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Getting the perfect carpet for your home can be seem as a bit tricky especially with the wide range of carpet options available in the market today. Most often than not, several home and property owners simply go to the store and purchase a carpet that they find the most aesthetically appealing and within their budget, neglecting its suitability for their homes. This can often turn out to be a disaster especially when there’s a total mismatch. For instance, when you have a busy household or thriving business with a heavy footfall, but you go on to install a carpet that’s not designed to withstand such a high traffic. If you’re looking to select the best carpet for your home, then you’ve come to the right place! In this post, we’re going to look how you can identify the best carpet for your home to help you make the best informed decision.

Basically, there are two carpet styles which includes loop pile and cut pile. For the loop style pile, individual ends are linked into the backing to ensure a continuous loop. While for the cut style pile, the loops are cut to ensure that each ends are sticking up through the backing - similar to a sheer cut pile.

Furthermore, fibre is critical material when it comes to carpet and the three main types of fibres used today includes polypropylene, polyester as well as nylon. Furthermore, the most popular choice today when it comes to natural fibre is wool. However, wool’s high price makes it less common and often considered as a luxurious option. For heavy traffic areas, the best carpets are usually loop pile styles to ensure maximum value is derived from your asset. On the other hand, if you want an easy-to-clean carpet, then olefin and polyester should be on the top of your list.

In order to get a good idea for how much is needed, there’s a need to measure a room for carpet. This is an essential step that should be completed before you shop for brand new carpets to install. Taking the measurement for a basic square or an oblong area is actually relatively easy as long as you put the doorways and entry stairs into consideration. If you’re looking for the best way to measure for carpet, then you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’re going to take you through room measurement for carpet procedures.

To get started, you’re going to need a measuring tape or a laser distance measurer, a paper and writing instrument or note taking app, a calculator or calculator app as well as a graph paper and a pencil if you wish to draw your layout.

1. Draw a simple diagram of your home. This doesn’t have to be perfect, but you’d have to ensure the measurements taken are accurate. All that’s needed is a basic drawing featuring all the rooms shown. What’s more? If the room happens to be square or rectangular, you can calculate the area simply by multiplying the width by the length.
2. Chimneys and recesses. If the room in question features chimneys breasts and recesses, take a measurement of the entire space and ignore them, the flooring or carpet will simply be cut around them.
3. Calculating the final figure. Take a measurement of each area and put it down in the relevant space on the diagram. Then, simply break the room down to smaller rectangular shapes, determine their area and add them together to obtain the total area of your room. You can make an allowance of up to 5 percent of the total for possible waste.

Being the primary material used in wooden flooring installation, the floorboards are the main supply costs. With that in mind, you should also know that there are a large variety of wooden flooring types to select from, each with their unique pros and cons which should all be considered before making a purchase decision. If you’re looking to get the supply cost of wooden flooring in the UK, then you’ve come to the right place! Here is a basic price guide of various and some of the most popular types of floorboards.

If you wish to go for an engineered wood flooring, this looks better when compared to laminate and is more affordable than solid wood. You can expect to pay within the range of £20 to about £100 per square metre for this wood flooring type.

Laminate flooring, on the other hand, is also quite cheap, easy to install and quite hardwearing, however it tends to warp over time as a result of exposure to moisture and it also happens to be the least attractive of all the other flooring types. You can expect to pay within the range of £10 to about £50 per square metre for this wood flooring type.

Solid wood flooring is a great option with a better look and feel to it. However, it also tends to warp over time and more difficult to install as against laminate. You can expect to pay within the range of £20 to about £100 per square metre for this wood flooring type.

Parquet flooring is long lasting and very attractive, but quite expensive to have fitted.  You can expect to pay within the range of £25 to about £200 per square metre for this wood flooring type.

If you’re thinking about installing a carpet on your floor, one of the most important things you’d have to put into consideration before you proceed is the most suitable type of underlay to ensure your carpet is placed appropriately and maximum value is derived. This is a common issue for several homeowners and we aim to help you clear the worries once and for all. In this post, we’re going to consider the best underlay for your carpet to help you make the best informed decision moving forward. Let’s take a look!

In all honesty, there’s no straightforward answer to this question as the best carpet underlay depends on a number of factors. These factors include the type of carpet you wish to install, the type of flooring it will sit on ( e.g, concrete or underfloor heating), your budget, the room you’re laying the underlay in as well as your personal preferences in terms of durability, comfort, noise reduction and more.

When a carpet underlay is carefully selected, it’ll act as a shock absorber - perfect for protecting your floors against high traffic and impact, making sure that your carpeted floor looks good and healthy for a long period of time.

Generally, the best carpet underlay for bedrooms will be a thick, sponge rubber underlay or a wool combination felt variation which guarantees your comfort. For living rooms and lounges, the best carpet underlay would be one that is sumptuous and velvety soft to provide a comfortable floor. For dining rooms, you’d be smart to get a good quality hard-wearing carpet underlay as this area is one of the most frequently occupied areas in the home.

Though both solid wood and engineered wood can be installed on a concrete sub-floor, the processes are quite different from each other. Solid wood is produced from a single plank of wood which can be reactive to both temperature and humidity changes which is capable of making the wood expand or contract. Hence, the different approach to solid wood and engineered wood flooring installation on concrete. Here, we’ll discuss how you can lay solid wood on your concrete.

