Carpet Options from Simply Floored

Carpets from Simply Floored are available in a variety of styles and designs, with a choice of different patterns. A few of the carpet solutions we offer are:

Cut Pile Carpet – created by cutting the looped yarn

Berber (Loop Carpet) – the looped yarn is left intact

Patterned carpets – created combining looped yarn with cut yarn, or using different heights of looped yarn, to create a unique pattern.

Patterned Carpets (Cut and Loop)

Patterned carpets blend cuts and loops in varying heights for dramatic, unique patterns, ranging from floral to geometric designs. The shading created by the variety of heights and/or textures also helps to hide dirt.

Patterned carpets can also be created using multi-level loops or printing a design directly onto the carpet to create unique patterns. Patterned carpets made with multi-level loops give it a stylish, often dramatic look.

Simply Floored’s patterned carpets will beautify your Atlanta Home

At Simply Floored you will have many gorgeous carpet options to help you find the perfect choice to meet your unique style and budget.  We have hundreds of styles, colors, textures and patterns of carpet to choose from, each creating a different feel in the home. If you are looking for patterned carpets, our design consultant will assist you in choosing a carpet style, pattern, and color that is best suited to your home.

A patterned carpet can be used in any room in your home, irrespective of the size of the room.  As a rule, however, larger patterns look better in large rooms and smaller patterns do well in small rooms.

The primary patterned carpets offered by Simply Floored are tufted, woven and knitted

Tufted carpets

Tufted patterned carpets are created by inserting tufts of yarn with needles through a fabric backing. Single colored or non colored yarn is inserted into the tuft machines to make tufted carpets. If the yarn used is non-colored than it will be dyed or printed with a pattern as a separate process. Axminster is one type of tufted carpet used primarily for patterned carpets in multiple colors.

Woven carpets

Woven carpets are available in many different textures such as looped or velvet.

Knitted carpet

Knitted carpets are faster to make than woven carpets. Knitted carpet is made by a process where several sets of needles create loops and are then stitched together before the backing is applied. Knitted carpets offer variations in color, pattern and texture.

Convey your personal style with Patterned Carpets from Simply Floored

The patterned carpets you select at Simply Floored are a beautiful extension of your personal style. If you’re ready to get “floored”, just complete the Free Consultation form to the left and Simply Floored, Atlanta’s premier flooring company, will contact you to schedule your FREE in-home carpet consultation.

Engineered Flooring: Hardwood for the Educated Consumer

Engineered flooring is one of the best ways to put quality flooring into your home.  Engineered hardwood flooring is “real” hardwood, made from 100% hardwood, but because of the way it is constructed, it is a perfect option for concrete subfloors or floors that are below grade.  However, as more homeowners become educated about engineered hardwood flooring, it is gaining momentum in all other applications for the home.

Engineered flooring has a unique advantage in that it is very dimensionally stable.  The reason engineered flooring is dimensionally stable is because of its multilayer construction.  With engineered flooring there are typically a minimum of three layers of wood that make up the board.  Higher quality engineered flooring products will have a minimum of five layers.  Each layer in an engineered flooring product runs in an opposing direction from the previous layer.

Since each layer in engineered flooring runs in an opposing direction the board or plank can not expand and contract against itself.  Since hardwood traditionally expands and contracts which causes buckling and warping, engineered flooring is a wonderful option for the homeowner to avoid such situations.

Engineered flooring generally comes with long warranties on the structure of the product.  The warranties on engineered flooring can extend as long as the lifetime of the product.  Typically the warranty on engineered flooring states that the product will not buckle, warp twist or bow.

In addition to the construction of the product, engineered flooring products are most often pre-finished.  If an engineered flooring product is pre-finished it means that the product had all stains and sealants applied in the manufacturing facility.  This allows engineered flooring finishes to be much stronger and more consistent.  These finishes also allow engineered flooring to be installed much faster.

High quality engineered finishes can have aluminum oxide in them.  Aluminum oxide is the second hardest substance next to diamonds and allows engineered flooring products to be very scratch resistant.  Some engineered flooring products have Teflon in the finish.  The Teflon engineered flooring makes the product very easy to clean.  Some engineered flooring products can be cleaned with a simple solution of Windex and water.

