Flooring | Home Makeover Diva

Should I Buy Formica Laminate Flooring?

09.18.2019 by Amanda Hartley //

A reader forwarded this video on to us and asked what we thought of Formica laminate flooring and whether or not he should buy Formica Laminate Flooring.

Clearly, buyers remorse is something to keep an eye out for when looking at flooring. While it can be changed, it will not likely happen without a fair amount of time, expense and of course…extra hassle.

According to the video’s description, it seems that a flooring salesman had sold them something without fully disclosing what all one needs to consider when wanting to buy Formica laminate flooring.

Like most products out there, we know of people who are both satisfied and dissatisfied with their floors from Formica and every type of laminate flooring in between. The above video isn’t in the best light or quality, so it is hard to tell exactly what is going on with that floor. Perhaps it was installed incorrectly, maybe that batch was flawed, it is impossible for me to tell.

I have heard some great things about Formica Laminate flooring and personally, I love the beveled look they give to each one of the boards for that real wood flooring look. But that aside I think it’s more important to take a moment to mention a few key facts about picking out ANY laminate flooring.

#1 – Don’t expect the flooring to look consistently like the little piece you see as a sample. There may be a large or darker grain pattern. If it is distressed looking, some boards may be more or less distressed than others. A laminate flooring’s goal is to look like real wood (or tile) and in order to help achieve that they print it with these variations. That is the beauty of natural hardwood flooring, that is why it is being imitated.

#2 – Test how scratch resistant it is before installing it in your home! It is very simple, no matter what the manufacturers warranty happens to be, give it a try anyway. Do the key test: take a sample of the flooring and place it on the floor. Then hold your keys out at shoulder height and drop them onto the board. Now pick up your keys and the sample. Inspect the board for scratches and/or dents. If you live in a home with kids and dogs go for the board that withstands the key test!

#3 – Dark colors and shiny finishes are hard to keep clean. Darker boards show everything light colored so if you have a white dog or cat, you will see their hair and will probably need to sweep daily. Shiny finishes show smudges. Especially those caused by bare feet, so if seeing those smudge marks will bother you don’t picky a glossy surface.

#4 – All boards are not created equally. The thicker the board the better it resists dents. Look for a board thickness of at least 7mm. The core of laminate boards are made out of MDF (medium density fiberboard) or HDF (high density fiberboard). High Density boards can take a beating better than medium density. So, once again if you have kids and pets or you drop a lot of stuff, get a laminate with a thicker high density fiberboard.

When it comes to any major purchase if you do your research you will get more bang for your buck. These are just four quick tips on what to look for when buying laminate flooring. Stick to these guidelines and you will be happier with your laminate flooring in the long run.

Do you have questions about the selecting or the installation of: tile, carpet or wall treatments (window blinds, etc)? Then email me your tale of woe and perhaps I will be able to answer your questions right here at the Home Makeover Diva Blog!

Mohawk Smartstrand vs. Shaw R2X Carpet

09.15.2019 by Amanda Hartley //

Recently I found a series of videos on YouTube that reminded me of the Mac vs. Windows commercials we’ve all seen on TV. The difference however, was that these videos were for Mohawk Smartstrand vs. Shaw R2X Carpet! Needless to say I was intrigued. With the exception of Armstrong, I’ve found that most flooring commercials are pretty boring! I think it just goes to show that in today’s economy everyone is fighting for their share of the market. The video’s I’m talking about are by Smartstrand carpet.

Check it out:

So as you can see, even the flooring industry can be very “dog eat dog” in their quest for the customer’s business. Now to be honest, I don’t think either carpet is really “better” than the other one. Smartstrand hasn’t been around long enough for me to really judge the wear from this new PTT polyester fiber. But if I were purchasing new carpet with children and pets in the home, its “stain resistance” to most stains would definitely get my attention.

Though what is stain free if the carpet fibers are matted? Just like with Shaw’s R2X it appears to be great with water based stains, repelling most moisture, but how is it on the other types of stains? Because what is a carpet that looks new against wear, but is stained? I say choose which is more important to you and your family and go for it. Both carpet choices are pretty darn great.

