How To Remove Laminate Flooring

Follow these simple steps to remove laminate flooring for repairs or to make room for a new floor.

Tools

• Razor Floor Scraper (for concrete sub-floors)
• Wedge Scraper (for wood sub-floors)
• Flooring Compound
• Mallet
• Skill Saw (available for rental)

Precautionary Note

If your floor is older than 30 years, of if your house was built prior to 1977, have a contractor test for asbestos before you start removing the planks. A lot of older adhesives contained asbestos and/or lead. Breathing this can be dangerous.

Step 1 — Cut down the middle of each plank with the saw. This will help to break up any adhesive that may be difficult to remove.

Step 2 — Use your chisel and mallet to tap the planks out of place.

Step 3 — Use your razor floor scraper to remove any residual adhesive left on the concrete sub-flooring. Use the wedge scraper to do the same thing for the wood sub-flooring.

Step 4 — Fill in any cracks or dents using the flooring compound.

Your subfloor is now ready to install a new floor.

Read more: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-remove-laminate-flooring#ixzz0joqJKsl8

How to Care for Laminate Flooring

It’s hard to damage and easy to care for laminate floors. Here are some tips on how to properly maintain them:

1. Carefully read the warranty and care instructions provided for your flooring. Follow them as much as you can and refer to them if a problem develops.

2. Ask for post-installation care instructions. You may not be able to mop the floor for 48 hours or you may be given other care instructions, depending on the flooring brand.

3. Don’t wet-mop laminate floors, because puddles could seep behind basebords and under your floor, damaging them. Only vacuum and then damp-mop them.

4. Don’t ever apply wax or acrylic floor finishes.

5. Use only the stain-removal products recommended by the flooring manufacturer. Typical suggestions in product literature are: acetone, for cigarette burns and nail-polish spills, and mineral spirits for grease and tar.

6. Buy doormats for doorways that lead to the garage or outdoors. These doormats will trap grit that can gradually cause light scratching on the laminate floor’s surface.

7. Put easy-glide protective buttons on the feet of the furniture.

8. Use dollies when moving a large piece of furniture or a heavy appliance across a laminate floor or else you could leave a scratch by getting tiny peebles caught under a furniture foot or a wheel.

Take common-sense precautions to protect your floor when working with sharp or heavy objects. For example, put down a thick tarp or a carpet scrap to protect the laminate floor when installing a ceiling fan and using a drill; you can damage the floor by accidentally dropping it.

Read more: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/careforlaminateflooring#ixzz0jopscYQx

Cleaning and Maintaining Laminate Flooring

One of the biggest advantages of laminate floors is that they are made to look good for many years with a minimum of effort. Most laminates come with a 10 to 25 years residential warranty against staining, wearing and fading, depending on the brand. All you really need for cleaning are a vacuum cleaner, a dry mop and a damp towel for more difficult stains. Laminates are built to stand up to wear, but to keep them looking like new, here are a few recommendations.

Be aware that large pieces of sand or rock can cause visible scratching. These are usually easy to catch by having floor mats and foot brushes at outside doorway entrances. Dirt which gets pass the mats and brushes can cause invisible scratching that eventually leads to dullness. So, vacuum and mop regularly to keep grit off the floor. For dry cleaning, vacuuming is usually sufficient. Microfiber pads are also quite effective and, if available, lets you avoid involving fluids. Never clean with abrasives, scouring powder or steel wool.

Damp clean laminate flooring using a vinegar or ammonia-based solution. For example, you can pour 1/4 cup of vinegar into a 30 to 32 ounce empty spray bottle filled with plain water for a quick solution. Then, dampen a terry mop or a Swiffer with water and mop, spraying the floor as you go along. When damp mopping, avoiding standing fluids so you do not saturate the floor. Wipe immediately!