Although there are many advantages to engineered flooring being pre-finished, some engineered flooring is sold unfinished and finished on site.  The one specific use for an unfinished engineered flooring product is when it is used in a home that has traditional solid sand and finish flooring.  The unfinished engineered flooring product can be finished to match the floors in the rest of the home.  Engineered flooring allows basements in older homes to have the same look and feel as the other levels of the house.

No matter what type of flooring project, engineered flooring has proven to be an excellent choice for home improvement.

Why Porcelain Offers the Best Value in Tile Flooring?

Tile is becoming a more popular floor covering choice for a number of reasons:

• It creates a rich, elegant style for any room
• Design options are limitless
• Colors and finishes range from rugged earth tones to stunning metallic and glass tiles.
• Grout, the color filler applied in the space between the tiles, can contrast or coordinate with the tiles or nearly match the color.
• It’s practical: tile’s durable surface is stain resistant and won’t fade or burn.
• Both glazed and unglazed tiles resist absorbing moisture, so they’re exceptionally easy to keep clean.

Tile can be cut from natural stone, such as marble or granite, offering a distinctive and beautiful look.  However, natural stone has its disadvantages:

• It’s porous, so it stains easily;
• It can be very fragile and will break more easily than porcelain; and
• It is very expensive.

Ceramic tile is the oldest known flooring material.  It has been made the same way for centuries:  a mixture of clays and other natural materials are mined from the earth, shaped, colored and fired at high temperatures.

Various clays are blended to a fine powder and pressed together to form the body of the tile.  The pressed clay body is then dried to reduce the moisture content.  In the case of glazed tile, one surface is coated with a colored glaze made from a glass derivative called “Frit”.  The glaze is permanently fused to the surface of the tile by firing in kilns at 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, forming a finished product that is hard and non-porous, with an impermeable surface.

Porcelain is a form of ceramic tile made from a very fine mix of clay and minerals – far different from regular ceramics – formed under extremely high pressure and fired at higher temperatures than standard ceramic tile.  The result is a material that is stronger and more durable than standard ceramic and very resistant to moisture and stains.

Superior porcelain tile is especially resistant to scratching, staining and fading, and it never needs sealing.  Through-body porcelain tiles are colored throughout the entire tile, so there is little danger of color loss due to wear.

Porcelain represents the best overall value in tile because:

• It’s available in various styles and faithfully replicates natural stone;
• It performs better than standard ceramic tile or natural stone (much more durable and stain resistant, outperforming even granite); and
• It is significantly more affordable than natural stone.

Hardwood or Laminate Flooring:  Are you confused?

Trying to understand the differences between hardwood and laminate flooring can be very confusing.  Simply Floored would like to help you decide which product is best for you and, more importantly, your home.

First, you need to understand the different types of hardwood available.  Solid hardwood floors have been around for a long time.  They are generally ¾” thick and can be purchased raw or pre-finished.  Because each plank is made from a single piece of wood, it tends to be very expensive.  In addition, solid wood floors expand and contract with changes in temperature.  In summer, humidity causes hardwood to expand, causing the planks to buckle.  In winter, as the moisture decreases, the floor planks contract, leaving gaps.  The high levels of moisture are the primary reason that solid wood floors are not recommended in basements or over concrete.

The “other” type of hardwood, which is becoming more and more popular, is multi-layer, cross grain constructed hardwood.  This product is sometimes referred to as “engineered” hardwood, a misleading name because it implies that the wood is not real.  Some people even mistake engineered hardwood for laminate.

Engineered hardwood is 100% real wood.  It is constructed by taking multiple layers of hardwood (5 or more layers on better quality products) and fusing them together at 90⁰ angles to create a stronger, more stable hardwood.  The top layer is made from the species that defines its look (such as oak or an exotic cherry).  The interior layers are made from lesser expensive, but generally very hard, species of hardwood to increase the strength of the flooring (which is why engineered hardwood is more affordable than solid hardwood).

Multi-layer, cross grain constructed hardwood is gaining popularity because it is significantly more stable than solid hardwood, which means your floor will be much less likely to warp or buckle.  That’s because, with each layer fused at 90⁰ angles, the wood is less likely to expand and contract with changes in temperature.  The increased stability means that engineered hardwood can be used for floors that are below grade or on concrete, something you wouldn’t do with solid wood.

