New Laminate Flooring From Beaulieu Mills

In my last blog I mentioned that Beaulieu had finally gotten into the hard surface market. I posted some images of Beaulieu's new hardwood flooring line. This week I'm going to show off some of the new laminate floor offerings from Beaulieu.  They really have some stunning visuals in their laminate flooring lines.

Laminate flooring is great in kitchen areas along with entry ways, hallways, bathrooms, living rooms and any other room where a hard surface floor is wanted. The surface of laminate flooring is very hard. Aluminum oxide embedded in the wear layer makes this one tough floor to wear out. Where all flooring surfaces can scratch (and laminate flooring is no different) it is very scratch resistant. And extremely hard which really helps when you drop a can of peas. It is tough to dent!

You can see the whole new laminate flooring line at my website. Laminate Flooring. Okay, nuff said for now, eh?




Jeff Dean
Dover Floor Covering
http://www.doverfloorcovering.com

New Hardwood Flooring Visuals From Beaulieu Mills

Well, it looks like Beaulieu Mills is finally getting into the hard surface market. You knew it was only a matter of time when Mohawk and Shaw Industries entered the market that Beaulieu Mills would come out with their own selection of hard surface products.

I've just gotten all of the new samples of Beaulieu's new engineered hardwood and laminate styles. They are very nice. Some sharp looking styles. European inspired visuals, UV cured hand rubbed synthetic oil finish and random widths make these hardwood flooring styles a spectacular edition to any home.

The UV oiled finish is a low gloss look so no high shine on these hardwood floors! Also, some are hand scraped and some are wire brushed for that unique look. I've added some pictures of room scenes of some of the new floors.

Go to doverfloorcovering.com to see the whole lineup. These are some must see floors in my opinion.




Jeff Dean
Dover Floor Covering
http://www.doverfloorcovering.com

Better Service Through A "Shop at Home" Style Floor Covering Store

The shop at home flooring model as opposed to storefronts. Which is better?

Well, when I first started selling flooring back in 1977, there really wasn't any shop at home style of flooring store. We all worked retail hours (long hours, yikes) in a retail store format. Customers came in, picked out the flooring they liked and usually bought it. Sometimes customers would like to see the flooring in their homes (which was a really good idea) so we would take out some of their choices and see how they looked in the home. While we were there, we would measure the areas they wanted covered and inspect the job site.

When I went out on my own in 1997, I asked myself "what would be the best way to serve customers and keep my prices down?" I knew that seeing the flooring samples in the house was absolutely the best way to make the right flooring choice. Especially for colors. Colors can change shade for so many reasons. So, seeing the flooring samples in the home had to be the cornerstone of the service I would provide. Another benefit to a "Shop at Home" style of store would be low overhead. Low overhead allowed me to keep my prices down. This would save my customers money (another good thing, eh?).

One drawback to "shop at home" was the perceived idea that stores could carry a larger selection of flooring. So a "shop at home" store wouldn't be able to offer the selections that a store front could. There is a very well known company that has only 15 styles of carpet that they bring out (I won't mention any names but you know who you are......). Their selection is very limited. We here at Dover Floor Covering carry over 75 different styles of carpet, the whole Mohawk hardwood flooring line, the whole Mohawk laminate flooring line, Congoleum's vinyl and just a few (15 maybe) styles of ceramic tile (the main reason for this is that ceramic weighs so much that it weighs my van down....lol).

Another way to combat the perception that a "Shop at Home" floor covering store doesn't have the selection is to have a couple of flooring distributors on hand. There are very rare times (and it really is very rare) that we don't have a flooring selection that the customer really likes. When this happens we will visit our flooring distributors. They have every flooring selection available under the sun. They will have up to 4 times the selection of a retail flooring store! After ascertaining exactly what style, color and type of flooring our potential customer wants, we will visit our distributor and find a couple of choices that will match their preferences exactly. We will then go back out to our customers house with the new selections. This will invariably do the trick 99.5% of the time. So now we have low overhead, unlimited selections and fantastic customer service. After all, who makes house calls these days?

