“An Ounce of Prevention….”

Flooring, paint, and countertops are long-term investments in your most valuable asset: your home. Properly treating and caring for your products will ensure your home looks almost brand-new for years to come. Select any of the topics provided to learn more about protecting these products.

Routine Maintenance

Carpet

Cleaning

The best method of carpet cleaning is to hire a professional carpet cleaner to give your carpets a thorough cleaning. Choose a carpet cleaner with the same care you’d take in maintaining any major investment, and don’t be afraid to ask your carpet cleaner for a reference and a firm estimate.

You should also have excess carpet soil extracted by means of hot water, either alone or in combination with carpet cleaning, to ensure you maintain your carpet manufacturer’s warranty. You should have a trained carpet care professional perform the hot water extraction every one and a half to two years to refresh the texture and rejuvenate the fibers of your carpet. You should retain receipts of such cleanings for proof of maintenance service, should a warranty claim arise.

Vacuuming

Regular vacuuming is also key to keeping your new carpet young, fresh, and beautiful. Dirt and grit will become embedded in the pile and affect your carpet’s color and cause matting of the pile. You’ll want to vacuum heavy-traffic areas every day, if possible. Less heavily used areas can be maintained with once-a-week vacuuming.

Make about three vacuuming passes where there is more soil, and for best results, use a vacuum cleaner with a beater bar or rotating brush with plenty of suction. Remember to adjust the attachment to the proper height for your carpet, and for loop pile, avoid attachments with teeth or ridges.

Treating Spills & Stains

The best cure for a spill is a fast response. If a spill is allowed to become a stain, it will be much more difficult to remove. There are three important steps that you must use to treat a stain:

1. Apply. Wet a clean, white (non-printed) paper towel with a cleaning solution. Then, dampen the carpet with it. Avoid soaking the carpet through to its backing.

2. Blot. Absorb excess liquid from the carpet by pressing straight down with a clean, dry, white paper towel. Do not rub. Place a half-inch thick pad of clean, dry, white paper towels with a weight on top and leave overnight if necessary.

3. Scrape. Gently scratch the soiled area with the blunt edge of a spoon. Scrape from the outside edge of the spot toward the center.

Hardwood

Lightly mist your hardwood (laminate) surface with manufacturer's approved cleaner and dry mop your floor using either a microfiber mop or cloth. Never clean or wet mop your hardwood floor with water; it can dull the finish and permanently damage the floor. Do not use any wax or cleaner that must be mixed with water, such as oil soap, as this may ruin your floor and result in the loss of the warranty.

Ceramic Tile

Clean wall tiles by wiping with a damp cloth or sponge. Sweep or vacuum (without a beater-bar) floor tiles, then use a damp mop.

Laminate Flooring

An occasional wiping with a slightly damp cloth or mop using the manufacturer’s recommended cleaner is all you need to do. Never flood the floor with water. Do not use soap-based detergents, as they may leave a dull finish on your floor. Laminate flooring, like other smooth floors, can become slippery when wet. Allow time for floors to dry after washing. Immediately wipe up wet areas from spills, foreign substances, or wet feet.

Vinyl Flooring

Occasionally damp mop the floor with the manufacturer’s recommended cleaner to remove dirt build-up. As a substitute, 2-3 capfuls of clear, non-sudsy ammonia in one gallon of water may be used. Using more than the recommended amount of cleaner may leave a dull film.

Tips for Long-Lasting Flooring

With a few easy precautions, you can enjoy the beautiful look of your new flooring for years. Here are some helpful tips to keep your floors as handsome as the day they were installed.

Keep Doormats At Every Door

Use quality doormats outside each entrance to your home to prevent dirt, sand, grit, and other substances such as oil, asphalt, and driveway sealer from being tracked onto your floor. We also suggest using a latex-based driveway sealer to minimize potential staining from asphalt tracking.

Take Special Care with Heavy Objects

Support furniture or other heavy objects with wide-bearing, non-staining floor protectors or wide-bearing leg bases/rollers. When moving heavy furniture or appliances, put down a clean sheet of quarter-inch plywood or masonite and use a dolly with wide-base air tires. Never try to slide or roll heavy objects across the floor without adequate protection. Some objects may be too heavy to be moved across a hard surface floor without damaging it.

Close Curtains and Blinds

Close your curtains or blinds where extreme sunlight hits the floor. A combination of heat and sunlight causes most home furnishings and solid surface flooring to fade or discolor.

Routinely Clean Your Floors

Vacuum, dust, mop, or sweep the floor on a daily or weekly basis to minimize abrasive grit and dirt. If you track in a fair amount of sand, you may want to vacuum or sweep more frequently. When using a liquid cleaner, be sure to dry it thoroughly to avoid a film. Read and follow the manufacturer’s directions for your specific product for recommended care and cleaning products.

Blot Spills and Spots Immediately

The best cure for a spill is a fast response. Blot and clean spills and spots immediately to prevent staining. Begin at the outer edge and work toward the center to prevent the spill from spreading.

Rearrange Furniture

Redistributing the load your carpet bears can lengthen its life. Rearrange your furniture periodically to give some areas of your carpet a rest.

What to Expect After Installation

There are a few things that may happen to your carpet after it is installed. They are nothing to be concerned about and can easily be cured.

Shedding

Most carpets retain some loose fibers after they leave the mill or store. These fibers often appear as balls of fluff on the surface of your carpet or in the vacuum cleaner. With time, they will work their way out of the carpet and no longer be a nuisance.

Sprouting

Occasionally, loose tufts will appear above the carpet surface. To remove the loose tufts, clip them to be even with the carpet’s surface. DO NOT PULL OUT LOOSE ENDS! If you do, you will permanently damage the carpet.

Shading

You may notice some variations in the color of your carpet; one area may seem to change color when you look at it from different directions. Foot traffic generally causes this to happen and the best solution is to sweep or vacuum the pile in a uniform direction.

Rippling

During times of high humidity, your carpet might experience some slight rippling. This situation usually resolves itself as the carpet settles. If the problem persists, please give us a call.

New-Carpet Smell

Like new cars, some new carpets have a “new carpet smell.” It usually goes away within a week, sometimes within days. To minimize the smell, be sure to ventilate the area as much as possible.

Static Electricity

When your home’s relative humidity is low, a static charge can build up in your carpet as you walk across it. Although your carpet will hold less of a charge as time passes, there are commercial products available which you can apply to your carpet to reduce or eliminate static build-up.

Crushing

Your carpet will display crushing in spots where heavy objects have been placed. To raise the pile back to its former height, you will have to do some vigorous brushing. You can also try passing a hot steam iron over the indentations – but bring the iron no closer than 6 inches above the carpet or you may damage it.