One of the “myths” about engineered hardwood is that, because it’s made from layers of hardwood, it can’t be refinished.  That’s simply not true.  You CAN refinish engineered hardwood up to 3 times.

Laminate is an attractive substitute for hardwood flooring, offering the look (and in some cases the feel) of hardwood floors at more affordable prices.

Laminate flooring is created by taking a photograph and attaching it to a high density fiberboard using heat and pressure.  Higher quality laminates use high definition imaging to create unbelievably realistic looking laminate.

The photograph is covered with a layer of polyurethane, which protects the floor from fading, scratching and wear.  Higher quality laminates use a form of urethane infused with aluminum oxide, the second hardest substance known to man, which substantially increases the resistance to scratching.

Better laminates are “textured” to create a more realistic look and feel.  The texture is added to the wear layer through a process called “embossing”, which involves pressing patterns into the surface.  The best quality laminates use a process called “embossing in register”, where the textured pattern actually follows the grain in the image, creating an even more realistic look and feel.

Laminate floors are extremely durable, with greater resistance to scratching and scuffing than most hardwood floors.  It is even more stable than engineered hardwood, so you can use it virtually anywhere in your home, including bathrooms and kitchens where water and moisture can be an issue.  Laminate is incredibly easy to maintain and never needs refinishing (which is good considering that laminate can’t be refinished).  And, most importantly, laminate is much more affordable than hardwood, particularly if you are interested in a more exotic or rustic style of flooring.

So which type of floor is right for you?

To make an educated decision, you need to answer some questions.

Does the value of your home warrant the investment required for hardwood?

If the value of your home is around $100,000 or less, investing in hardwood flooring may not make sense.  While hardwood floors generally add value to a home, it won’t make a difference if homes in your neighborhood don’t sell for more than $100,000.  Under such circumstances, you can achieve the look of hardwood, with more durability, easier maintenance and less cost, by selecting laminate.

On the other hand, if your home is worth more than $100,000 and prices in your neighborhood are rising, hardwood is one of the best investments you can make.

How long do you plan on living in your home? If you are planning on staying in your home for the next 7-10 years and you don’t want to have to replace your floors again when you move, an investment in hardwood makes sense.  A better quality hardwood floor will last for many years, and you can always refinish the floor if you want to change the look.

Are you thinking of selling your home in the near future?

If you are thinking of selling, you will definitely want to consider hardwood.  Any real estate professional will tell you that homes with hardwood floors sell faster and for more money.  While laminate flooring can certainly add warmth and charm to your home, it is not likely to increase your home’s value (because laminate is not considered a “permanent” floor, so buyers do not assign value to the floor).

Have you established a budget? Hardwood is a great investment and one of the most elegant styles of flooring…but good quality hardwood flooring, installed professionally, is not inexpensive.  If you have budgeted $7 per square foot or less for this project, you should go with laminate.  The good news is that there are some higher quality laminates that look and feel like wood, but with greater durability and easier maintenance.

You can find engineered hardwood at prices of $7 per square foot or less.  But watch out, because you get what you pay for.

Lower priced, lesser quality engineered hardwood is characterized by:

• Fewer layers of hardwood in each plank
• 3 layers versus 5 layers found in premium engineered hardwood
• With only 3 layers, the plank is substantially less stable, meaning it is more likely to warp or buckle.
• Softer hardwood, from Central and South America, rather than the stronger, but more costly hardwood from North America.
• Finishes that use fewer layers and standard urethane, resulting in floors that will scratch and aren’t as easy to clean.
• Planks milled to lower tolerances, resulting in floors that don’t fit together cleanly, leaving gaps between planks and uneven heights.
• Installers that are not insured or background checked and are not trained to install the hardwood consistent with manufacturer specifications, which voids the warranty.

To get a better quality hardwood, professionally installed, that will last and look as good twenty years after it’s installed as it does when you first buy it, you are going to invest anywhere from $8 per square foot to as much as $20 per square foot, depending on the style of hardwood selected.

Remember, you can purchase good quality hardwood or laminate, or poor quality.  You can get a professional installation, according to the manufacturer’s specifications (which protects the warranty), or you can use uninsured day laborers with little or no experience with the product you selected.  A good quality laminate can cost as much (and perform better) than a lower quality hardwood.  Just make sure you know what you are getting, because you always get what you pay for.

How will the room be used?  What type of traffic will it endure?