Other possible cleaning fluids that have been suggested include combining vinegar, rubbing alcohol, and water (equal parts) – 1/3 white vinegar, 1/3 rubbing alcohol, 1/3 water, and 3 drops dishwashing liquid (1 quart total) – Swiffer WetJet wood floor cleaner – Windex

Tips on spot cleaning:
To remove oil, paint, permanent marker, tar, rubber heel marks, use a neutral cleaner on a clean light colored cloth. If needed, use alcohol or a nail polish remover containing acetone. To remove blood, fruit juice, wine, beer, soda pop, pasta sauce, use warm water. If needed use a neutral cleaner on a light colored cloth. To remove candle wax or chewing gum, first h

arden with ice and then scrape very gently. Wipe the rest with warm water on a clean light colored cloth.If your laminate is scratched, see if you can buy a touch up stick from your manufacturer. The area you repair will look, hold up to traffic and wear just like the rest of the laminate floor.

In case of more severe damage, which is unlikely to take place in most of the homes, a trained professional can be called to replace a plank. The new plank should be almost indistinguishable from the rest, if done properly.

Read more: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/cleanmaintainlaminate#ixzz0jopEygYe

Understanding Vinyl Flooring

Looking for a practical, hard wearing flooring that you can put down virtually anywhere? Vinyl flooring may be just the answer for you. Vinyl flooring has a number of attractive features for homeowners. It can fit in with almost any décor since it’s available in a wide range of colors, patterns and styles. It’s low maintenance and easy to care for, impermeable to water and relatively easy to install (comes in rolls 6’, 9’ or 12’ wide or easy to handle 12’ x 12” or 18” x 18” tiles). Best of all, it’s one of the most affordable flooring options available to you.

The major downside with vinyl flooring is its composition. Vinyl flooring is a form of (PVC) polyvinyl chloride, a hydrocarbon based product that requires processing of petroleum, natural gas or coal. Although, even here the news isn’t totally bad, since the resins that make up vinyl utilize a purely natural element – chlorine (salt) in addition to hydrocarbons, so you could say the product is a little ‘green’.

Vinyl flooring isn’t just a piece of plastic, it’s actually a series of layers laid down on top of each other.

• The base layer is made from either a felt backing layer (if the flooring is going to be glued in place), or a fiberglass layer that provides ‘dimensional stability’ and ensures the flooring and will lay flat and doesn’t require gluing.
• Pattern layer that is either printed on the base layer or an integral part of the layer itself.
• When vinyl flooring has a printed pattern, vinyl inks are applied to the felt backing material in a process very similar to printing a large book or magazine.
• With the inlay (integral) process, small vinyl piece or granules are applied to the backing material through a series of templates, giving the flooring visual depth and ensuring the pattern is right through the flooring. This inlay process is more expensive than simple printing, but results in flooring that is more durable and longer wearing.
• Covering the pattern design layer is a clear vinyl layer that provide protection against rips and tears as well as adding overall durability to the flooring. The thickness of this layer determines how well the flooring will retain its ‘new’ look.
• Finally on the top goes a protective top coating. Usually made from urethane this layer is designed to make the flooring easy to clean and help it resist scratching.

Choosing vinyl flooring

You can choose different ‘grades’ of vinyl flooring to suit your requirements. In general, higher priced flooring is thicker than lower cost products and should last longer. Additionally, this higher priced flooring will likely be inlaid (rather than printed) to ensure the pattern never wears away and will also have a more durable ‘wear layer’ for longer life. (Unfortunately, over time traffic and wear will cause even the highest quality flooring to eventually lose its ‘new’ appearance).

If you’re comparing vinyl flooring, you will need to understand some common vinyl flooring terminology.

• Vinyl ‘No wax” flooring is designed for areas where it will get minimal exposure to dirt and only light traffic.
• Urethane layer protection is targeted at areas with normal to heavy traffic, and it will resist most scratches and scuff marks as well as clean easily.
• For heavy traffic areas, an Enhanced urethane layer provides the most scratch and stain resistance and helps the floor keep its shine and luster in spite of heavy traffic.

