gum are very hard and difficult to remove, but there is a way to remove and get rid of it by following these four simple Steps.

Step 1: First, using your fingers try to remove as much chewing gum as possible from the floor. Collect small pieces of ice cubes from the fridge and put it into the plastic bag. Then keep plastic bag containing the ice cubes over the top of the gum. You will observe that the gum start hardening. Do not try to remove the gum immediately. Hardening process normally takes about 20 to 25 minutes.

Step 2: Then place plastic scale or small wooden paddle under one edge of the gum and gradually poke from below. Without applying much pressure start removing as much gum as possible from the wood. Ensure that you do this without scrapping the surface of the wood.

Step 3: Then take a clean piece of scrap cloth. Rinse a small portion of the cloth in mineral spirit and gently apply it to the remaining portion of the gum still sticking to the wood. The spirit works effectively on the gum as it dissolves the gum which eventually loses it’s grip on the wood. Allow the mineral spirit to remain on the wood for 5 to 10 minutes.

Step 4: Wipe the gum and mineral spirit from the wood with dry clean cloth. Spray wood polish onto the affected portion of the wood. Use smooth or lint-free cloth to wipe the surface. You will be amazed to see the stunning difference!…

Hardwood Floor Refinishing – When It’s Time To Do That?

Hardwood floor is considered the most efficient and sophisticated flooring choices for homes. It produces an extremely timeless but elegant finish that may last for decades. Even though hardwood flooring is reminiscent of old palaces in Europe as well as early American homes in the south, it still greatly suits present day houses.

However one minor disadvantage of having hardwood floors is it would wear off as time passes. Even though the floor might serve you for a lifetime, its finished finish can become lifeless and broken caused by excessive use. This wearing off can be greatly noticed on floors situated in areas of your house with higher visitors.

Worn out and dilapidated floors are not only seen annoying for the eye, they’re hard to clean up too. This is true especially for floors which have polishes or coatings that are cracking away. To put it briefly, keeping the beauty and original appeal of hardwood floors rely on regular upkeep or refinishing.

Even so, it’s good to notice that not all of the dullness or cracking away of your floor might need a complete refinishing job. In some cases, you just need plain old water and cloth to get back the glow in your wooden floor. Fortunately, there’s a method of checking out whether it’s time to just stand and use the mop or begin shifting your furnishings and get on your knees.

Right off the bat what you should do would be to visit the floor which is quite often used. And then drench this part with water, perhaps a tablespoon or two. After that watch.

In case the water instantly forms into little drops, this implies the protective polish of the wooden floor is doing the job so you don’t need the full scale refinishing; a wipe of moist cloth or stain remover is perhaps all it will take to have back the glow. Even so, in the event the water percolated in to the floor and caused it to be darker colored, the coating is definitely damaged and it’s time to do hardwood floor refinishing.

Hardwood floor refinishing isn’t a walk-in-the-park. It’s always wise to do the hiring of flooring experts who have both the know-how acquired from true experience and equipment to renew your over used floor. However, if you want to refinish your floor by doing the work on your own, you need to have at least basic knowledge how it can be done.…

Wooden Flooring Can Really Give A Home A Heart

Nothing appeals to the eye more than the soft, warm glow of wooden flooring. Any room in the home can be enhanced by this type of floor, including the kitchen. Research states that most people who are house hunting add wood floors to the wish list they have created, and resale value goes up when homes are sold that have some kind of wood flooring installed.

Many homeowners have opted to install this type of floor throughout their homes because it adds to the value of the home, and also aids in the resale value should the home be sold eventually. Many people ask their real estate agent to look for homes that have hardwood floors when they are house shopping.

Installing these types of floors is good for the environment, also. Wood is a natural product that is recyclable and renewable and is one way for anyone to have a positive impact on the environment. Using reclaimed wood from older sources is another flooring option. Then there’s engineered wooden flooring, which is a mesh of products overlaid with a digital image of real wood. Most cheap wooden flooring is engineered, but that doesn’t make it any less durable or attractive.

The wooden floor you choose to install is going to be as beautiful years from now as it is when it is first put down in your home. This is the one thing that people who have had wood floors for years can state positively. The floor still looks new after a long time of family traffic, pets, and other wear. Nothing hurts it!