With high quality, pre-finished hardwood floors, durability and maintenance don’t have to be an issue.  Some premium hardwoods are pre-finished with urethane infused with aluminum oxide, the second hardest substance known to man.

Better quality laminate floors offer incredible durability and easy maintenance at an even lower cost.  And with advanced engineering, you can achieve the look and feel of hardwood.

Does choosing carpet floor make you dizzy?

Been to a flooring store lately? Notice the rows and rows of carpet samples that all look alike and sales people who can’t explain the differences?  After awhile, your head starts to spin.  But it doesn’t have to be this confusing.  Simply Floored would like to help make it simple.

When it comes to choosing carpet, style and performance are the two most important factors (other than, price, which is directly impacted by style and performance).

Carpet styles can be divided into five primary categories: Saxony, Textured and Frieze are cut pile carpets, meaning that the tufts of yarn are cut after being threaded through the backing.  Berbers are created by leaving the loops of yarn in place.  Patterned carpets combine cut pile with loop yarn, or loop yarn of different heights to create distinctive patterns.

You can learn more about these different styles of carpet here.  But finding the right style of carpet is only the first step.  How that carpet will perform in your home (e.g., stand up to regular wear and tear including daily traffic, spills and pets) is also an important consideration. 

Carpet performance is determined by four factors:

• The fiber used to make the yarn;
• How the carpet is constructed;
• The carpet backing; and
• The pad over which the carpet is installed.

FIBER - Most carpet today is manufactured with synthetic, or man-made, fibers.  The fiber represents 75% of the cost of making carpet, so the type of fiber has a significant impact on carpet price.

The three most common fibers are olefin, polyester or nylon.

Olefin is a relatively inexpensive fiber used to make cheaper Berbers.  It is solution dyed, which means the color is added as the yarn is produced.  This “locks in” the color, creating a fiber that is highly resistant to staining and fading.  However, Olefin is not as resilient as other man-made fibers, so Olefin carpet is more likely to crush and matte over time.  Olefin also has an oily residue on its surface, causing dirt to adhere to the yarn, so Olefin carpet is more likely to appear soiled over time.  You’ve probably seen carpet stains near entryways that just won’t come out:  that’s Olefin.

Polyester is the most widely used fiber for residential carpets because it is relatively soft, inherently stain and fade resistant, can be made in rich, bright colors (because it’s dyed AFTER the yarn is produced) and is very affordable.

With advances in engineering, premium Polyester fibers are now available offering some of the best values in carpet, with increased softness and enhanced durability.

Nylon is the premium man-made fiber, offering more value for your money than any other carpet fiber.  Nylon is incredibly soft, durable and resilient.  It is highly resistant to wear, stains and fading and is available in a wide array of colors, from softer neutrals to bright, bold colors.  Special branded nylon fibers, such as PermaSoft Nylon from Beaulieu or DuPont’s STAINMASTER Tactesse Nylon, have been developed using state-of-the-art technology to produce softer, yet even more durable and stain resistant carpets.

CONSTRUCTION – How a carpet is constructed impacts how the carpet will stand up to daily wear.

Twist refers to how tightly the yarns in each tuft are twisted together.  A tighter twist produces a carpet with more consistency in appearance and greater resistance to matting and traffic.  Carpets with low twist are more likely to become unraveled and fray at the ends over time.  Don’t be fooled by inexpensive carpet featuring high pile height but less twist, creating the appearance of a fuller yarn. Over time, the yarn will unravel, or “flower”.

Density is a factor of weight, pile height and, most importantly, how close the tufts are spaced together.  Tufts that are closer together are higher in density resulting in better performance. You can measure density by pressing down on the carpet with one finger and seeing how easy or difficult it is to penetrate the backing.  Better, denser carpets are more difficult to penetrate.

Most sales people focus on carpet “weight”, but weight by itself does not tell you enough about the carpet’s quality.  Density is a much more critical measure of a carpet’s performance.  Beware of lower-priced carpets that feature relatively high weight in ounces but low density, as they tend to matte and crush very easily.

Carpet Backing – Yarn is stitched through a backing material to create tufts.  The carpet backing holds the yarn in place. The quality of the backing impacts the carpet’s durability, seam strength and overall appearance.  Standard backing is made from woven polypropylene.  Less quality carpets use backing made from cheaper chemicals that make the backing tough and brittle.  Over time, the backing loosens up, causing the carpet to sag and wrinkle.

