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Hardwood Floor Maintenance
Routine Maintenance

With today's advances in wood flooring stains and finishes, cleaning your wood floors has never been easier. Regular maintenance requires little more than sweeping with a soft bristle broom, and vacuuming with a soft floor attachment if your wood floor includes a beveled edge that could collect debris. You also should clean your floors periodically with a professional wood floor cleaning product recommended by the manufacturer, or call us for recommendations.

 
Preventive Maintenance

There are other steps you can take to minimize maintenance and maintain the beauty of your wood floors as well.

  1. Do not use sheet vinyl or tile floor care products on wood floors. Self-polishing acrylic waxes cause wood to become slippery and appear dull quickly.
  2. Use throw rugs both inside and outside doorways to help prevent grit, dirt and other debris from being tracked onto your wood floors. This will prevent scratching.
  3. Do not wet-mop a wood floor. Standing water can dull the finish, damage the wood and leave a discoloring residue.
  4. Wipe up spills immediately with a slightly dampened towel.
  5. Put soft plastic or fabric-faced glides under the legs of furniture to prevent scuffing and scratching. These are available at your local home improvement store.
  6. Avoid walking on your wood floors with cleats, sports shoes and high heels. A 125-pound woman walking in high heels has an impact of 2,000 pounds per square inch. An exposed heel nail can exert up to 8,000 pounds per square inch. This kind of impact can dent any floor surface.
  7. When moving heavy furniture, do not slide it on wood flooring. It is best to pick up the furniture completely to protect the wood flooring.
  8. For wood flooring in the kitchen, place an area rug in front of the kitchen sink.
Carpet Cleaning and Maintenance
From The Carpet & Rug Institute www.carpet-rug.com
 

Three steps for proper carpet care

Carpet cleaning is just like exercise! If you get into a routine and keep it up, you will see great results and feel better for it. And understanding the right way to clean carpet will help you save time by doing it correctly the first time. Below are three simple steps to keeping your carpet clean and looking great:
  1. Vacuum at the right frequency. As a rule of thumb, you should vacuum at least once a week with a good quality vacuum.
  2. Clean spots and spills quickly with products that do not damage the carpet or cause it to resoil quicker.
  3. Professionally deep clean your carpets every 12 to 18 months to remove embedded dirt and grime. Contact us for referral to a local professional carpet cleaning company

Stop dirt at the door

Preventing dirt and grime from getting on the carpet in the first place is a great way to start keeping it clean. The following helpful hints can stop dirt in its tracks.
  • Use mats — Outdoor and indoor mats or runners can reduce the amount of dirt that enters the house.
  • Take off your shoes — You can save wear and tear on carpet by asking everyone to take off his or her shoes before entering your home.
  • Change your air filters — Change air filters in your heating and air-conditioning systems as recommended by the manufacturer’s directions. The more dust and particles removed by the filter, the less that fall on the carpet.
Basic rug care
Rugs deserve the same care as wall-to-wall carpet and, in some cases, require special attention.
  • Washing rugs — If your rug is small and the label says “machine washable,” shake the rug outside first and then put it in the washing machine at the recommended temperature. Use warm water (90 to 105 degrees) and a mild detergent. Tumble your rug dry at the lowest heat setting.
  • Beating larger rugs — If your larger rug is easy to pick up, shake it outside first; then put it over a clothesline and beat it. Next, take the rug inside and vacuum it. If the label says dry clean only, then roll it up and take it to a dry cleaner. Save time and aggravation by calling first to see if the cleaner does rug cleaning — many do not.
  • Vacuuming area rugs — Area rugs with fringe require special technique. Use gentle suction and start from the center of the carpet, vacuuming toward the fringe and being careful not to catch the strands in the beater bar. Lift the carpet edge to vacuum beneath the fringe.
  • Caring for Oriental, Turkish or Persian rugs — Clean imported rugs according to your carpet manufacturer’s specifications or bring in a professional cleaning service. Be gentle with fringe. For heirloom-type rugs, you need professionals.
Myths & Truths About Carpet
 
From The Carpet & Rug Institute www.carpet-rug.com
 

Myth #1 "There are health risks associated with carpet."

Truth:

An extensive toxicological assessment of components of carpet concluded that the chemicals in carpet pose no health risks of public concern.

Myth #2 "Mold and mildew can grow in carpet."

Truth:

Mold and mildew exist ONLY where there is excess moisture and dirt coupled with poor cleaning and maintenance habits. Mold growth can occur on any surface—from windowpanes to carpet—that is not properly maintained and when moisture is extreme. Eliminating sources of excessive moisture, such as water leaks, and controlling humidity greatly offset the potential for mold to grow.

