What are today's top 8 colors in home design?

What are today's top 8 colors in home design?

How to Remove Tile - Be Your Own Handyman @ Home

How to Remove Tile - Be Your Own Handyman @ Home

No Beef To Carpet Increasing Asthma, Allergy

No Beef To Carpet Increasing Asthma, Allergy

Advantages of Carpet Flooring

Do you know that carpeting during the earlier years was used by nomads as protection from cold weather and considered as status symbol, a sign of wealth or prestige by noble men before?  But in our modern times, carpet flooring is viewed in a different way.  Mostly, it is use for many different purposes – purposes which is somewhat will give a great advantage and of a great value to you whatever type of carpeting you are using, whether it is woven, needle felt, knotted, tufted or flat weave.

Good insulator against cold weather. Have you ever experienced that fuzzy feeling - covered with a mass of short fine hairs or soft fibers while lying on your carpet flooring or while walking barefooted? Generally, it gives warmth and comfort especially during winter season.  It can also help to reduce the cost of electric bills just because you are using your heaters all day long until night during a very cold day.  You can turn your heaters off if you feel the warmth of your carpet is enough to resist the chilly and uncomfortably low temperature.


Carpet offers matchless low price versus hardwood flooring.  Compared to hardwood and tiles, carpet low price per square foot is still unbeatable.  If you will question its durability, carpets nowadays are manufactured with an excellent and exceptional quality.  Thus the money you spent for your carpeting adds value to your home.  It is not a waste of money either.  Hardwood floors costs ranges from $5 to $15 per square foot compared to cheaper carpet for as low as $1 per sq. ft. or even lesser than a dollar.  The price varies depending on the quality and widths of boards of wood.  If you will consider its installation cost, hardwood/laminate flooring is more costly compared to carpet flooring where there are carpet flooring companies that can offer free carpet installation service when you purchase carpet from them.

Carpets can be as good as woofer as sound resistant.  Carpeting can also trap and absorb any form of sounds.  You may want to use wall to wall carpeting as a sound proof especially if you are living in an apartment or condominium and you don’t want to hear your noisy neighbors or you may wish those who living upstairs to at least put some carpeting so you won’t hear their thumping footsteps.  Carpeting can lessen the noise and is even more advantageous if you have young children. It can certainly minimize their loud voices during their playtime.

It provides protection.  Well, hard surfaces (i.e. hardwood/laminate, stone, ceramic tiles and others) are very popular for a long time already.  But the question is who will use your hard surface flooring?  If you are a homeowner with young children or if you have senior companions in your home, it is wiser to consider their safety.  Children are naturally active and playful.  Chances are there were times they may slip, slide and even fall.  And so as with our seniors, they are already weak enough to stand against wet floors or have a hard time to get a good balance in slippery areas or smooth surfaces.  Carpeting is a clever choice to protect them against possible fatal injuries.  Remember, prevention is better than cure.  Institutions like schools (with preschool, kindergarten up to middle school years), nursing homes, home for the aged, hospitals and even private homes with very young children, carpeting is the best alternative flooring for their maximum safety.

Decorating and redecorating is possible.  Carpets can create a natural atmosphere in your home with its different types, styles, textures and colors available in the market.  You can decorate your home now depending on your taste or desired look. Carpet industry has provided us unlimited options to choose from.  If you try to visit carpet depot or retail store, there are number of designs that you can incorporate to your room decor, walls and furniture.  If you are not good in design, you may consider hiring an interior designer for them to suggest and decide what colors, design, style and texture in contrast to your walls and even to match with your existing furniture and decors at home.  But there are flooring companies like Express Flooring which offers free decorating advice and even bring their carpet samples into your home together with their design consultants.  As part of the package make sure to ask them if they do offer the same service to save your dollars.

Express Flooring’s Earth-Friendly Flooring

When it came time for Robert and Mary Lizunno to replace the floors in their home in Phoenix, they struggled with the options. "It had to be beautiful," the Lizunnos say, "but we also wanted to make sure we were conserving nature."

In the end, they chose Express Flooring’s Tigerwood, an amber-striped hardwood from Bolivia. The 3-inch tongue- and-groove planks came from trees that had been grown without chemical pesticides or fertilizers and were selectively cut down one at a time, rather than clear-cut in one fell swoop. "The decision to buy eco-friendly wood was the socially responsible thing to do," the Lizunnos say.

Robert & Mary are part of a growing group of consumers who, when it comes to flooring, actually can see the forest for the trees. They're driving the market for "sustainable" products—those made from trees that have been raised and harvested with minimal damage to the environment.

Unlike homeowners of a few decades ago, who had fewer options when it came to saving trees, today's environmentally conscious remodelers don't have to sacrifice the look, feel, and durability of wood underfoot. In fact, sustainable flooring comes in all the popular species: white and red oak, cherry, maple, red birch, hickory, even exotics like teak, rosewood, and cumaru. And it doesn't cost a fortune. Four-inch wide, medium-grade American cherry that has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)—an international nonprofit organization promoting responsible forest management — costs low as $2-5 a square foot, the same as standard cherry.

Express Flooring, a retailer in the Phoenix, & Tucson markets, has seen its sales of certified wood double in the last three years. "Environmental concerns are starting to have a very real effect on the wood marketplace, and it's about time," says Jason Bryan, Express Flooring’s director of product sales and marketing. 

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.