So if the "Shop at Home" flooring store model has the lowest overhead equating to the lowest prices (95% of the time anyways.....), unlimited selection  and unparalleled service (being in your own home where you will see the flooring in it's natural lighting and not under fluorescent lights) then we think it is the absolute best method of shopping for flooring.

Full disclosure: I worked in retail flooring for the first 20 years of my adult life in a storefront. Now I work in a "Shop at Home" retail style of flooring store. I've been in both so I feel qualified to compare the two. I chose the "Shop at Home" style of flooring store for the above reasons. I feel this type of flooring store has the most benefits to the consumer. Now that I've made that choice I guess I'm probably biased.......lol. But my reasoning is sound non the less.......



Jeff Dean
Dover Floor Covering
http://www.doverfloorcovering.com

Laminate Flooring and Formaldehyde

With the recent hub bub surrounding Lumber Liquidators and some of the laminate flooring they sell containing toxic amounts of formaldehyde, we are pleased to announce that the Mohawk laminate flooring that we sell at Dover Floor Covering is Carb 2 compliant.

The recent 60 Minutes expose on Lumber Liquidators exposing the toxic amounts of formaldehyde found in most of their laminate floors has caused concern in the industry regarding the safety of laminate floors. Only the floors made in China failed the Carb 2 tests. The US constructed floors passed the Carb 2 tests. As you can see by the image to the right, some of the laminate flooring has almost 7 times the legal limit of formaldehyde in their flooring.

Not all laminate floors are created equal. The old saying of "You get what you pay for" is appropriate in this situation. Some of the really low low end priced floors have always been of dubious construction. Some of these floors were sold at below our cost and you had to ask yourself "How was this possible?" Now, there are always economies of scale. The larger amounts of flooring you buy on the wholesale level will always produce a slightly lower cost structure. But this never completely explained why Lumber Liquidators prices were always "so low"!

We knew there had to be another reason explaining how they could sell laminate flooring below cost. If the expose by 60 Minutes is accurate (and we have no reason to dispute their findings) then our concerns have been justified.

Not all laminates are created equal but all of the laminate flooring that we sell here at Dover Floor Covering manufactured by Mohawk Flooring is Carb 2 compliant. No toxic amounts of formaldehyde are present in their laminate products and no laminate flooring we sell fails any Carb 2 Compliance test.

It would be safe to ask for a Carb 2 compliant fact sheet from the retail flooring company that you plan to buy your laminate flooring from. This is just smart. Be smart, be safe.

Safe laminate flooring should be a no brainer but some unscrupulous flooring companies obviously don't share this concern. We do! Purchase only Carb 2 compliant laminate flooring and only buy from flooring companies that adhere to this principle. Companies that actually care about the safety of their customers.

No more needs to be said really....








Jeff Dean
Dover Floor Covering
http://doverfloorcovering.com

Floor Tile and Asbestos

Floor tile is a small segment of the flooring industry these days. Unlike back in the 50's and 60's where everybody put tile down in their kitchens, laundry rooms, bathrooms and basements most people these days will install wood flooring, ceramic tile, vinyl sheet flooring or even carpet depending upon the application.

Back in the day, vinyl tile was used extensively. It came in a different sizes such as: 6"x6", 9"x9" and 12"x12" tiles. Very common back then were the 9"x9" tiles and were probably vinyl asbestos.

If your home was built before 1980 and has the original floor tiles down in any room of the house then they probably contain asbestos. Especially if they were the 9"x9" variety. Most manufacturers stopped making vinyl asbestos tiles in 1978 but some continued until probably 1980. Even after that there was a lot of vinyl asbestos tile floating around in stores back rooms until the stock was finally exhausted.

Vinyl asbestos tile is not inherently dangerous. The asbestos was encapsulated into the vinyl tile itself. It cannot be released into the air (where it becomes a health risk when breathed in) unless something causes it to be released. Anything that can abrasively wear the surface of the vinyl asbestos tile can potentially release the harmful asbestos particles into the air. Normal wear and tear shouldn't be a problem. Never abrade the surface of a vinyl asbestos tile. Never clean it with steel wool or sand it for any reason as this will release the fibers into the air. Cleaning it with vinyl floor cleaners is fine and is the preferred method of cleaning. Be careful even scraping the surface of the tiles.