Healthy Carpet Choices

09.14.2019 by Amanda Hartley //

Today Pamela writes,

Hello Diva, Please help me as I’m confused on which eco-friendly/healthy carpet to choose for my bedroom! I know wool is good but I cannot handle the idea of bugs leaving eggs in it. After reading the blog I know my choices are: Mohawk Smartstrand vs Dupont Sorona vs Beaulieu’s Bliss. I even read there was a product SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona but I’m still a bit confused! I do not have pets or children and no allergies however I am a cancer survivor and want to make sure I do not breathe in anything unhealthy/carcinogenic. Please help! Thank you!

Pamela, I can definitely understand being wary of wool carpet. Yes it’s an all natural choice, but when left to its own devices it does attract bugs. So to counter this they add an anti-moth treatment and now you’ve just added VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds). Typically speaking people who choose wool carpet are purchasing it because it is eco-friendly, not just because it’s one of the healthy carpet choices. Also I think wool is more popular for an area rug choice than wall to wall carpeting. At least that is when I usually opt for wool!

Carpet Padding

When you are looking at healthy carpet choices, don’t forget the padding. Because another thing that will help keep the VOC’s down is to go for a carpet pad that is low VOC’s as well. Depending on where you are looking for carpeting at, ask the salesperson to see their healthy choicer or eco-friendly carpet pad.

This will definitely NOT be a rebound Pad. Rebound pads are made up of recycled foam. And that is how it looks, like a bunch of different colored pieces of foam fused together. Typically speaking low VOC padding is one solid color and either green or white or feels like memory foam. So don’t forget to include low VOC padding in your carpet buying process.

Mohawk SmartStrand and SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona

When it comes to Mohawk SmartStrand and SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona, it’s easy to get confused. However it really is only one carpet! Mohawk is the brand, while SmartStrand is the line of carpeting. And all of the SmartStrand line is made out of DuPont Sorona fiber. Hopefully that makes more sense! I know that it’s a lot of names for just one carpet style.

Both SmartStrand and Bliss brands fall into the category of healthy carpet choices. Both are certified Green Label Plus by the Rug & Carpet Institute. What this means is that they are tested and have been proven to emit a very low amount of VOC’s. As far as which carpet brand to choose? Both are good. I can’t see any overwhelming reason to go with one over the other. It will just depend on what features you like best.

Personally, I like the SmartStrand because it is also eco friendly (made from 37% corn sugar) and very stain resistant. However the Bliss has some nice features as well, such as Magic Fresh and Silver Release. These two features probably aren’t as big of a deal for you, since you said you don’t have pets. But in our “two dog house”, I could use some help with pet odor! I know for a fact that Magic Fresh helps with odors in the home, I just don’t know if it actually makes the air cleaner to breath.

Carpet Indoor Air Quality

Since both of the carpet brands offer the indoor air quality you need, I’d choose your carpet based on what you like best. What feels the best? What is the best color? And what style do you like the best? Because your most important concern is having a healthy carpet! The rest is just what appeals to your sense of style!

Do you have questions about the selecting or the installation of: tile, carpet or wall treatments (window blinds, etc)? Then email me your tale of woe (diva(at)homemakeoverdiva.com) and perhaps I will be able to answer your questions right here at the Home Makeover Diva Blog

Luxury Vinyl Flooring Planks And Tile

08.09.2016 by Amanda Hartley //

The most popular and fastest growing flooring type on the market today is Luxury Vinyl Plank or Tile. LVP (wood look) and LVT (tile look) for short. But why has this type of flooring gained so much of the market and does it deserve it? In this article, we will examine what makes luxury vinyl products so popular, as well as it’s pros and cons.

