Click-Lock Hardwood

Click-lock wood floors are a quick, fantastic flooring option, especially for those of us who aren’t so power tool savvy. Ordinarily, to install new hardwood floors, you’d need to get your hands on an air compressor with accompanying hoses, a finish nailer, a floor nailer (different from the finish nailer), special floor staples, a power saw, extra sticky wood glue, wood putty that matches the finish of the flooring… not to mention the flooring itself!

Snap-together wood flooring is easy to install. With its unique and secure tongue-and-groove system, you can have beautiful, durable hardwood totally installed in a weekend! Since it’s a glue free project, it’s practically mess free too. Almost always, click-lock floors come prefinished, saving you painstaking hours of sanding and finishing. They make the perfect project for a novice carpenter with a basic set of skills. Of course, if you run into trouble locking your floors into place, you can always call your friends at Flacks Flooring.

Before you start cutting and snapping your new hardwoods into place, you’ve got to measure the room or the area you want to re-floor. If you happen to be re-doing a square room, just multiply the width by the length. Always purchase a little bit more than you think you’ll need for the job (10 to 15 percent extra) tom make up for irregular boards and possible click-lock mishaps. To prevent warping, let the boards sit in your home for 48 hours to adjust to its temperature and humidity. While you wait for the wood to acclimate to its new home, you can ensure the subfloor (whatever it may be) is level, even and free of squeaks. Staple a vapor barrier underlayment to the subfloor with plenty of overlap between sheets.

Once the groundwork has been taken care of, you can start planning the layout of the planks. For a solid base, planks should be laid perpendicular to floor joists. The longest wall is the easiest place to start sliding in your first row of boards. You should lay the first row along a perfectly straight line about a quarter of an inch away from the wall. This will allow the wood to expand and contract and ensure you start along line that’s truly straight.

Between the first and last rows, installation is a snap. Other than some occasional saw work, you’ll be clicking boards into place with ease. Just insert them at a tilt and snap them in. Diagonal nails can be added between each row if desired. Complete the floor by cutting the last row to the correct width to fit against the wall. Make sure to leave expansion space again. Finally, reinstall any trim or baseboards you might have removed and enjoy your fancy new floor!

Click-Lock Hardwood

Get to Know Stainmaster

Here at Flacks Flooring we have a number of Stainmaster® carpets in our vast carpet selection. We wouldn’t be much of a carpet source without them! Stainmaster® is such a recognizable carpet brand that its name has achieved almost Kleenex-like status. Just as the word “Kleenex” might refer to any old square of tissue, people might throw out the name “Stainmaster” to refer to any stain-resistant carpet. But there’s more to the Stainmaster® name than stain resistance. There’s also style, durability and comfort to speak of. If you’re thinking of going with Stainmaster® in a room you’re re-carpeting, you should know all your options (as there are quite a few of them) and what their advantages are.

There are certain advantages that come along with every variety of Stainmaster® carpet. The first, obviously, is the stain resistance. It’s true that their carpets resist stains and generally stay cleaner longer. This is because of what they like to call their “LotusFX Fiber Shield technology” and what we just call their fiber technology. The type of nylon they use to spin into carpet fibers keeps its shape and repels dirt and debris better than natural fibers, not to mention many other weaker nylons. Typically, a Stainmaster® carpet can stay looking new longer thanks to this carefully engineered fiber.

Whether your primary carpet concern is durability, fade resistance, texture or cleanliness, your friends at Flacks Flooring have the perfect match to meet your needs… and it just might be Stainmaster®.

Let’s first discuss their Pet Protect line. The Pet Protect system resists pet stains and is dyed to be color safe so that even powerful cleansers won’t cause discoloring. The density of the carpet fibers makes it easy to vacuum up dog fur and cat hair. When combined with a Stainmaster® carpet pad, this product can even reduce carpet-bound pet odors.

If you love to let the light in but fear fading, Solar Max might be the carpet for you. This is a fairly new innovation that resists fading even in intense sunlight.

Some people don’t think stain resistance and softness can go together but that’s far from true. Tru Soft is one of our favorite Stainmaster® products. It’s their softest carpet by far which makes it great for family rooms where you might want to hang out on the floor.  

One final Stainmaster® carpet line we love is the Active Family line. It’s designed for the most chaotic of homes and can stand just about anything. It’s also exceptionally durable and easy to clean.

Get to Know Stainmaster

Family Fun Day at Flacks Flooring this Saturday, November 2nd, 2013

On Saturday November 2nd we will be celebrating our first year in our new building and we would like for you to join us! We will have food, pony rides, face painting, Atlanta’s tallest inflatable slide, and more.

Family Fun Day at Flacks Flooring this Saturday, November 2nd, 2013

Bold Colored Carpet

Sometime after 1960s pink and 1980s gold, beige became the universal color for carpeting. The gradual beige invasion sure has made carpet shopping easier. Why spend time sorting through colors, patterns and textures galore, when a light, brownish gray would do just fine?

