HomeInfoNet.net

I’ll admit it, I have floor envy. I was over at my sister’s house the other day, and she just had new floors installed. Her kids, much like my own, had destroyed her carpet. Now that they are over the “spilling everything on floor” stage, she took the plunge and installed brand new bamboo flooring. I’m practically sick with envy.

My carpet is well vacuumed, but looks pretty miserable. Life with a toddler and dog can be hard on something as absorbent as carpet, and the worn walking trails don’t help. My child is definitely not out of the spilling stage. I can’t help but imagine my house with bamboo flooring now, too. Believe me, it is daydream I’m ready to actually invest in.

I’ve taken my musing so far as to actually visit a flooring store and see what options are available. As it turns out, there are many. Bamboo flooring comes in a huge number of shades and patterns with grains running both horizontally and vertically. The selection is enormous, and so very tempting for dreamers like myself.

Armed with little other than a fancy, I made further inquires. It seems bamboo flooring is not only beautiful with vast selections, but also incredibly durable and affordable. Bamboo is also a waste product of clearing farmlands for planting in Asia, so its use in flooring is considered very eco-friendly, or ‘green’. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be very much working against the bamboo flooring, at least according to the salesman.

Of course, being the resourceful consumer that I am, I didn’t take anything he said at face value. I, like any other red-blooded skeptic, rushed home to fact check everything online. As it turns out, it is all true. Bamboo is a cane that replenishes quickly, thus no harm is done to the natural world while creating the flooring. It is also incredibly resistant to wear and tear. Finally, the salesman is right, it is extremely affordable.

This is all well and good, but I still have a dog and toddler to consider. How will bamboo stand up to the ultimate test - the leaky sippy cup? As I continued my research I learned that the sealant applied to bamboo flooring is water resistant, and so long as I follow my child with a paper towel, my bamboo flooring wouldn’t warp from drips, spills, and the occasional muddy feet.

So if bamboo flooring is affordable, beautiful, environmentally friendly and resilient, why did my sister wait so long to install it? For that matter, why did I? This is a problem that just had to be solved. Hey, I gotta go, my new bamboo floor has just arrived!

You too can go ‘green’. Visit http://www.bambooflooring.biz to discover the stunning bamboo flooring options available to you.

Share This

Almost every home has some type of concrete surface, whether it’s a garage floor, porch, sidewalk, etc. Concrete is the product of choice for these surfaces because of its strength, durability, and relatively low maintenance requirements. Although this is true, concrete does deteriorate over time and a little bit of maintenance can significantly increase its lifespan, as well as keep your concrete looking good.

There are several factors that determine the strength and durability of concrete. The quality of the mix, weather conditions during and shortly after pouring, and finishing techniques play the biggest role. Some concrete mixes are stronger than others and are designed to withstand harsher conditions. Cool, humid weather during and after the pour promotes concrete strength as opposed to hot and dry conditions. As far as the finishing of concrete goes, the techniques used can be crucial to the surface strength of concrete. If water is added to facilitate finishing, the risk of chipping and scaling over time is greatly increased. These factors will dictate the susceptibility of concrete.

So what actually causes concrete to deteriorate? The weather and its elements are the biggest contributor. Rain and snow will slowly erode away the surface. Freeze and thaw cycles may be concrete’s biggest enemy. When water seeps into the pores and freezes, it expands and breaks apart the concrete. Spilled chemicals, such as oil and acids, also eat away at concrete. Constant foot and vehicle traffic gradually wear down the surface, making it more vulnerable to all the previously mentioned factors.

The best way to decrease the rate of deterioration is to keep a coat of sealer on your concrete. Sealer provides protection by creating a barrier that prevents the penetration of water and other foreign substances. It also acts as a wear coat. The sealer is worn away by weather and traffic, not the concrete itself. Periodic applications of sealer will add many years to the life of your concrete, making it a wise practice, considering the high cost of replacement.

There are other advantages of sealer in addition to prolonging the lifespan of your concrete. Sealed concrete makes for much easier cleaning. Dirt, dust, and spills can usually be broomed or rinsed away since the concrete’s pores are sealed off. Most of those hideous stains from leaky automobiles, rusty patio furniture, and dripping grills can be prevented with a good coat of sealer. Sealer can also revive the colors and textures of decorative concrete, especially acid stained surfaces.

Think of your concrete as low maintenance but not maintenance free. It is expensive to replace so protect your investment by keeping it coated with concrete sealer. For more information on concrete sealers, please visit www.all-things-concrete.com

Kirk Muhlhauser is a residential concrete contractor. Find ideas and instructions for enhancing and maintaining your home’s concrete surfaces.

Share This

Have you been considering selling your home in the near future? If you have, then it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take a good long look at your home, using an unbiased eye.

After all, a clean, appealing, well maintained home has much better odds of selling, selling for more, and selling faster.

When looking at your house, the thing you need to keep repeating to yourself is that “first impressions are lasting impressions.” This couldn’t be truer when it comes to selling real estate.

However, this doesn’t mean that you should take on a major renovation project just so that you can sell your property. Remember, there are no guarantees that you would recover the costs of an enormous overhaul.

Instead, take a more conservative approach, and have a look at the different cosmetic improvements that can be made for an overall improvement. These can include things such as cleaning, painting, refinishing, and other such efforts. These are the projects that don’t require all that much capital, and yet they make an immeasurable improvement to the overall look of your home.

Before you take on any fix-up-for-sale projects, take on the mindset that you are sprucing up your home in order to sell it. Don’t think of it as fixing it up for someone else. You’re trying to create more of an appealing look than you are a perfect home.

If you fix up the house with a certain person in mind, you’re limiting your market. Limiting your market will usually mean a slower sale, and a lower selling price.

So instead of tackling a whole mess of huge projects, just focus on making the home attractive, clean, presentable, and well maintained. Let the new owners do their own customizations.

Chris Hickman owns a website that will take you all around your property and let you know the very things that you can do to get the most out of your sale, without having to dump huge amounts of time, money, and energy into repairs. Check Out his site at http://www.home-selling-miracles.com

Share This