Choosing The Right Luxury Vinyl

Luxe Plank™ Luxury Vinyl By Armstrong – Two types of vinyl tiles available from Armstrong, Alterna and Alterna Reserve. Both styles offer a great natural stone look. However Alterna Reserve boasts a more stunning overall appearance that you would find with higher end stones. Luxe Plank™can be installed without grout if you prefer. Another consideration is that this luxury vinyl is available in tiles or planks. This allows you the option of using tiles in one part of your home while installing planks in another area. If you want a realistic looking floor that is modern and durable, Luxe Plank™might be right for you.
Floorte™: Luxury Vinyl Flooring By Shaw – Floorte™ offers you authentic luxury vinyl floors with a bright, impactful color palette. This vinyl flooring is waterproof, flexible, and durable. This vinyl flooring is a great idea for bathrooms, basements or anyplace else where exposure to water might take place. Floorte™is easily installed using its FOLD N GO™ locking system for easier flooring installation.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring Popularity

So why is Luxury vinyl so popular? After all, isn’t Vinyl a bad word? Many clients have told me, “All the vinyl flooring, I’ve ever seen looks cheap.” It’s time to lose your preconceived notions and stop thinking about the vinyl flooring of yesteryear folks! Just in the last 15 years alone, the manufacturing technology has changed so much.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring Offers Realism

Today’s vinyl flooring looks amazing. I’ve seen plank vinyl that looks like REAL wood. And vinyl tile I’ve had to feel with my own two hands before I could tell if it was porcelain or vinyl. And I’ve been doing this for 15 years. I used to be able to walk into a room and tell immediately what type of flooring is. Now I have to look closer, and often times feel it for warmth or texture before I can tell. On a few occasions, I’ve even had to pull up a flooring vent to see the cut edge of the flooring before I knew what it was. At first, I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t tell by just looking. After all, I’m the Home Makeover Diva. I should just know, right? Lol. Instead of being embarrassed, I’m ecstatic that vinyl looks so darn realistic. That means the flooring industry is doing something right and continues to innovate.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring is Waterproof

I strongly believe that the biggest reason Luxury Vinyl Plank is so popular is because it gives you the look of hardwood, but in a nice waterproof package. Meaning that people with kids and pets can finally have ‘nice things’. Want to put hardwood in the bathroom, but afraid of it swelling because the kids take baths in that room? No worries, luxury vinyl has you covered. Want hardwood in your kitchen, but afraid your Golden Retriever will get more water on the floor than in his mouth? That’s okay, water cleans up easy, and won’t cause the vinyl to swell under the water dish.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring is Durable

Luxury Vinyl comes in a variety of thicknesses with a range of warranties. Some are recommended for residential use only, but many have light to heavy commercial warranties. The reasoning for this is because most luxury vinyl products have the same type of finish as laminate flooring. Aluminum Oxide finishes are tough and help keep your flooring looking newer longer. Add this to a floor type that isn’t easy to dent and you have something that can take a beating but keep on ticking.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring Pros And Cons

Writing out a separate list of pros seems redundant. The above items that make the flooring so popular are biggest reasons to purchase luxury vinyl. Add to that, the wide range of colors, styles and price points and it’s easy to see why anyone would choose luxury vinyl over another type of flooring.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring Is Durable, But Not Bulletproof

Let’s not forget that while luxury vinyl is very durable, it’s not bulletproof. It’s important to remember that no matter what a sales person tells you, luxury vinyl isn’t invincible. Any type of flooring is susceptible to damage. This is true of Luxury Vinyl, even the commercial rated stuff. If you drag a piece of furniture across it, it will scratch. If you have a large dog and never clip its nails, it can leave marks. If you don’t put door mats at exterior doors and track in pieces of gravel and debris it will scratch or dent your flooring. If you don’t use felt pads under your furniture legs, especially dining room chairs, you will scratch it. But these are all easily avoidable issues. And rules you should follow for any type of flooring. By simply using common sense you can avoid most of these issues.

Luxury Vinyl Flooring Isn’t For Excessive Amounts Of Water

As for the flooring being 100% waterproof, if your fridge has a slow leak for days or weeks, it could damage the flooring. The fact is no flooring is warrantied for a water leak or excessive water. Let me repeat that, NO FLOORING IS WARRANTIED FOR A WATER LEAK. That doesn’t mean Luxury Vinyl will be damaged if you catch the water leak immediately. It just means it will probably fail if you go on vacation and come home 3 days after your water heater floods, and an inch of water has been sitting on it the whole time.