So if you do have vinyl asbestos tile in your home there really shouldn't be a health risk.

When the time comes to install a new floor in the room containing vinyl asbestos tile there are many options. Most companies, when they find that vinyl asbestos tiles are present on the job, will refuse to do the job until the tiles are removed. This has to do with the liabilities associated with vinyl asbestos tiles. But this is an overblown reaction to the situation. New flooring can be safely installed over vinyl asbestos tiles without any health risks whatsoever.

One option is to remove the asbestos tiles. This can be a very expensive proposition when employing a certified asbestos removal company or using a contractor that is asbestos certified.

Another option is just to go over the existing asbestos flooring. If the tile is installed on a concrete floor, such as you would find in a basement, you would just need to skim coat the surface of the asbestos tile. There are products out there designed to be applied to the surface of the asbestos tile that will allow another floor to be glued down on top. Covering the old asbestos tile is a safe and entirely satisfactory solution.

If you have asbestos tile on top of a wood substrate such as plywood, OSB or any other suitable base layer then you can install a layer of luan over the top and then the new flooring thereby sealing in the asbestos tile underneath. The old tile needn't be removed.

So there you have it. Vinyl asbestos tiles are not inherently dangerous and shouldn't be a cause of concern. Whether you are installing a new floor over the top or still using your current asbestos tile flooring, vinyl asbestos flooring is a safe and durable floor that will last decades. On the other hand, a new floor would look pretty good right about now, eh?  LOL




Jeff Dean
Dover Floor Covering
http://www.doverfloorcovering.com

Flooring Installations

A common misconception in the flooring industry is that all floor companies are created equal and the thing that sets them apart is price.

Price is important but is it the most important? Of course not. I've run across people that assume when you are comparing flooring that the price should dictate where they buy their floors. They assume if the floors are the same (same brand) that everything else is equal. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Good installers are hard to find. They need to have 3 traits that will make them good installers.

• They must be reliable and show up when they are supposed to

• They must be great at actually installing the flooring

• They must be good with the customers. After all, they are in their house

You can find plenty of flooring installation contractors that have one or two of those traits but finding installation crews with all three traits is rare indeed. I've been in the floor covering business for over 37 years now and I've probably met 6 carpet installers that I would hire or use in my own home.

Beware the low cost flooring retailers and big box stores. They DO NOT hire the best. They hire by cost structure only. Is that who you really want in your home installing your new flooring. The lowest cost installation crews available?

Just something to think about......



Jeff Dean
Dover Floor Covering
www.doverfloorcovering.com

A Little Something About Vinyl Plank Flooring

Stuff About Vinyl Plank Flooring

Vinyl Plank Flooring is all the rage right now. But why?

Vinyl plank flooring has been around for a long time but just recently seems to have found it's niche. It has become a very popular flooring for basements. But surprisingly is being found even in kitchens.

So why is vinyl plank flooring so popular? In days gone past, people used to put peel and stick vinyl tiles in their kitchens. They were cheap, impervious to water and worked great for a kitchen. But people didn't like the fact that every 12" there was a seam. After the original 9" tiles, 12" tiles became the norm. So for every floor installed, there was a seam every 12" in both directions. People didn't like the fact that dirt would get into the seams and became hard to clean well.

So people started to buy linoleum. One of the main factors was that fact that it came in 6' and 12' widths. Almost no seams at all. So vinyl tile lost most of it's market share to linoleum which morphed into sheet vinyl goods. Sheet vinyl took over the lion's share of the market for years and years. So why now is vinyl plank flooring so popular when there are again seams every 4' long and maybe 6" to 8" wide?

Vinyl plank flooring is impervious to water, comes in individual pieces and is not very cheap. So it seems (no pun intended) like we are reverting back to the days of peel and stick vinyl tile except that it's not a cheap alternative as was old peel and stick vinyl tiles......

So again we ask, why is vinyl plank flooring so popular? Beats me!!  LOL


Jeff Dean
Owner of Dover Floor Covering
www.doverfloorcovering.com
248-889-4253