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For the past ten years, everyone has believed that they needed to pull up the old carpeting and install or refinish their hardwood floors. Hardwood has been such a hot trend and it's just as popular today as it ever was. But many have forgotten about carpeting as an option in their home.

Outside of being the "must have" in home remodeling, carpeting is still a perfect choice for many and there have been some great advances in carpet technology.

First, I want to discuss the disadvantages of installing carpet. It's important to know what your up against when choosing carpeting as your home's major flooring option:

Disadvantages of Carpet:

• The major one is a problem of air quality - carpeting traps dust, dander, and allergens. With homes being more "sealed up", it can mean more problems with allergies and asthma. Odors are also easily trapped
• Cleaning is an issue - because carpeting can hold on to odors and stains, it requires more maintenance and cleaning effort to keep it looking (and smelling) good. Because the wall-to-wall carpeting is more or less attached, it cannot be removed for cleaning or replaced easily
• Durability can be another problem - carpeting simply does not last as long as many other floor options. It can fade, fray, and wear down in areas of heavy traffic
• A final consideration: carpeting is an environmental disaster waiting to happen. From the chemicals and products used to make carpet to what to do with it when you're done, carpeting is major concern. Many don't care or know about what happens to it after it's trashed

But carpeting also has some great advantages and could still be an option for your remodeling project. Carpets come in a huge variety of colors, styles, materials, patterns and fiber lengths that you can add just about anything you want to your home. Here are some other Advantages:

• Cost - carpet installed in your home is usually still less, per square foot, than many other flooring options

• Comfort - nothing beats the feel of a soft and warm carpet under your bare feet. It can help keep a drafty room warmer, acting as an insulator

• Safety - carpeting is perfect for holding down furniture, decorations, and people by offering a great non-slip surface

• Soundproofing - beside the warming insulation properties, carpeting can provide sound-deadening for nearly any type of room

Carpeting is still a great choice for homeowners and is worth considering to see if it's right for you. If you're looking for a quality carpeting installation pro, place your request on the ConstructionDeal.com website.
It's a fast, free and easy way to find a carpet company to install your new carpeting. Unlike going into a home improvement store, you'll have more carpeting choices with an independent installer and you'll be able to receive multiple bids, which will save you money.

Labels: Carpeting, Flooring Installation, Flooring Options

If you're having your flooring replaced, it might be a good idea to consider installing a radiant heat system at the same time.

You've probably heard the term before but might not know what it's all about. Radiant heat is applying a heat source directly to the floor of your house. This source disperses heat directly from the surface and radiates it around the room in an even fashion.

Radiant heating has some great advantages:

• It's more efficient than baseboard heating and the ducted forced-air heating where energy can be lost through transmission
• Because the system is more efficient it, it costs less to run
• Since heat is not being blown through air ducts, it can cut down on the amount of allergens distributed through the room or house

Radiant flooring heat can be generated by several methods - gas/electric, wood burning, solar, and more. There are 2 types of residential radiant flooring systems:

Hydronic Radiant: this is the most popular radiant flooring option. Heated water is pumped from the heating unit through tubes under the flooring surface. The temperature can be controlled through zoning sections, along with a system of pumps and thermostats, to keep colder rooms warmer and warmer rooms cooler.

Electric Radiant: this method is not nearly as efficient as hydronic heating because of the higher cost of electricity. Electrical cables are installed onto the subfloor, underneath the hardwood flooring or tile flooring. Electric radiant works best when it can be used during off-peak hours to save money. The best way to do this is to have a concrete floor which can hold onto the heat for up to 8 hours at a time - which keeps you from running the electricity during those peak hours.

If you're looking to re-do your flooring, talk to radiant heat flooring contractor about adding a radiant heat system at the same time. There are many "dry" installation methods that do not require excessive construction to install the systems. Know your options and discuss the whether your choice of flooring material works with a radiant heating plan.

And, if you need radiant flooring heat - we're here to help - ConstructionDeal.com will match you to floor heating installers at no charge. You'll have several companies calling you instead of you trying to call them at random, and that saves you time.

You'll also have several bids to do the work and you choose the best installation price - that saves you money. What more could you ask for?

Labels: Flooring Installation, Flooring Options, Radiant Heat Flooring

A great option for home flooring is concrete. But not just any concrete. There is so much more to concrete than a flat gray, dull slab of flooring that is cold and hard on your feet. Concrete has come so much farther you, honestly, wouldn't recognize it as concrete!