Premium carpet backing, made from fiber, offers many benefits over standard backing.  Premium backing is softer and more flexible, making the carpet more comfortable to walk on.  Premium backing also produces cleaner seams that are less vulnerable to peaking and are woven so tight that spills stay above the pad longer, giving you more time to clean before it stains the carpet.

Carpet Pad - In terms of a carpet’s performance, carpet pad is as important as the carpet itself.  Carpet pad helps increase comfort and maintain the carpet’s original appearance by absorbing foot traffic and improving the efficiency of vacuuming. Selecting the “correct” pad (as specified by the manufacturer) helps minimize matting and crushing, as well as soiling and staining. A quality pad can increase the useful life of carpet by 50%, allowing the carpet to maintain its pile height and stay looking new longer.  Most importantly, using a pad that does not meet manufacturer specifications (or reusing the existing pad instead of replacing it with new pad) voids product warranties.

Of course, selling an inexpensive pad is an easy way to get the price down… at your expense!  Ever spill something on the carpet and clean it up, only to find the stain reappear the next day?  That’s because, with poorer quality pads, the spill seeps into the pad, where you can’t see it until it wicks back up into the carpet after you think you have cleaned it.

Premium carpet pads contain moisture barriers that keep the spills above the pad, so you have time to clean the stain without having it wick back up.  Some pads even contain anti microbial chemicals that help break down odors in the carpet.

With so much to consider when shopping for carpet, doesn’t it make sense to have a professional who can help you make a more informed decision?  With Simply Floored, our Design Consultant will come to you, with over 1,800 flooring options that you can compare against your own patterns and colors, and will answer all of your questions.  Our dedicated team will make sure your job gets done right, including installation by experienced professionals.

Simply put, Simply Floored offers the best value in flooring!

WHY QUALITY MATTERS IN FLOORING  PRODUCTS

Every flooring company says this, right?

Yes, but not everyone does it.  The vast majority of flooring products sold each year are comprised of cheaper, lesser quality flooring.  Why?  Because it’s easier to sell on price than to explain why a quality product is better than the cheaper alternative.  Most consumers know very little about the differences between products, so sales people can get away with knowing very little themselves.

At Simply Floored, that doesn’t work because we really intend to stand behind your project and we can’t do that if we sell inferior (but less expensive) products.  Our Design Consultants receive extensive training in product knowledge and installation methods, so they understand the differences in products and can explain it to you.

BROAD SELECTION

Simply Floored isn’t the only flooring company that will send someone out to your home.  But we don’t send a sales person with 3 samples in the back of his car: we send a trained Design Consultant in a customized van carrying over 2,300 flooring options.

Most sales people are trained to sell you what they carry, whether it’s right for your home or not.  At Simply Floored, our Design Consultants are trained to help you select the right flooring for your decor, lifestyle and budget.  We carry an incredibly broad selection of flooring, so whatever your style or budget, we can the perfect flooring for you.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

Wouldn’t it be great if you could buy a Mercedes for the price of a Toyota?

Flooring is no different than anything else.  You get what you pay for.  Cheaper product is less expensive because it’s cheaper: it’s made from inferior materials, uses inferior manufacturing processes and/or doesn’t offer the features of better quality flooring.  Without a knowledgeable sales person to explain these differences, you have no choice but to focus on price.

Next time you look at flooring, ask the sales person to explain the features of the product being shown.  If he tells you it’s the best product available, make him explain why and ask him or her to show you something inferior (so you can see the difference first hand).  Most importantly, make sure the sales person explains why the features are important to you.

There are so many different styles and grades of flooring available, with real differences that impact performance and price.  If you don’t take the time to understand those differences, you won’t find the product that’s best for you.

WHY DOES QUALITY MATTER?

Because you want a floor that will look good a year from now, not just the day after it’s installed.

It’s hard to tell quality hardwood from inferior hardwood just by looking at a sample.

So take a coin and rub it against the finish.  Did it scratch the surface?  If it did, that’s what you’ll see on your own floor.   Better quality hardwood is finished with urethane infused with aluminum oxide to provide greater scratch resistance.

You may pay less for the floor today, but how happy will you be when it’s all scratched and scuffed?

