Back to School Traffic

With school about to begin for 2017, our homes are more chaotic than we could imagine and our floors need more care than ever before! Whether it is markers from the most recent art project, mud from the soccer cleats, or spills from after school play dates, our rugs are certainly taking a hit. Sparkle Floors and Carpet wants to provide you with the best tips to clean your carpet and avoid those ugly stains from moving in for good.

Whether it is markers from the most recent art project, mud from the soccer cleats, or spills from after school play dates, your rugs have certainly taken the brunt of family living.

Sparkle Floors and Carpet wants to provide you with the best tips to clean your carpet and avoid those ugly stains from moving in for good.

• The safest and easiest way to try and remove stains is with a damp cloth and warm water. If this is effective, you should consider yourself extremely lucky. However, for tougher stains, you may be required to try a few other options.
• Another solution for removing a tough stain is a store bought carpet product. When using a store bought carpet product with chemicals, make sure to test the carpet in a less visible area. If after about an hour, your carpet hasn’t become discolored or damaged, you can then try the cleaner on the stubborn stain.
• If damp water and over the counter cleaners don’t work, you may want to try and rent a professional grade carpet cleaner. Although this is a more expensive option, these steam machines are more powerful and more likely to remove dirt and grime. (Call us for a quote!)

At Sparkle Floors and Carpet we want to help you keep your carpet as clean and beautiful as the day you bought it. If you need your rug replaced, or have any carpet questions, please give us a call as we are always happy to help.

Flooring Choices Expand

While the economy is getting stronger, today’s cost conscious consumer is more demanding than ever when it comes to getting value for money with flooring.  This desire for value is driving current trends.

“There’s definitely been a shift from spending to savings,” says Chris Davis, the president and CEO of the World Floor Covering Association. “But that doesn’t mean consumers aren’t buying flooring: it means they’re looking for value and comfort. They might not be moving up right now, but they’re still into feathering the nest.”

And it seems that flooring manufactures are getting the message loud and clear.  They have been reining in some of the high end marketing and concentrating on sensible, low-maintenance products that are easy on the budget.  They are providing tremendous value, especially in the areas of vinyl and carpet.

Vinyl has become a tremendous growth area, mostly due to the extreme innovation that has been introduced in the industry over recent years.  Gone are the days of only a handful of colors and limited styles.  We have now welcomed in the days of ‘anything’ goes!

Vinyl comes in many shapes and sizes, textures and thicknesses.  It now emulates everything from bamboo and wood grain to porcelain and stone.

Carpet has always come in a wide range of styles, colors and varieties.  However, there has been an increase in the choices available on all levels, ensuring that there is just the right choice for your home.

If you have questions about what flooring choices are best for you and your family, please come and visit us in our showroom at 451 Park Avenue in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.  We look forward to serving you!

How to Select Quality Laminate Flooring

If you’re in the market for laminate flooring, durability and value should be your top priorities. Many people equate low cost with low quality, but this isn’t always true. By learning how to choose quality plastic laminate or engineered wood flooring for you home, you can make your house look great without breaking the bank.

The most important factor to consider when choosing your laminate flooring is where in the house you plan to install it. Areas with high foot traffic, like your kitchen and foyer, and those more likely to face stresses like pet claws and wheels from bikes and skates need a floor with a higher AC rating. Every laminate has an AC rating of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most durable.

You’ll also need to determine whether plastic laminate or engineered wood is the better choice for your home. Plastic laminate is better suited to stand up to water and outside debris. Engineered wood can provide more of a natural look, but it is more expensive than plastic laminate and it can become damaged in high-moisture areas. Unlike plastic laminate, though, engineered wood can be sanded and refinished up to three times in its life, giving you the opportunity to have “new” floors without having to actually replace them down the road.

When you’re shopping for quality laminate flooring, ask the salesperson the following questions:

• What grade is this product? Laminates are graded as good, better, and best, and priced accordingly.

• Is the product certified by NALFA? All laminates certified by the North American Laminate Flooring Association pass 10 quality-assurance tests, such as stain and water resistance.

• What is the product’s ISO rating? Quality laminates have a rating of 9001.