First and foremost, you’d have to determine the method you’ll use to attach the planks to the floor. Is it floating whereby you only have to lay the wood flooring on the concrete after fitting the right underlay? You can also go for the most popular installation method which is gluing your floor with a flexible wood adhesive (to be applied to both the boards and the sub-floor). Or perhaps you’d prefer to use the traditional method of nailing the boards to the concrete (the nails will be covered as you lay the subsequent planks and the groove locks with the tongue).

After making this decision, you’d have to ensure that the sub-floor is well prepared for the installation. This implies checking the wood’s moisture content (mustn’t exceed 7 to 8 percent). Also inspect the floor to ensure its neat, if not, clear out the dirt or debris and make sure the surface is flat to avoid post-installation problems.

In the event whereby you discover a high moisture content, you’d want to acquire a damp proof membrane. This will not only enhance the floor’s stability, but also prevent shrinking or warping of the wood due to changes in humidity or temperature.

It is crucial to note that the preparation of the sub-floor is equally as important as the laying of the planks as this can go a long way to improve the durability and strength of your floor. Click here to learn more about wood flooring.

Are you a new homeowner? Or perhaps you’re simply looking to revitalize your home by adding some new flooring options. Wooden flooring is one of the most popular flooring options amongst home and property owners in the UK due to the multiple benefits it offers. It adds your home’s curb appeal making it stand out while also adding to resale value of your home - should you decide to sell in the near future. When it comes to the installation of wooden flooring, you have two options which includes carrying out the installation yourself or calling in a professional for help. While some homeowners would prefer to tackle this themselves, it’s highly advisable to get professional support for the project. In this article, we’re going to consider some of the benefits you stand to derive from getting your wooden flooring installed by a professional. Let’s take a look!  Efficient installation. Since professionals do this type of work almost on a daily basis, they’re generally able to complete a basic job within a day or two. With them, you’d be certain that you job would be completed to perfection within a certain timeframe.  Access to a range of wooden flooring options. Professionals are usually familiar with top notch wooden flooring options so they’re able to make recommendations on the most suitable wooden flooring type for your home and needs.  Flooring removal. Professionals typically remove old or existing flooring and clean up the area prior to the installation of the new wooden flooring. This way, you wouldn’t have to bother about hiring someone else to remove the existing flooring or to clean up the entire area before you can be able to install the new wooden flooring yourself.

Wooden flooring is very popular flooring option amongst home and property owners in the UK and understandably so. It adds to your space’s curb appeal, it’s quite easy to maintain, it adds to the value resale value of your property if you later wish to sell and lots more. If you’re looking to have wooden flooring installed in your home, you have two options which includes doing it yourself or calling in a professional – the latter being more advisable. However, by following some simple but essential steps, you can also install your wooden flooring successfully by yourself. These includes determining the site is in the best condition before installation, removal of all floor coverings and underlay for a more stable and durable installation and incorporation of the right expansion gap of about 10mm to 12mm which would be maintained around the floor’s perimeter.

Wooden floor fitting can be done on two types of sub-floor - Concrete and Plywood. To install onto concrete, you can follow the guide below:

• Incorporate flexible wood on concrete adhesives.
• With the help of a 3mm toothed trowel, spread above 2 board widths of adhesive along the starting wall sub-floor, beginning at a corner of your room.
• Position the first row of flooring into the area that is glued using the tongue facing opposite the wall.
• Put 10mm spacers against the wall to see to the consistency in expansion gaps.
• Make sure the joints are at a minimum of 150mm apart from the first row when fitting the second row.
• Utilize pre-cut smaller boards if you’re to start a new row with staggered joints.
• Continue with this nailing method and make sure the 10mm expansion gaps are consistent around the floor’s perimeter.

To install onto plywood, you can follow this guide:

• Make use of a porta-nailer.
• Position 10mm spacers against the wall - parallel with the installation direction.
• Fit the first row using the tongue facing opposite the wall and with the help of the porta-nailer or flooring nailer.
• Lay the second row and make sure the short end joints are at a minimum of 150mm apart from that of the first row.
• Utilize pre-cut smaller boards if you’re to start a new row with staggered joints.
• Continue with this nailing method and make sure the 10mm expansion gaps are consistent around the floor’s perimeter.

What Is Engineered Wood Flooring?

Engineered wood flooring is produced through the fixing of several layers of wood together with a solid wood as the top or wear layer. Due to its ability to hold its ground when faced with frequently changing temperature and humidity, it happens to be one of the most popular types of flooring. As a result of its ruggedness, engineered wood flooring can be easily fitted with under floor heating and in special areas like conservatories. And apart from its usually stunning visual appeal and ability to be floated over an underlay, the engineered wood flooring is even becoming a lot more popular amongst home and other property owners.

Given the fact that engineered wood flooring is made up of several layers of wood, it may be almost impossible to tell the difference between it and a solid wood flooring just by looking at both. It can also be mistaken for a laminate flooring which is basically an image of wooden flooring placed onto a high density fibreboard.

The planks of a engineered wood flooring is crafted in such a way to ensure the it does not expand or contract unlike the solid wood counterparts. What’s more? There are several benefits that comes with installing an engineered wood flooring. They include:

• Its very easy and simple to install

• When compared to solid wood flooring, it’s more cost effective.

• It can be utilized alongside an under floor heating

• It can be loose laid, meaning it does not need to be fixed in position

• It is available in multiple varieties of wood and finishes

• It can be incorporated alongside an underlay including thermal barriers

• It can be utilized in areas with a fluctuating humidity and temperature.

• It is available in different kinds of thickness.

Click here to learn more about wood flooring.