Installing Vinyl flooring

• Because of its’ unforgiving nature it’s often best to leave installation of sheet vinyl flooring to a professional. However, since mistakes with vinyl tiles aren’t anywhere near as devastating, these are great products for a DIY’er to install themselves.
• You can install vinyl flooring on almost any flat, smooth, clean surface including wood, concrete, old vinyl flooring or even ceramic tiles.
• It can be installed either above or below grade and since it’s impervious to water vinyl flooring is ideal for bathrooms, mudrooms and laundry rooms.
• When installing vinyl flooring it’s vital to ensure the surface you’re putting it down on is perfectly smooth. Any seams, bumps or raised nail heads will be noticeable through the new flooring so applying a floor leveling compound is usually a necessary part of the installation process.

A Final Word of Caution…

Older vinyl flooring often contained asbestos. If you’re considering applying new vinyl on top of the old, it’s best to leave the old flooring in place. Taking up the old flooring will likely release asbestos fibers into the air, while leaving it in place and simply covering it will seal the fibers under the new floor.

Murray Anderson is an experienced freelance writer over 500 articles published on the web as well as in print magazines and newspapers in both the United States and Canada. He writes on a wide range of topics and is a regular contributor to DoItYourself.com.

Read more: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/vinyl-flooring#ixzz0jooB8Ecl

How to Install Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring has become the floor of choice for many homeowners in the past several years. There are many good reasons for this. Notably, it needs very little maintenance (unlike carpet), it is incredibly durable, and it comes in a vast array of colors/styles. Since being introduced to the US back in 1982, laminate flooring sales has seen a growth of up to twenty per cent per year. This article is a step by step guide on how to install laminate flooring in your home.

Installing laminate flooring is much easier than installing hardwood floors.

The tools and materials you will need for this project are:

• a rubber mallet

• a laminate flooring pull bar

• tape measure

• coping saw

• utility knife

• hammer

• nails

• laminate flooring

• underlayment pad (with or without a vapor barrier)

Preparing the Floor

If you’ve got another type of flooring, this is the time to get rid of it. Pull up your old carpet and padding. Remove all of the tack strips around the room’s perimeter. You may need to scrape the floor to get rid of any padding sticking to it. Vacuum it well. If there are any noticeable dips, level them out. On a concrete slab, thinset or another self-leveling compound may be skimmed on it.

Repair plywood subflooring if applicable.

Remove the baseboards. You may be able to save these if you are careful. Now use the coping saw to cut off the bottoms of door jambs, case openings, etc. This will probably be 1/4” to 3/8” dependent on the combined thickness of the laminate and underlayment pad. It is recommended to buy the thicker pad; it is well worth the added expense.

In order to know how much laminate flooring and underlayment pad to buy you will need the square footage. To get this simply measure the area’s footage right to left and then forward and back. Multiply those figures together and that is your square footage. It is prudent to add at least 5% to that figure for scraps.

Install your laminate flooring

The first thing to do is roll out the underlayment pad. Connect the pieces together with wide, clear, plastic tape. How your laminate planks connect depends on the brand you buy but they are all rather simple; most simply snap together. Remember to stagger the joints.

Laminate flooring is a type of “floating floor”, meaning that it is all connected to itself but not to the house. With this in mind, leave 1/4” clearance at each wall. On the initial wall where you start, use spacers that you can pull out before installing the baseboards.

As you go along you will need to use your mallet and pull bar to snug things up. A few gentle taps will do.

Things will get tricky as you go through doorways; the manufacturer’s instructions most likely will not tell you about this because it impedes sales to DIY’ers. In some circumstances the best solution is to use your utility knife to trim the snapping connections on the adjoining planks so that they can slide together. In this case, use a few drops of wood glue to keep them together.

Finishing up – Install the Baseboards

Once you’re done with installing the laminate flooring planks you can get on your baseboards. If you’ve been careful with the removal you can reuse them. Otherwise, cut and install new baseboards. Miter and caulk all joints. Remember not to nail into the planks – this is a floating floor. If you find you have cut some planks too short and the baseboard doesn’t cover adequately, don’t fret; just install quarter-round at the floor line.

Make sure to understand how to care for laminate flooring. Now that you’re done, step back and admire your work!