Wooden floors that are properly cared for will last for years, and never look old and worn like other types of flooring that are on the market today. Hands down, wood floors will enhance the beauty of your home for many, many years. It it obviously the better choice, is affordable for most budgets, and will add extensively to the value of your home should you ever decide to sell.

Homes are not the only places that have been given a “face lift” with the addition of some type of wood floor. Many times you may see a floor made from reclaimed wood, meaning that the wood has been salvaged from some other source and given new life as a wood floor.

Do an online search to see what types of wooden flooring are available, and the unbelievable low prices. You will be wanting to put wood floors in your whole home after you see how affordable they are. Get away from the traditional types of floors that get old and worn before their time.…

Strong Versus Engineered Wooden Floors

The strong wooden and the engineered wooden floors are very famous all over the world and are widely used as well as they increase the beautification of the house. Both of these famous flooring surfaces have got different benefits and drawbacks. Given below I have separately discussed these two kind of wooden floors.

First of all, the strong wooden flooring, as its name implies it is very strong and powerful. The main advantage of these floors is that they last for decades and decades as they are very strong and solid. Besides strength, the strong wooden surfaces also add elegance and style to your house that catches the eyes of the visitors. These products are made from natural wood that is very strong and can be bought at a reasonable price from wood flooring stores. It is extensively utilized in North America because of its strength. One key problem with this kind of wooden floor is that they are damaged by dampness and temperature inflections.

The engineered wood floors are much more advanced type of floors. This kind of wooden surface utilizes natural strong wood as well as different sheets of plywood. Setting up the engineered floor is more complicated than any other type of flooring. It provides strength and opposes external harmful causes. As compared to the strong flooring, the engineered ones oppose factors such as dampness and temperature variations. They are more structurally stable as compared to the strong ones and also maintain the shine for long.

The main cause behind the fame of engineered wooden floors is that it opposes external damaging factors still the strong floors are also widely utilized because they are inexpensive, cost effective and very sturdy as well. Both types of wood floors are worth spending money for and you just have to analyze which one is perfect for your requirements.…

Wooden Floors and Having Them Installed

For anyone who wishes to install a wooden floor themselves, it is important that they know how tough this kind of job is. On the other hand though, it will also be something that will be the source of a lot of pride if you get it right. Choosing wood as a floor covering means that not only are you choosing something which will look fantastic, you are also choosing a durable long lasting material. Although you could in theory have wooden floors all over your home, it is not really a good idea to put it in a bathroom or kitchen because these areas are prone to excessive water which could cause the floor to either lift or rot.

Tips For Installing Wooden Floors

When it comes to making it easier to install your wooden floors, the following information should help you out.

– When ordering wood it is a good idea to have about 15% more wood than you actually need. This is because it is very likely that you are going to make a few mistakes and when you have to cut some wood you are going to have pieces left that you can’t use.

– Before you actually start work you should make sure that your wood has been left sitting in the room where it is to be laid for a few days. The purpose of this is for the wood to acclimatise to the humidity level in your home.

– Moving in a perpendicular direction to the joints in the floor is a wise move when putting down wooden flooring.

– Check the joints in the floor for any squeaks before you start laying the floor. If you do find areas where there are squeaks then you should use a long drywall screw to reinforce the area.

– Before you lay the wooden floor panels, you should add sheets of moisture protection as this is very important. If you want you could use vapor barrier paper.

– It is usual to begin at your longest wall and move out from there. Always make a point of nailing down the first two rows by hand. Drilling pilot holes for your finishing nails is something that you should take care of.

– It is important that the panel joints are not close to the panel joints in the next row – aim to leave a six inch gap.

– If you want to make sure that you are leaving the correct gap between the joints in each row, then the best thing to do is to lay out multiple panels at the same time.

– You can use a small piece of scrap wood for levelling out each row. You can use this piece of scrap wood to make sure that each piece of wood fits tighter against the other by placing the wood at the side of a wood panel and tapping gently with a hammer.

– The job …

Choosing An Autumn Wardrobe To Look Fashionable

As summer is nearly finishing some people are gloomy already about packing way all the summer colours and fabrics and covering up in dark colours and expecting the rain.

