Tips for selecting the perfect floors

One: First it is important to consider your unique design style and the function of the room.

Will you be hosting dinner parties, dog sitting for the neighbors, or maybe just curling up on the couch reading a book or watching TV?

Two: Then think....what type of personality are you trying to create...smart and sassy...cool and chic....or maybe you already have some existing decor you are trying to incorporate.

Three: Understand what type of flooring can accomplish your goals. Carpet and area rugs create feeling of warmth and comfort....wood and laminate flooring create the wow factor...lastly tile is the most versatile and can accommodate any desired look or just simply keep the room cool.

Tile Flooring Fun Fact by Jason Valasek:

Tile flooring retains the temperature of its surrounding air. A room air conditioned at 70 degrees will keep the tile floor also cooled at 70 degrees. Human body temperature runs at 98 degrees. Walking on a 70 degree tile floor with a body temp of 98 degrees creates a cool feeling from below your feet which travels upwards throughout your body. This is how tile creates a cool room.

Express Flooring Can Make Your Family Room Look Larger

“Bigger is sometimes better”, says Rick Duran, Installation Manager at Express Flooring.

A larger floor tile, such as a 24”x24”, 20”x20”and 18”x18” can actually play tricks on the human eye. Installing larger floor tiles as opposed to traditional 13” and 12” will create the appearance of a larger floor. “The grout lines play tricks on the human eye. More grout lines make an area look smaller. Less grout lines make areas look larger”, says Duran. Larger tile installed not only reduces the number of grout lines, but also reduces cleaning and maintenance. With less grout lines comes less areas to keep clean, less areas to stain and less areas to maintain over the life of the floor.

Often customers are reluctant to install larger floor tiles in smaller areas such as bathrooms, pantry closets and laundry rooms. “Fear no more”, says Duran. Putting a larger tile in those smaller areas looks better too, once again actually making those smaller areas of your home look larger. “My only recommendation is to hire a professional installer with correct tools and experience installing larger floor tiles. Installing larger tiles in smaller areas can sometimes be difficult for the less experienced flooring installers. All the more reason to hire Express Flooring, We only work with licensed and bonded professional craftsmen to install flooring for our customers” We also are the only flooring company I am aware of that offers a Lifetime Installation Warranty”.

Fung Shway Design: These principles involve the movement of energy and moving blocked areas so energy moves at a balanced pace around the entire home. The selection of floor tiles will actually improve the fung shway of your home as well. “Often customers change the size of tile from room to room. These changes create a break in pattern disrupting the fung shway. Keeping the same tile, pattern of installation, and size of tile throughout all connecting areas of tile installation creates a consistent energy flow and look s absolutely beautiful”, says Duran.

Hardwood Flooring Care & Maintenance

• Do perform routine maintenance as recommended by the manufacturer, this should include sweeping, vacuuming and/or dust mopping to remove dirt and grit.
• Use felt floor protectors on chairs and other furniture. As a general rule, the heavier the item the wider the floor protector.
• Place a doormat outside the exterior entrance to collect excess moisture, sand, grit and other potentially damaging substances from being tracked onto your wood surfaces.
• Do not use any type of buffing machine.
• Do not use oil based wax, polish, or strong ammoniated or abrasive cleaners. Never use soap-based detergents as they will leave a dull film on your floor. It's best to use a microfiber mop system. Call Express for their recommended in stock, cleaning products.
• Do not use a wet or damp mop to clean your wood floors, water is woods worst enemy.
• Spills do happen and they should be wiped up immediately and a damp white cloth or paper towel should be used.
• If your hardwood floor has a polyurethane finish never use a paste wax on it. If your hardwood floor has a wax finish never use a polyurethane finish. These products are not interchangeable.

How to take care of your tile flooring?

• The surface of most ceramic and porcelain tiles do not need to be sealed, although some require a light application of penetrating sealer to fill the micro pores on the surface.
• If soil is left on grout surface for long periods of time it will leave a stain mark in that area. All Express Flooring grout has stain resistance sealing in it, but not stain proof.
• You can sweep, vacuum or dust mop but do not use a dust mop with oils. A microfiber mop system is a great choice. A razor blade or putty knife can be used to remove tar, chewing gum or any other stubborn spot.
• Do not use soaps that create suds to clean your floor as it will leave a dull finish. Soaps are very hard to remove from the surface as most soaps have wax in them. Hot water is recommended to use when washing your floors. When you are finished washing your floors, you should rinse with plain warm water to make sure all cleaners are removed.
• Allow floors to dry completely before walking on them to assure that moisture will not pick up dirt from the bottom of your footwear.

Tips for selecting the perfect floors by Jason Valasek

One: First it is important to consider your unique design style and the function of the room. Will you be hosting dinner parties, dog sitting for the neighbors, or maybe just curling up on the couch reading a book or watching TV?

Two: Then think….what type of personality are you trying to create…smart and sassy…cool and chic….or maybe you already have some existing decor you are trying to incorporate.

Three: Understand what type of flooring can accomplish your goals. Carpet and area rugs create feeling of warmth and comfort….wood and laminate flooring create the wow factor…lastly tile is the most versatile and can accommodate any desired look or just simply keep the room cool.

Tile Flooring Fun Fact by Jason Valasek:

Tile flooring retains the temperature of its surrounding air. A room air conditioned at 70 degrees will keep the tile floor also cooled at 70 degrees. Human body temperature runs at 98 degrees. Walking on a 70 degree tile floor with a body temp of 98 degrees creates a cool feeling from below your feet which travels upwards through out your body. This is how tile creates a cool room.



+++ Jason Valasek have been in the flooring industry since 2002. He owned & operated his first flooring company in San Diego CA. He is also a licensed floor contractor in the state of CA. He can help you locate product or installation in any city or state. His specialty is providing flooring product or services to those that need it. No matter what product you need, tile, stone, laminate, wood, even carpet, he can usually help you find the best deal available. +++