How about that inexpensive carpet you saw?  It looked just like more expensive carpets you have seen, so why pay more?  But while the carpet may have the same pile height, the sales person probably didn’t bother to discuss the density.  Density is the most important factor in determining how a carpet will perform under daily wear.  What you saw was a carpet that looks the same on the rack.  What you need is a carpet that will look as good on the floor, after you have walked on it day after day.

Simply Floored’s Innovative Flooring Service Makes Purchasing Atlanta Hardwood Flooring Easy

ATLANTA (August 25, 2007) – Simply Floored, an innovative flooring company that brings the store to your home, provides full-service flooring services featuring quality products – ranging from Atlanta carpet to Atlanta hardwood flooring – dedicated design consultation and professional installation.  By taking advantage of Simply Floored’s free consultation, homeowners can find the perfect flooring by comparing flooring options right in their own home.

“Hardwood floors have long been desired for their beauty, warmth and durability,” said Jarod Harriman, Director of Merchandising of Simply Floored.  “Less than a generation ago, hardwood floors had to be installed when a home was constructed or during a major renovation. And choices were limited to local species and standard installations. Today, beautiful Atlanta hardwood flooring is within everyone’s reach.”

While there is an array of flooring options available, Sheft notes there are many benefits to installing Atlanta hardwood flooring including:

• Natural beauty – endless grains and colors
• Complements every decor
• Appreciation in value – lifetime investment
• Homes with wood flooring sell faster and for more money
• Adds strength and stability to existing floor
• Easy to maintain and can be easily restored, so it lasts for decades

“The appearance of a hardwood floor depends on the species of tree from which it is made,” noted Harriman.  “Each species has its own identifying grain pattern, like a fingerprint.  Determining the right species of hardwood floor depends on what you are looking for in terms of color, style, grain and overall fashion.”

The experts at Simply Floored can help homeowners select the best Atlanta hardwood flooring option to fit their lifestyles and décor preferences.

Traditional Hardwoods

Traditional hardwoods include Oak, Maple, Hickory and Walnut. Each has a unique grain and coloring, creating a different look and feel. Oak, with its prominent grain lines and traditional look is the most popular hardwood, accounting for almost 90% of the market.  Maple has lighter grain lines, tends to be more whitish in color and doesn’t take stain as well as Oak (so it looks good with a clear coat or light stain). Walnut offers a darker brown coloring that looks great when finished.

Exotic Hardwoods

Exotics refer to hardwoods that come from countries other than the US, such as Brazilian Cherry and South America Mahogany. The problem with exotics historically has been their relatively high price. With the introduction of multi-layer cross-grain construction hardwoods (sometimes referred to as “engineered” hardwood), many exotic species are now priced competitive with domestic hardwoods (because only the top layer is exotic). In addition, multi-layer construction adds dimensional stability, which is important with exotic hardwoods because they typically expand and contract with temperature changes more than domestic hardwoods.

Rustic Hardwoods

Rustic hardwoods are traditional hardwoods that are “distressed” during the manufacturing process to give them an aged, antiqued or hand-milled look.  Traditional hardwoods can be distressed with metal chains or a wire brush to give it the look of old, reclaimed wood that has been walked on for centuries. Or it can be hand scraped to create the look of old fashioned, hand-milled wood.

Simply Floored – An Innovative Flooring Company in Atlanta

Simply Floored, an innovative flooring company that brings the store to your home, now offers consumers a variety of online resources for learning about home flooring options and selecting the right type of flooring for their lifestyle and design preferences. The company recently added resources on laminate flooring in Atlanta, a product category that has recognized tremendous growth since its introduction to the United States in the mid 1990s.

“Today, laminate is an attractive substitute for hardwood flooring, offering the look – and in some cases the feel – of hardwood floors at more affordable prices,” said Jarod Harriman, Director of Merchandising of Simply Floored. “Thanks to new technologies, high quality laminates capture the beauty of natural wood or stone, but without the disadvantages of using actual wood or stone in the home.”

Benefits of Laminate Flooring in Atlanta
Harriman points out that market demand for laminate flooring in Atlanta is driven by three key benefits:

• Exceptional Durability. Laminate flooring is highly durable offering greater impact and scuff resistance than wood. It also is fade resistant – which means it will not fade with time, like hardwood, carpet and vinyl.
• Easy Maintenance. Laminate flooring in Atlanta is easier to clean and maintain than hardwood. It also is highly resistant to water and stains.
• Value. Homeowners get the look of hardwood or stone with all the benefits of laminate at a substantially lower cost.