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Parquet, Lantai Kayu Yang Rumit Nan Menawan

Lantai yang terbuat dari kayu umumnya lebih dikenal dengan sebutan parquet (baca: parket). Lantai yang satu ini memiliki keunikan tersendiri dibandingkan dengan jenis lantai lainnya. Selain dapat menciptakan kesan natural dalam ruangan, parquet juga mampu meredam suara dan membuat ruangan terasa hangat.

Lantai parquet bisa diaplikasikan dengan berbagai gaya rumah, seperti gaya alami dan etnik, juga gaya minimalis dan modern,  japanese style, gaya aristokrat Jawa.

Parquet biasanya terdiri dari tiga lapisan, yaitu polyfoam sebagai lapisan terbawah, plywood atau kayu lapis dan kayu parquet. Lapisan polyfoam yang bersentuhan langsung dengan lantai beton berguna sebagai peredam kelembaban dari dalam tanah sehingga kayu lebih awet, dan juga mampu mengurangi penyerapan suhu dingin dari dalam tanah.

Lapisan plywood pada parquet berfungsi menjaga kestabilan lantai dengan cara mengatur susut muai lantai  yang diakibatkan oleh suhu udara yang cukup tinggi. Lapisan plywood biasanya terbuat dari kayu yang empuk dan lapisan parquet yang terletak paling atas dibuat dari kayu solid seperti jati, oak, mapel, chery, kempas, merbau serta nyatoh.

Namun sangat disayangkan, parquet tidak dapat digunakan di semua jenis ruangan terutama di daerah yang lembab mengingat bahan dasarnya yang menggunakan kayu. Bila dipasang pada tempat yang lembab malah dapat merusak kayu dan mengeluarkan bau. Selain itu lantai parquet juga tidak terlalu tahan terhadap goresan dan terlalu sensitif.  Ruang yang paling cocok dipasang lantai jenis ini adalah kamar tidur karena aktivitas di kamar tidur tidak terlalu tinggi dan bukan ruang publik.

PERAWATANNYA

Untuk menjaga parquet tetap indah dan awet, maka perawatannya perlu dilakukan dengan hati-hati. Agar tidak mudah tergores, saat membersihkan lantai kayu gunakan sapu yang lembut berbahan bulu atau dengan penyedot debu. Agar tak menimbulkan goresan, Anda harus berhati-hati ketika memindahkan barang. Barang sebaiknya diangkat dan alas furnitur sebaiknya dilapisi karet agar tidak menimbulkan bekas goresan pada lantai. Alas kaki atau sepatu yang digunakan juga sebaiknya tidak tajam dan keras.

Meski banyak produk lantai paket yang menjanjikan tahan gores dan tak bisa dirembesi air, untuk menjaga keawetannya, lebih baik hindari penggunaan air pada lantai parquet. Untuk itu gunakan lap kering agar air tak merembes ke dalam pori-pori kayu. Jangan pernah mengepel lantai parquet, karena genangan air yang terkurung di lapisan plywood bisa melapukkan kayu. Selain itu dengan meningkatnya kelembaban pada parquet, dapat menimbulkan perbedaan tekanan yang drastis, akibatnya joint atau sendi parket bisa lepas sehingga kalau diinjak lantai akan berbunyi atau  berderak.

Sebaiknya jika memilih menggunakan lantai parquet, mintalah perusahaan tempat Anda memesan untuk menyuntikkan anti rayap pada parquet.

Agar warna kayu tidak mudah pudar akibat sinar matahari, sebaiknya sering menukar letak perabot di ruangan yang menggunakan parquet. Biasanya perusahaan juga menyediakan pelayanan steam setiap 6 bulan sekali untuk memelihara warna dan kebersihan parquet. Selain itu ada cara yang lebih mudah untuk menjaga parquet tetap kemilau, yaitu memolesnya dengan minyak lemon satu bulan sekali. Selain menambah kilau dan menimbulkan aroma segar, minyak lemon juga aman bagi aktivitas keluarga.

Bila lantai parquet sudah berusia tua, Anda perlu melakukan finishing ulang. Kemilau dan warnanya biasanya juga memudar seiring dengan usia.

(Okliviana / berbagai sumber)