Myth #3 "Carpet is a cause of the asthma and allergy increase."

Truth:

Comparison data from Sweden supports that there is no link between carpet usage and the incidence of asthma or allergies. CRI is not aware of any published scientific research demonstrating a link between carpet and
asthma or allergies.

Myth #4 "Carpet is a sink for allergy-causing substances."

Truth:

This is true as stated. The critical point, however, is often missed. Carpet holds allergen-causing substances tightly and, as a result, keeps allergens from becoming airborne, minimizing the level of allergens in the breathing zone. This translates to lower exposure potential. The allergens held by carpet's filter-like effect may be removed by vacuuming, refreshing the filter-like properties of the carpet to allow more material to be removed from the air. Vacuuming mattresses, carpet, and upholstery once or twice a week removed allergens, including dust mite feces—a known source of allergen. It is important to use the proper type of vacuum to minimize resuspending allergens.

Myth #5 "Carpet is a source of indoor quality (IAQ) problems."

Truth:

As noted previously, an extensive toxicological assessment of components of, and emissions from, carpet concluded that the chemicals in carpet "present no health risks of public health concern." Further, allergens in carpet may be removed by vacuuming. Vacuum cleaner machines bearing the CRI IAQ Green Label meet scientifically established standards for soil removal and dust containment and help maintain good carpet appearance.

Myth #6 "Carpet is more expensive and harder to maintain than hard-floor surfaces."

Truth:

Properly maintained carpet only needs vacuuming once or twice weekly and periodic extraction cleaning. The sweeping, mopping, stripping, waxing, and buffing that hard surface floors demand are more laborious and costly.

Myth #7 "Carpet is environmentally non-sustainable."

Truth:

CRI member companies, representing over 90 percent of the industry's manufacturers, have an excellent track record over the last dozen years of decreasing wastes produced and energy consumed, improving the industry's
sustainability.

Myth #8 "Carpet is a major emitter of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)."

Truth:

Most new interior furnishings and building materials emit VOCs for a period of time. Emissions from new carpet are among the lowest of any household's indoor furnishings, and most VOCs dissipate within 24 hours—even
faster with good ventilation.

Myth #9 "Formaldehyde is used in the production of new carpet."

Truth:

Formaldehyde is not used in the carpet manufacturing process. It is not emitted from new carpet.

Myth #10 "Latex in carpet produces allergic reactions."

Truth:

The latex that holds the fibers and backing together in broadloom carpet is synthetic. Synthetic latex is not associated with the allergic reactions of natural latex, which are caused by the proteins found in natural latex.

 

Carpet: Pre-Installation Guide

A successful job begins with the appropriate preparations to ensure a smooth and timely installation, and ends with a satisfied customer who knew exactly what to expect, and recieved exactly what they wanted.

This page contains information and resources on what to do before we arrive, and what to do long after we're gone to keep your FloorCraft Floor in perfect condition.

Prior to the Arrival of our Installers:

· All personal items and valuables on furniture such as lamps, accessories, and breakables should be removed from the areas receiving carpet.
· Bedding, heating blankets, etc. should be removed from all beds and put in a room not receiving carpet. If you have a waterbed, it should be drained.
· Closet floors should be emptied and all long hanging clothes removed.
· All china cabinets, storage cabinets, bookshelves, etc. should be emptied and the contents removed from the work area.
· All electrical equipment such as TV's, VCR's, telephones, computers and related components should be disconnected prior to the arrival of our installers. We will move such equipment but we cannot be responsible for disconnecting and reconnecting.
· All inside doors must be unlocked to areas receiving carpet.
· If you have a piano, pool table, or other unusually large piece of furniture, it needs to be moved by a company qualified to move it prior to the arrival of our installers.
· Please notify us if you have hidden wiring (alarms, phones, speakers, etc.) underneath your existing carpet. We cannot be responsible for the performance of this type of wiring.


Other Items to Note:

· To properly install your carpet "is like moving out and back in again"! We will have to completely empty all rooms to ensure proper stretching of your carpet.
· Some doorways may need to be ramped up to achieve the proper transition height. We cannot be responsible for shaving the bottom of doors due to the change of height in your new carpet.
· It is impossible to install carpet without touching baseboards and thresholds, so please be advised that minor scuffs and marks should be expected and some touch-up work might be needed.
· Our installers will stretch and tuck the carpet edges against/under the existing floor baseboards. Any repositioning or height adjustment of baseboards is the customer's responsibility.