We are here to help you choose and install the ideal laminate floor for your home. Give us a call or visit our showroom today to get started.

Refinishing your Floors Improves the Value of your Home

When you’re looking to sell your home, you want to do all you can to improve its value. Don’t be overwhelmed by the concept. A lot the improvements that can make a big impact on your home’s value are fairly simple jobs that take at most, a weekend or two to complete. One of the simplest improvements you can make is refinishing your floors.

Scratched and dinged hardwood floors can look new again with a new coat of finish. First, you’ll need to sand the old finish off with a buffer, which will remove the scratches. After vacuuming up the buffer dust, apply a coat of polyurethane finish to the floor and allow it to dry. You might need more than one coat to complete the job.

If you’ve got laminate flooring, do NOT sand it. Refinishing a laminate floor is a much different process from refinishing a hardwood floor. It requires a floor stripping solution, which you can apply with a slop mop. Then, use a buffing machine to scrub the floor clean, followed by vacuuming the floor and rinsing it with a clear water mop. After the floor has dried, apply a floor sealer, followed by a floor finish to complete the job.

Replacing or refinishing your floor can net you more than 100 percent on your investment. Think about it – if you were a prospective buyer visiting a home, what would a scratched floor or dirty carpet tell you about its seller?

If your floors need more than just a quick fix, let our team help you! Stop by our showroom and see how new floors can make a great impression on everybody who enters your home.

Waterproof Flooring Options

There are many areas in your home where you may want to have water proof options for flooring, such as the kitchen, the bathroom, the basement and outdoor, undercover areas such as porches.

Bring the beauty of natural hardwood or stone to any room in your home with Armstrong’s innovative Luxe Plank waterproof flooring. Bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms, basements and beyond – no area is off limits!

Luxe Plank waterproof flooring is available in a striking array of hardwood designs and colors. Choose from exotic fruitwood, empire bamboo, Peruvian walnut and many other irresistible wood species. This luxury vinyl flooring is available in two different collections.

Water proof flooring has moved up in the world – it can now look like any other type of flooring. Gone are the days where vinyl flooring is ugly squares with polka dots or lurid rolled goods.  In addition to a wide variety of wood grain looks, vinyl can be made to look like ceramic, stone, cork – just about any type of surface known to flooring!

If you want to redo the ‘damp’ areas of your home, come in and talk to us about all the options that are out there!

Explore new Flooring Options

Summer is a great opportunity to explore new flooring options, and we are happy to share our favorite ones!  If keeping your home cool is one of your priorities, try some of these options

Bamboo Flooring –Bamboo is an excellent flooring choice as it helps heating up your floors in winter and gives a cooling effect in summer. They have a controlled moisture content, therefore making it crack and split resistant throughout the year. Bamboo adds uniqueness to a room and is also very durable and reasonably priced.

Hardwood Flooring – Hardwood is frequently the most common and most preferred flooring. It’s an excellent selection for flooring your patios, living rooms, and bedrooms and is foot friendly in both the summer and winters.

Tile Flooring – Tiles are a great summer choice as it cools down your flooring and room temperatures, making it easy to fight the heat. In areas of the world where it’s colder, tiles are not an ideal pick for many people as the winter are hard to manage with tile flooring. Due to its easy maintenance and durability, tile flooring is increasingly popular. There is also a vast variety to choose from with attractive designs and colors.

Flooring type is the best way to combat the heat, but few precautions can alter heat waves entering our homes.

Using thick curtains that help avert the suns heat reaching the floor. Most of the floors get heated up due to this heat energy.

Free flow of air in the room should be allowed to cool down the flooring.

Spring Flooring Trends

We kept ourselves warm this winter by thoughts of the nice weather ahead, and have been digging deep for what will be the hottest design trends.  Now that the birds are chirping, the warm weather is here and our fun spring clothes are back in rotation, we are excited to share our findings with you!

As our clothes go through a changing period, so do many homes. So, if you’re looking to give your walls a fresh new style with color, and then match the new look with new flooring, then look no further because we are excited share with you several of our favorite new hot trends.