The Bottomline With Luxury Vinyl Flooring

Luxury vinyl is a solid flooring choice. This vinyl performs exceedingly well when common sense practices are used. If I had a dollar for every bad comment I’ve read online, about a product that ‘failed’ but was really an easily avoidable mistake, I’d be writing this article while sunbathing on a tropical island.

I would gladly put luxury vinyl in any room of my house. I have two older dogs, and my goal is to replace the flooring in the entire house with Luxury Vinyl Plank. My biggest reason, being because it’s waterproof. While pet accidents don’t happen very often, I’d love the peace of mind in knowing that I can easily clean up any mess.

Is This Good Carpet For My Stairs?

02.28.2015 by Amanda Hartley //

Today Camille writes:

Hello, I am purchasing a remnant of Shaw carpeting from a local carpet store (to be installed by them) for the stairs from my main to second floor. I have never purchased carpet and I am a bit confused regarding proper type. The carpet is synthetic – polyester and a Texture with a slight Frieze in style It is a medium to medium high thickness. Is this a good carpet for my stairs? I live alone with a westie terrier. In other words no kids or elderly folks.

Camille, thank you for providing all of the information needed to assess your carpet choice! That makes my job so much easier! Choosing the best carpet for stairs is never easy, especially if it is your first time. I am speaking from experience here, because the first carpet I ever selected was a terrible choice! But that’s because I knew nothing about carpeting and went strictly by price and color. The carpet I picked out was very thin and because of this, it looked terrible on the stairs. You, however, have made a great choice of carpeting for the stairs. Here’s what you did right:

First of all, you picked a carpet fiber that is a good fit compared to the amount of traffic in your home. Because you don’t have a busy household, polyester is a great choice. It allows you to get the most bang out of your buck and should hold up nicely for many years to come. And if there were any pet accidents on the carpet from your westie terrier, it would be easy to clean up and is less likely to stain.

Good Carpet For My Stairs — Click to enlarge

Second, the style of the carpet is perfect for the traffic on the stairs. The texture style with a slight frieze, and will hold up nicely in traffic areas. This is because both elements will help keep the carpet from matting down. Frieze carpet in particular, is great for this because you aren’t walking on the tips of the strands, rather the sides. Texture carpets are also better for stairs because they don’t have a uniform appearance. This helps to camouflage wear patterns.

And lastly, you picked a thickness that will hold up on the stairs and shouldn’t show the backing where it bends over the edge of a step. This is the most common mistake people make when picking out carpets. They think they need a thin carpet to bend around the steps, but in reality, all this does is make it easier for the carpet to get matted down and show wear. So by picking a carpeting in the medium density range, you are making sure that it will “stand” up to use and not mat down.

Camille you’ve already chosen a good carpet. However if you were still in the market for new carpeting here’s a tip I would have suggested:

Take a sample of the carpet or a corner of the actual remnant and bend it at almost a 90 degree angle. Be aware that the sample will be harder to bend if it has a labeling piece of paper glued to the backing. Don’t try to fold the carpet over like a piece of paper, because you don’t want to crack the backing. You just want to simulate what it would look like on a step. Once you’ve bent it the correct amount, look to see how much of the backing shows.

I’ve included images of what a good and bad carpet will look like bent over the edge of a step. The first photo is of a carpet that would be a great choice for stairs. You can hardly see any backing material at all. The carpet fibers fan out slightly, but you would have to push fibers aside to see the actual backing material.

The second photo is of a carpet that is very thin. You can easily see the line of backing where the carpet is bent. You want to avoid getting a carpet like this as much as possible. Not only will the carpet mat down quicker, but you will be stuck looking at the exposed backing every time you walk up the stairs. This probably won’t bother you as much as it did me, but just in case, I thought it was worth mentioning!

Choosing the right carpet for stairs doesn’t have to be a daunting process. You’ve just got to arm yourself with a trick or two before going to the carpeting store. Then you’ll be better equipped to pick out something that will hold up to everything your household can dish out.

Do you have questions about the selecting or the installation of: tile, carpet or wall treatments (window blinds, etc)? Then email me your tale of woe(diva(at)homemakeoverdiva.com) and perhaps I will be able to answer your questions right here at the Home Makeover Diva Blog.