The truth is that, while beige is certainly versatile, it can also be a bit blah. Many professional interior designers avoid the color altogether to avoid having their look labeled “safe.” Combining colors may seem intimidating with all of the available options but with a little know-how you can unlock powerful design secrets and select eye-popping colors with confidence.

One way to go about choosing a carpet color is to think about it terms of warm and cool. Most shades that are considered outdated at the moment, like green and mauve, tend toward the cooler and of the warm-cool color spectrum. Current carpet trends favor warmer colors. Greens are still around, for instance, but they have been warmed up considerably. Earthy colors such as chestnut, stone, quartz, khaki and suede are also very much in demand.

Another color selection strategy involves the interplay of light and dark. In general, darker, warmer shades will make a room feel more intimate, especially if they are echoed in the color of the walls. Medium browns and rusts will anchor the room and give your furniture a grounded appearance. A light carpet works well for formal and detail-driven rooms. Because they don’t bring much attention to themselves, they let your furnishings really shine. Light colors may not seem like a bold design decision but consider how a white or cream carpet would look against darkly painted walls. That’s anything but blah!

It seems that the boldest color choices are made by those who know what they’re are doing (or just those that think they do). Applying a bright color to a carpet selection may be just what you need to bring a room to life. Game rooms, play rooms, basements and casual spaces all make great canvases for bold colors. Success will come through pairing a bold carpet with paint, fabric and accessory pieces that coordinate well together.  If you’re too nervous to install that bright teal Berber, however, any color can be made neutral by adding gray. Warm neutrals can also be achieved by graying down the oranges and the browns. The grayer the color, the more neutral it becomes. Carpet tile is another great, non-intimidating way to work in a shock of color.

Knowing how warm and cool colors affect a space and how to use lights, darks, neutrals and brights are the keys to beautiful floors and more.  Take this knowledge, mix it with your own likes and dislikes and you’ll have the room of your dreams in a matter of days.

Bold Colored Carpet

Caring for Hardwoods

Whether they’re dark or light, solid wood or engineered with laminate, hardwood floors can beautify and revitalize a room. Knowing how to properly clean hardwood floors is the secret to keeping them as rich and beautiful as they day they were installed. Gravel and dirt are the #1 enemies of a hardwood floor.  Even fine dirt like indoor plant soil can scratch and mark the floor if not removed promptly. Hardwood floor care may seem like more work than tile and carpet care but the benefits of hardwood make it all worth it in the end. They’re a timelessly classy style of flooring and they can be quite a blessing in the life of an allergy sufferer. Weekly dusting or vacuuming (plus a quick sweep after any event that leaves dirt and grit behind) is a good rule to follow in terms of debris-removal, but what about when it’s time for a deeper clean? Consider these dos and don’ts.

DO get in between the boards.

The reason we recommend weekly vacuuming over sweeping or even Swiffer-ing is because a good vacuum can suck up any dirt that may have gotten lodged between the boards. Some hardwoods may appear to have no gaps at all between planks but there is almost always some kind of space. Over time these gaps collect dust and dirt but with regular vacuuming they’ll stay fresh and free of dust bunnies.

DO use products specially formulated for hardwood.

Wood cleaners and household product made for dusting will not do the trick on hardwood. Some of them even contain chemicals that can cause permanent damage. Your floor may end up dirt-less but that won’t matter if it’s bleached or stained! Hardwood floor cleaner may seem like just another product you don’t want cluttering up your cabinet, but it really works. A bonus of using hardwood cleaners is that they condition and protect your wood floor as they clean it.

DO put felt on furniture legs to avoid scratching the floor’s finish.

This is especially important on furniture that gets moved quite a bit like foot stools and kitchen chairs. Any furniture left un-felted should be moved carefully, preferably lifted and carried, and not dragged across the floor. Other anti-scratching methods include taking off high heels before striding across hardwoods and keeping pets’ nails trimmed.

DON’T clean hardwood with water.

Cleaning up messes with a damp cloth from time to time is fine as long as your dry your floor afterwards. But mopping or sloshing water on your hardwood is a big NO. Not only can water damage discolor your floor, it can also warp solid wood boards and prime your floors for mildew. Mold damage and board twisting are irreversible. You should always soak up spills immediately after they occur and avoid putting too much liquid of any kind on hardwoods.

DON’T forget about light damage.

One of the most commonly forgot about sources of hardwood harm is shining right outside your windows. The sun can bleach stained hardwoods sometimes in as little as a year. Windows receiving direct sunlight should have blinds or curtains to block the bleaching effect.

Caring for Hardwoods

Test Post from Flacks Flooring - Atlanta Carpet Guide

Test Post from Flacks Flooring - Atlanta Carpet Guide http://www.flacksflooring.com