One of our favorite new spring colors is golden yellow, if correctly used, it will add a lot of uniqueness to your space. When paired with white, both colors work together to create a sense of elegance. You want your room to make you happy, and this color will certainly bring a smile to your face.

You can then pair the new color on the wall with a new rug color.  We have many new styles of name brand carpets, with many colors and patterns to choose from – and we will talk you through the many variables you need to consider when choosing just the right carpet for your living area.

Of course, wood and laminate flooring are hot in home décor due to the texture and character that it adds to a space. Furthermore, it’s not just floors anymore when it comes to adding wood. If you have empty spaces, such as ceilings or wall space above your bed, you can create a truly amazing ambiance in your home by using wood on the ceiling! Nothing beats having many options, so stop into our showroom and talk to a flooring expert today!

Keep your Pets in Mind when Picking a New Floor

When it comes to choosing new floors as a pet owner, it is incredibly important to keep your pets in mind with regards to the durability, resilience, and the necessary maintenance that each flooring option requires. The last thing that you want to do is to purchase flooring that is not built to withstand the demands of your animals.

Pets cause wear and tear to your floors no matter how well-behaved they are, but our products will stand up to any messes left by your furry children! Our durable products withstand your animals running around, any accidents that may occur, and are available for both soft and hard surfaces.

Our experienced staff can discuss the different options and help you select the best one to pair with whatever type of animals may be part of your family.

So, whether your family prefers one type of flooring over the other, you can rest assured that no matter what your flooring preference is, we have you covered. Stop in our showroom and see all of the pet-friendly flooring we have to offer!

Taking the Leap to White Floors?

As we happily welcome the spring and warm weather, many of us like to brighten our homes with perhaps lighter colors. Some even dare to do the ultimate – go white, with décor and flooring!

For those who haven’t yet made the leap to white floors, maybe you are wondering… is it a tremendous hassle to keep clean? What is the best way to achieve the look of staying pristine through the years?  So, let’s take a look at the pros of white flooring, and the important things to consider before opting for this potentially life-changing decision!

One major “pro” of white flooring that many don’t realize is that it actually goes with just about all décor styles. If you like shabby-chic, farmhouse, warm, ultimate glam, super luxurious, or velvety soft, white will compliment all of the above styles.  Another major plus for white flooring is that no matter what kind of house you have, it’s going to look cleaner, brighter, more open and airy. It creates a simple, uncluttered, calming and peaceful space to live.

White walls are excellent for bouncing natural light around your space, so it’s an especially good choice for rooms that may not have a lot of natural light flowing in. White flooring also has the advantage of truly showcasing your furniture or art, especially if the rest of the space is also mainly white. They also are a great counterbalance for walls that are painted in dark colors.

Ultimately, though, whether or not you can live with a white floor when you have kids and / or pets is something only you can figure out. Come into our showroom and let us help you decide! To get this look right, you need to make sure you hire the right professional, and we are qualified to do the job right and we always give our top-quality guarantee.

Keeping Up with the Weather!

With winter an its way out and Spring trying to make an appearance, there are many ways that mud, slush and all kinds of organic material can be tracked into your home!

In order to protect your floors, it is necessary to get organized.  Below are a few ideas on how to keep your floors in mint condition through the variable weather of Spring.

• Make sure you put floor mats on both the outside and the inside of entry ways.
• Have a specific place to put wet shoes so that the excess water doesn’t get to your floors. Consider having back up mats to ensure that they are always clean and dry to best absorb water.
• Vacuum the salt and / or sand right away. Some debris is bound to be tracked in your house past the floor mats, so be sure to vacuum any visible salt or sand so it doesn’t get into the flooring or carpets!
• Be sure to use a recommended cleaner for floors, since not all of them work as well as others. Ask us here at Sparkle floors what we recommend J
• Get your carpets cleaned now! Most manufactures recommend cleaning your carpet every 18 months, and now is a great time after all the mud tracked in over winter. Talk to us about cleaning your carpets!

If your floors have seen one too many Springs, come in and chat to us about replacing your flooring. !  Stop by and see us at 451 Park Ave in Scotch Plains or call us on (908) 464-2653.  We look forward to hearing from you!