Autumn can be a great season for fashion, this year there are still plenty of great fabrics and colours to choose from and you do not have to dress up.A� Autumn can still be quite warm the colours are a mixture of deep purples; warm gold’s and a cow girl feel with some cute Swede body warmers and boots.

You can still get away with leggings in autumn instead of Jesus sandals and flit flops warm it up with pumps or super trendy angle boots which are currently so popular, especially the folded woolly tong ones.

An example autumn outfit could be a pair of leggings in a chocolate brown and nice flower work flowing miniskirt, angle woolly boots a three quarter top and a woolly body warmer, this way you’ll; still look trendy without being too cool or hot.

Denim skirts can still be worn but pair with tights or leggings to dress it up and prevent you looking like you’re stuck in the last season.

Browns, dark greens warm reds and burnt organised are also great colours to wear. If you are completely clueless on what to wear spend a day looking around the shops and look out for inspiration in shop windows and on the manikins too. Copy exactly the manikin or twist in your own style and trend by adding items and jewellery too.

Summer items such as tops can still be warm but autumn is the season to layer so invest in a nice cardigan or long jumper dress to layer it up more.

You can always take layers off, but if you have not got them you cannot put layers on.…

The Elegant Durability of a Brazilian Cherry Hardwood Floor

For generations, hardwood flooring has been judged against the hardness scale of red oak. Long renowned for its beauty and durability, oak has found its way into many homes as both flooring and trim. On the hardness scale, red oak rates 1260 which is a pretty good rating. However, there’s a wood that rates 2820 on the scale which is a good 228% as hard as domestic red oak. Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors look gorgeous and are tough enough to withstand the punishment your family will give your floors.

As the name implies, Brazilian Cherry originates in South America. Variations in color range from a lighter tan to a dark reddish-brown and incorporates whites and pinks into the grain. It features beautifully intense shadowing with both regular and irregular graining. Brazilian Cherry is considered to be a very heavy wood as well as one having high mechanical properties which makes it ideal for all kinds of interior decorating projects. In addition to flooring, this cherry wood is perfect for rafters, joists, and beams, cabinetry, stair treads, door frames, and furniture.

When choosing the grade of Brazilian Cherry you want for your home, there are some guidelines to follow.

* Wood that is graded clear will offer a more uniform appearance. Coming from the heartwood of the tree, it has little character.

* Select hardwoods, while still being very uniform in appearance, have a wider variety of colors, knots, and other natural characteristics common to Brazilian Cherry.

* Common grades are classed as #1 and #2 and have colors that vary significantly and a lot of character. #2 will have more character than #1 will.

Exotic hardwood floors are becoming increasingly popular in North America. In addition to Brazilian Cherry, you will find woods like Brazilian Teak, Brazilian Walnut, and Santos Mahogany. Each of these different woods will give your floors a unique look to enhance your home’s interior. All of these flooring materials are available in both prefinished and unfinished boards so that you’ll be able to match colors perfectly. Most of them tend to run around $5 a square foot. For that price you’ll receive a beautiful, very durable floor that will look nice for many years to come with little upkeep.…

Are you interested in updating the style of your home? From a coat of paint to a new bedroom collection, here are three tips to get you started.

1. Paint the Walls

Painting your interior walls is a visually appealing, cost-effective way to update your home’s style. A neutral color such as taupe or beige throughout your home can establish calm and airiness. Bold colors such as burnt orange can bring energy and warmth. Many homeowners combine these two ideas, choosing a neutral theme that features one or two statement walls. Overall, pick colors that bring personality.

2. Add Throw Rugs

Throw rugs give you the chance to add texture and color to your home without busting your budget. Consider multi-colored oriental rugs with tasseled edges, machine-washable options, or natural mats made from bamboo or sisal. Like wall paint, rugs can be an affordable way to update your home’s interior. But, of course, oriental and one-of-a-kind hand-hewn rugs are typically more expensive. If you’re free of a budget, you can expect to find fabulous, plush rugs in a variety of materials and edgings.