Additionally, laminate lets consumers bring some woods into the home that they never would have before. Spalted Maple gets its distinctive look from fungus growing in the wood. While “real” Spalted Maple flooring is not suited for the home (because the fungus is too soft for a floor covering), laminate allows homeowners to capture the unique look of Spalted Maple with all the benefits of laminate.

How Laminate Flooring is Made
Laminate flooring is created by taking a photograph and attaching it to a high density fiberboard using heat and pressure. Higher quality laminates use high definition imaging to create unbelievably realistic looking laminate. The photograph is then covered with a layer of polyurethane, which protects the floor from fading, scratching and wear. Higher quality laminates use a form of urethane infused with aluminum oxide, the second hardest substance known to man, which substantially increases the resistance to scratching.

Better laminates are “textured” to create a more realistic look and feel. The texture is added to the wear layer through a process called “embossing”, which involves pressing patterns into the surface. The best quality laminates use a process called “embossing in register”, where the textured pattern actually follows the grain in the image, creating an even more realistic look and feel.

About Simply Floored Laminate Flooring in Atlanta
Simply Floored is an innovative provider of in-home flooring services. The Atlanta flooring company brings the store to your home, offering a wide selection of quality products, a dedicated design consultation, professional installation and total project management, from start to finish. Simply Floored’s residential flooring services currently are available throughout metropolitan Atlanta. For more information or to schedule a complimentary consultation, visit simplyfloored.com or call 1-800-FLOORED.

Hardwood Floors Shopping In Atlanta

Shopping for new Hardwood floors today can be very confusing and overwhelming.  If you look through a newspaper you can see ads for Hardwood ranging from $3.00 a square foot to $25.00 a square foot.  What is the difference?  Why is their such a price gap?  You may also see a lot of oak advertised, but are their other options that may better meet your needs.  Not to mention, WHO is going top help you sort through all of this.  In this article I will help you understand the differences in Hardwoods and make you aware of your options.  It will also show you that if you are confused, you are not alone and there is a company out there that can help!

Hardwood floors have long been desired for their beauty, warmth and durability.  Less than a generation ago, hardwood floors had to be installed when a home was constructed or during a major renovation.  It used to be the case that hardwood could not be installed on a slab or in the basement.  Today, a beautiful hardwood floor is within everyone’s reach.

For years hardwood has been sand a finish ¾” solid oak, a rich grain seen in many homes.  Solid hardwoods had many disadvantages:  They could not be installed in basements or areas with a lot of moisture and they were very expensive, especially if you wanted anything other than oak.  The solid structure of each plank made the floors very susceptible to expansion and contraction with changes in temperature.  I can remember seeing the wood in my friends homes buckling and twisting; truly a shame for such a nice product.

Unfortunately some companies have gone to selling very thin pieces of solid hardwood to reduce the price.  Probably some of that $3.00 wood you’ve seen in stores or newspapers.  The price is a dream, but the product is a nightmare.  Thin wood will really buckle and twist when exposed to moisture and sunlight.  If you have ever seen a board outside on a hot summer day curl in the sunlight, you know what I mean.

The real kicker happens when you get to the store.  ”Yes ma’am, you can have the hardwood at $3.00. Oh, by the way, would you like to have the wood delivered, the glue that holds the floor together, the installers to put it down, the transitions and quarter round to finish it off, and your old floor removed and hauled away?”  I find it cruel that as a consumer, you may get excited when you see the price only to have your hopes dashed when you actually get the final price.

Okay, so high quality solid hardwood is expensive and can’t be installed where I want and thin solid wood is a waste of money where does that leave you?  It leaves you looking at a superior product, new multi-layer, cross grain constructed hardwoods.

Multi-layer, cross grain constructed hardwoods are made by taking multiple layers of hardwood and fusing them together at 90⁰ angles to create a stronger, more stable hardwood.  This type of hardwood is structurally superior to solid wood.  It is more stable and does not expand and contract like solid wood allowing this wood to be used anywhere in the home!  This is particularly attractive with exotic hardwoods which, by nature, are softer and more likely to bend, bow and twist with changes in temperature.  It is also far less expensive than high quality solid wood.

