Carpets & Floors – 7 Easy Things to Do to Keep them Looking Great

1. Fit a Doormat

All types of carpets & floors get damaged by the small pieces of dust and grit we bring into our homes on our shoes, so get a good doormat fitted to get rid of the worst of this.  It is never too late to fit a doormat.

2. Love your Vacuum

Vacuuming is one of the best ways of keeping looking all carpets & floors as good as the day it was fitted. The dust and grit on our shoes and clothes goes into the pile of carpets and wears it down on wood products and vinyl it acts like sandpaper and gradually rubs off the top finish. Regular vacuuming (at least once a week in regularly used areas) is the best prevention of these affects.

3. Underlay

Underlay makes carpets look better for longer so use it in the areas of you home where you get lots of traffic, for example lounges and hall,stairs and landings. Fit the best you can afford and don’t fit a new carpet on old worn out underlay, because it will not support your new carpet in the heavy traffic areas, resulting in your new carpet wearing out quickly in those areas.

4. Wood and Water Do not Mix

Laminate or engineered floors in bathrooms, shower rooms or toilets do not work. It is difficult to get neat fixings around the pedestals without removing the suite and eventually the humidity will cause the planks to bend out of shape. Karndean and other luxury vinyl tile (LVT) products come in wood plank and ceramic designs and look just as good in a bathroom and are much more practical.

5. Colours

When you are choosing carpets & floors make sure you see the samples in the room where the flooring will be fitted in both natural and artificial light. Try to avoid choosing your flooring from a tiny 4″ sample, larger pieces will look much lighter.

6. Preparation! Preparation!

The quality of the sub-floor under you chosen floor coverings will affect the final finish. Laminate and engineered wood floors need a smooth dry floor. Vinyls need a dry smooth floor with the all old flooring and adhesive removed.  Any old adhesive will cause staining on your new vinyl. Carpet is much more tolerant of slight imperfections in the sub-floor.

7. Use a Qualified Floor Fitter

Of course you can fit your carpets & floors yourself, but the benefits of a qualified fitter are:

  • They estimate how much material you need, avoiding any unnecessary waste.
  • The will bring the new carpet to you, so you don’t need to squash it into your car
  • They will uplift and dispose of old flooring (you should expect to pay for this)
  • They have all the right tools to do the job
  • They will get the job done quickly

Look for fitters with NVQ qualifications or Masterfitter status from the National Institute of Carpet and Floorlayers. In both these cases the fitters will have been trained and the quality of their fitting assessed.  A good carpet fitter should also be fully insured.

 

 

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Take a look at our blog for a range of information about carpets, vinyls and wood flooring.