3. Buy a Bedroom Collection

Bedroom collections give you a beautifully cohesive look in your boudoir. They can include bed frames and headboards, multi-drawer chests and dressers, bureaus, mirrors, and armoires. In combination with new bedding, throw pillows, rugs, and window treatments, a bedroom collection can transform your room. To browse online for options, input your location into your search criteria. For example, enter “bedroom collection Albuquerque NM.”

Have these three tips grabbed your attention? If so, browse home furnishing websites and interior designers’ galleries and blogs for more ideas. Many experts offer tips and tricks for updating your home’s style while keeping to your budget. Second-hand or antique stores are another avenue for finding unique pieces that inject your personality and style into your home.

…

Wooden Floor Restoration – DIY

Probably one of the most enjoyable DIY jobs at home is the work of wooden floor restoration. If you have the right equipments for this then you can be rest assured that your floor restoration work would be great. It is so good to see if you find your old surface absolutely refulgent like your spirit with a brand new look. But if right equipments are not employed in this case then I can definitely assure you that there will be some uneven deformities observed (usually at the middle of the floor). This simply spoils the whole look and feel of the space. So enjoy the work but at the same time ensure a good machine to be employed for this.

If you can manage to get hold of a parquet floor sander then you just can’t imagine how easy your job would become instantly. So you see you must grab hold of this easy to use sander. You just need to take out some time and move the machine over the wooden strips of your floor. The biggest advantage of using such a machine is that there are no hard and fast rules of following with the order of the grain actually. You can move the machine in any direction you please irrespective of the movement of the grain of the floor.

You can hire these machines from any of the known local hiring stores. You need two effective sanders for this. Now you have to punch two nails at least 1/8th of an inch. Have them embedded in this way so that you are able to fix the sand papers properly. But please do make sure that the machines that you get to hire from the local stores are brought in good conditions and they are not dilapidated or worn out as such. If not then you will have a real hard time cleaning the mess of dirt and sand which is very obvious after this. So be very careful to use the right equipments at this point of time.

The real good machines would usually have belts and sandpapers attached to it. You are required to tilt the machine at a proper angle and do the cleaning work. Mind it inexperienced hands can lead to injuries to your floor. They are usually of 110 volts and they have a transformer which is usually provided by these stores so you need not worry. But incase you feel you are not too sure of the application then get it known from the people supplying these things. They can be of good help to you.

For edges or staircases you will get the same thing which has been specifically designed to restore the wooden structure of the stairs. You must remember that these machines are quite powerful so do not allow it to rest over one point for a long time as it would simply eat its way into the floor. So have it moving …

Rain in the Home in Summertime

If the weather is good and you’re sitting on the bench in your garden, with suntan lotion on your body, enjoying an ice cold drink and wearing sunglasses… and suddenly someone screams from the house that it is raining inside and that dirty water is pouring into your hallway and the ceiling is dripping wet… how would you feel at that moment?

Well, practicalities would come first. First you would need a bucket of water.

You will have to rush to your bathroom on the top level to see why the water is running down. Most likely you will not find the fault – unless a tap has been left on, in which case you could stop it immediately. If you can’t find the source, then you are probably dealing with a bigger issue.

In some cases mains water pipe could be loose, or the T joint has come undone. In some cases this will be because of water pressure due to vibration if a heavy vehicle passes your home, or sometimes it is because the shower has not been used for many months. Sometimes it is simply that the shower has lost it’s flexibility due to over use, or perhaps it is to do with grout in the tiles that has come loose.

In some cases you might look for years and not be able to solve the problem. This can be a nightmare. If it turns into this then it’s very advisable to call in a professional plumber, not a cowboy builder as this could create an even bigger problem.

Building insurance is the first thing you need. Secondly, a professional who can advise well, such as B&Q customer services, where you could obtain information on new ways to install a bath, and ways of safeguarding against possible future problems like this.

You can appoint a qualified corgi plumber to install your bath and wash basin since you will be using a hot water connection as well as the cold, so it will be important to take water pressure into consideration, especially if your bathroom is on a top floor.

Raining inside of your home can completely ruin your day… and more. So it’s best to avoid this problem by using a reputable plumber and fitter at all times, and be guaranteed a good job.…