Beware though, quality does range in Multi-layer, cross grain constructed hardwoods. Better quality hardwoods use only North American hardwood for the interior layers.  North American hardwood is superior because the growing season is slower, causing the grains to be much tighter.  Lesser quality engineered hardwood is made with cheaper hardwoods from Central and South America, where the wood grows faster in the warmer climates, resulting in grains that are loose and more likely to warp.  In addition, some lesser quality engineered hardwood is made with three layers of hardwood, versus the five layers found in better quality flooring.  As is true with any type of hardwood, lesser quality woods are not milled as accurately which means the planks will not fit together well.  This causes wither more product to be purchased to complete the floor or an unsightly floor with more gaps between planks.

The finish on the wood is also very important.  Hardwood finishes serve three primary functions: preserve the wood’s beauty and color, protect the floor from water, dirt and wear, and allow for easy cleaning.  High quality finishes have aluminum oxide (the second hardest material to diamonds) in the finish to prevent scratching, Teflon to allow for easier cleaning (much like the Teflon you might find on kitchenware that’s prevents food from sticking), and layering process to smooth out the woods natural grain which normally would collect dirt and urethane to make an overall solid finish.  Lesser quality finishes do not have special characteristics or worse may only be stains which do not protect the wood from scratching or denting at all.  The final piece to a good finish is that it provides moisture protection to the natural wood plank.

Solid wood is typically sold unfinished: once the floor is installed, it must be sanded and stained.  Sanding can be a challenging process, creates a significant mess and requires a great deal of preparation and clean up.  More significantly, it is difficult to apply the finish uniformly.  Most importantly, superior finishes, such as urethanes infused with aluminum oxide and Teflon for superior durability and scratch resistance, can NOT be applied to unfinished hardwood in the home.

Installation is also very important to the overall performance of the floor.  Lower quality or more unstable woods must be glued or nailed down in order to hold the board in place because the wood is so unstable.  Unfortunately, any imperfections in the floor (subfloor) the wood will be laid on will greatly increase the price of the project as they will have to be corrected before the wood can be laid.  Higher quality woods can be glued together instead of down to the floor, a process called “floating the floor”.  This has many advantages including minimizing the costly expense of fixing the subfloor, as well as allowing the wood to be installed over a moisture barrier to protect the wood from water.

Let’s recap.  The best choice for discerning homeowners is high quality multi-layer, cross grain constructed hardwoods.  They provide the ultimate in stability, allow the floor to be installed over a moisture barrier, have spectacular finishes that include aluminum oxide and Teflon all at a cost that is less than traditional hardwood.   But let’s get to the point, how will they look?!

Multi-layer, cross grain constructed hardwoods offer the widest variety of choice in the industry, all at the most affordable prices.  Choose from traditional, exotic or rustic looks, whatever fits your personal styel and décor.

Traditional hardwoods include oak, maple, and hickory.  Oak carries more prominent grains while hickory is finer and can have a darker stain.  Of course, maple is the best choice for a truly blonde hardwood.  If you are a fan of wood architecture, traditional woods are for you.

Exotic refers to hardwoods that come from countries other than the US, such as Brazilian Cherry and South America Mahogany.  The name “Exotic” comes from the fact that the wood has a “foreign” look, with unusual eye-catching colors and grains.  It is typically a very rich, deep consistent color that is striking to the eye, perfect for the New Yorker in you.

Rustic Hardwoods are hardwoods that are “distressed” during the manufacturing process to give them an aged, antiqued or hand-milled look.  You can achieve the look of a hand milled floor from centuries ago, or a floor that has been walked for centuries.  Each plank is carefully hand scraped, wire brushed or distressed to give it a unique old world look.  These floors are great look for more rustic or country style homes or for those who like the feeling and warmth of simpler times.

At the end of the day, a hardwood product that will meet your needs for style, performance and budget is out there all you need is a good company to help you select the right product and install it professionally. Simply Floored can help! We bring the store to your home. Why take home a few samples when you can choose from over 2,300 samples in your own lighting & decor? We offer quality flooring in every category from Hardwood, Carpet, Tile, Laminate & Vinyl. In conjunction we offer personalized attention every step of the way. A Design Consultant helps you select the right flooring and our dedicated team makes sure your job gets done right, including installation by experienced professionals.