From Eveningsnews.com
Hard-Surface Flooring Gains Popularity for Style and Versatility in Home
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May 6, 2006, 12:28
(ARA) - For many homeowners, the thought of replacing the flooring in their homes is a daunting prospect. Yet, updating the floors is a highly decorative, cost effective way to improve the look and value of your home.
Although wood flooring is still a popular choice among homeowners for its natural beauty and classic style, other hard-surface flooring products, such as resilient and laminate, have evolved to offer consumers a wider variety of patterns, colors, and textures. Even wood has transformed, adding new species, widths, and surface treatments. With so many choices in style and design, there’s a perfect floor for every room in your home.
“Wood is still the choice for more formal settings such as great rooms and dining areas,” said Lauren Easterly, brand manager, North America Residential. “But, because vinyl and laminate flooring offer many stylistic choices, versatility, ease of installation and maintenance, many homeowners desire these for other areas of the home such as family, bedrooms, play rooms and basements.”
The newest innovation in flooring is a new type of resilient material called FiberFloor, a high-performance option for busy areas of the home. Homeowners like it for its versatility: it’s easy to put down, take up and keep clean. It’s perfect in children’s rooms and playrooms since its thicker, softer surface offers some “give” for playful little ones. With patterns like “Bubble Fun” and “Gee-I Camouflage,” Tarkett offers a range of FiberFloor patterns in the “Play” collection all of which are hypo-allergenic, and a great alternative to carpet for children with allergies or asthma. FiberFloor also works in areas of the home such as a sunroom, workout room or basement, where moisture or humidity might make other flooring options a challenge, as FiberFloor is impervious to water.
Laminate, another hard-surface flooring option, has the unique ability to recreate the look of almost any material, pattern, color, or texture. Design-savvy homeowners choose laminate flooring not only for its true-to-life replication of materials such as wood and stone, but also for its easy installation and maintenance qualities. Laminate flooring is a great option for high-traffic areas that require frequent cleaning such as kitchens, bathrooms, hallways and entryways, but will work anywhere in the home. And, for do-it-yourselfers, it is the easiest flooring material to install.
Classic and timeless, real wood flooring continues to evolve. The newest trend in wood flooring is texture – techniques like hand scraping and hand distressing, combined with beveled edges and “blackened” seams create the visually appealing look of timeworn floors. Unlike other alternatives, wood flooring is renewable and can be resanded and refinished to completely change its look or the home’s décor. Especially popular in the most public areas of the home such as living and dining rooms, wood can be used in any room to create unmatched warmth, elegance and natural beauty.
Flooring dealers and home improvement centers are good resources for learning more about the available options. FiberFloor, laminate and even some wood floors can be installed by a handy homeowner. No matter what the design preferences, décor, and maintenance requirements are for a particular homeowner, today’s flooring options have come a long way from the solid oak and carpet of a generation ago. For more information on FiberFloor, laminate or wood options or to find a dealer near you visit www.tarkett.com. Courtesy of ARA Content
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