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FLOORING BUYERS GUIDE & TIPS
Discount flooring liquidators and home improvement stores often choose to sacrifice the quality of wood or workmanship to reduce their manufacturing cost. Don't be fooled if the discount wood flooring appears roughly similar to fine wood flooring at the first glance. Here are important things to consider:
Hand-Scraped Flooring vs. Machine Scraping
Most hardwood flooring advertised as "hand-scraped" these days isn't hand-scraped at all-it's scraped by machines to appear hand-scraped. The patterns and marks are repetitive, and look "fake" when spread across your floor at home.
Because it's all they sell, flooring stores are committed to presenting the widest possible selection of floors, in the latest styles and colors as well as classic ones.
Flooring comes in four main varieties: hardwood flooring, carpeting, sheet & plank vinyl flooring and laminate flooring. For many reasons, hardwood flooring makes the best choice:
Of the four flooring choices, only hardwood flooring will add value to your home, "substantial value". If you sell your house someday, you probably won't recoup any money you've spent on carpeting, laminate or vinyl flooring. Here is why.
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Carpeting can easily be more expensive in the long run than hardwood flooring. Carpets wear out and must be replaced, especially in high traffic areas like stairs, hallways, doorways and children's rooms. They also get dirty and stained. Over time, the cost of installing two sets of wall-to-wall carpet will equal the cost of a one-time quality hardwood floor installation.
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Laminate flooring is not much different. It's a multi-layer synthetic flooring product, fused together with a lamination process. Laminate flooring simulates wood or stone, with a photographic appliqué layer under a clear protective layer. Laminates add no value to a home. They can also fade in direct light, warp in heat or when exposed to moisture, and, like carpeting, they have to be replaced.
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Okay, so we might be a little harsh on laminate flooring, because in all honestly, there has been great strides in the manufacturing and production of laminate flooring and with that said, it may be a great option in more then a couple of situations.
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If you are looking for a budget friendly option, this is the way to go. If you ask me Carpeting or Laminate, It's Laminate hands-down! If you want carpeting, put in area rugs.
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Kids or Pet's are another reason why laminate is a great option, since they don't scratch easily and even if it does, it can be easily be repaired.
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Tenants? yeah... laminate flooring is definitely the way to go. easily maintained and tough to scratch.
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Engineered hardwoods look exactly the same as solid wood. But there are important differences.
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Engineered flooring is composed of multiple cross-stacked layers. This makes it impervious to humidity and moisture, unlike a strip of solid wood. It also allows for the use of longer planks, providing not only a more desirable look, but also resistance to bending or bowing, as can happen with longer solid planks.
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Engineered flooring is more flexible in application as well. It can be directly glued down on a concrete slab, or stapled to a wood sub-floor. And, it can be installed on any grade level.
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As a result, engineered floors are well suited to almost every room in the house, including kitchens and dry basements, and offer superior durability in addition to uncompromisable beauty.