Decorative concrete can be made to look like so many other more expensive products that it's mind-boggling what can be done in your home at a fraction of the cost. You can have a flooring contractor install a decorative overlay that will have the look and feel of stone or tiles.

Another process is acid staining. The acid stain technique is not a paint or coating - it's a coloring process of water, acids, and inorganic salts that react with the minerals in the concrete and it creates a marbled, mottled look that can be highly polished and give a unique look to any room.

Concrete can also be used in textured applications. The flooring contractor can give an exterior flooring the look of brick or flagstone and can add stenciled or stamped designs to the surface. The texture can give a great look to decks, driveways and patios.

With a concrete floor, before your application is put down, you can add heated flooring through a radiant heat application. This can take the chill out of a room with a concrete floor. And concrete is a great conductor of heat.

For living spaces where you're concerned about the hardness of this surface, you can have your decorative concrete floor for high traffic areas and edges of the room and then simply throw down a rug for added comfort.


Concrete flooring is an inexpensive way to make your home look like it's full of rich and expensive natural stone. If you're interested in talking with a concrete flooring expert, you can post your project on ConstructionDeal.com. We'll match you up with a concrete flooring pro in your area and you can ask any additional questions you might have.

It's a fast, free and easy way to have flooring companies contact you instead of the other way around!

Labels: Acid Stained Concrete Flooring, Concrete Flooring, Decorative Concrete

There is an Italian company, called Naturegress, that makes a porcelain flooring material that offers a quality option that has the look of natural stone and offers the advantages of a regular porcelain tile. It is an extremely dense and durable tile that comes with a 50 year warranty against frost, wear, and stains and is perfect for both residential and commercial flooring applications.

The tiles have a very low water absorption rate (0.04%) and are also very slip resistant. Beyond the quality of these tiles - the product is very environmentally friendly. It's been given the Green Building Certification (ANAB-BIO-IBN) that approves it for use in any environmental design.

So, it's a quality product. But, the tiles are in that classic Italian style making them a beautiful choice for indoor and outdoor applications. There is a variety of colors, styles, and sizes to choose from.

If you check out their site and decide to order any of their tile products, you can come back to ConstructionDeal.com to find a local Flooring Contractor to install your new tiles! It's a free service to find a tile floor installer in your area. Simply post your request on our site and choose how many flooring contractors you would like to contact you - it's that easy!

Labels: flooring tiles, porcelain tiles

Bamboo flooring is on everyone lips when it comes to home remodeling. Why? It's a gorgeous material, it's eco-friendly, and it's renewable. Bamboo has been so prevalent in Asia (and in Asian design) for a reason and it has been making inroads into the United States as a flooring material and a great alternative to hardwoods.

Bamboo flooring is not just for those interested in an environmentally-friendly replacement for hardwood floor. It's booming because provides the look and feel of the hardwood, but giving a room a truly unique style as a maple or pine floor but for much less.

The prices of a bamboo flooring may appear low (typically around $1.50 to $2.00 per square foot) but you want to make sure you have your bamboo flooring finished. That's where most of the cost lies. It can be expensive to cut, sand, coat, and seal the bamboo to make it ready and durable as a flooring material. Finished, the wood can retail anywhere from $2.00 to $10.00 per square foot - depending mostly on the kind of finish sealer that is applied.

Advantages of Bamboo Flooring:

• Bamboo is very strong, with serious tensile strength
• Affordable
• Less flexing and contracting than hardwood, making it more durable
• Smaller environmental impact; renewable
• Easy to clean
• Similar to hardwood - prevent retention of airborne allergens

If you decide to go with Bamboo Flooring:

• Keep mats or rugs at doorway entrances to trap debris and dust - this will protect your flooring from harmful contaminants
• Dry mop, vacuum or dust the flooring
  
• Avoid abrasive cleaners or steel wool pads to clean flooring - water or mild wood cleaner for particularly tough spots
  
• Do not let water stand on the flooring, as with any hardwood. Clean up spills immediately to avoid staining
  
• Protect bamboo flooring from legs of furniture to avoid gouges and scraping

If you need to find a local Bamboo Flooring installation expert, we recommend that you post your request through ConstructionDeal.com. We have a network of Bamboo Flooring Contractors to help with your installation and make sure your new floor lasts a long time. It's a free service and it will save you time and money.

Labels: Bamboo, Bamboo Companies, Bamboo Flooring