Blog : April, 2010 | Flooring Supply Shop Blog - Part 2Flooring Supplies

Be a responsible citizen Use eco friendly products

The environment friendly products and materials are increasingly being used these days as it helps in reducing global warming & pollution. It is the responsibility of each & every individual to contribute towards making the environment clean & healthy. Hence, make your contribution by going green and using eco friendly products for building or renovating your home.

One must make use of natural stones, which can be used for building both the interiors as well as the exteriors of the house. Marble and graphite are good examples of natural stones that are widely used for building homes; these are durable and require minimal maintenance. Moreover, these stones provide an elegant outlook and are highly reasonable when it comes to price.

You can also paint your roof in white or light colors. Not only will this look elegant, but will also help in reflecting back the harmful radiation; this is also good alternative to keep your house cool the natural way. The US Secretary of Energy and a Nobel prize-winning scientist Steven Chu stated that the green house effect can be minimized by making a building reflective where the sunlight gets bounced back into space.

While constructing or refurbishing your home, make use of eco friendly products such as environment friendly flooring material. Recently, these eco friendly products have become quite a rage since these are attractive, durable as well as affordable. Moreover, you have so many options to select from, such as bamboo which gives a wood like effect. Other options include cork flooring, linoleum flooring, stone flooring, ceramic or glass tiles. All these are eye catching options, come in variety of colors and are sturdy as well as long lasting. Apart from this, you can use radiant electric floor heating systems, based on the principle of thermal heat radiation. This is more beneficial than using other heating options, such as electric base board heat, gas furnaces, wood and boilers. Electric floor heating systems consume less energy and prove to be highly economical.

Moreover, you can use eco friendly cleaning solutions which do not contain harsh and harmful chemicals. The harmful chemicals present in traditional cleaning solutions can cause breathlessness, dizziness and uneasiness along with having long term side effects such as cancer. Apart from this, chemicals such as chlorine bleach, ammonia, sodium hydroxide and phosphates found in traditional cleaning solutions are harmful to the environment. Hence, make use of eco friendly cleaning solutions, made up of biodegradable constituents, with a neutral pH (7) as for cleaning your home.

The eco friendly products are not only beneficial for humans but also for the environment and if each one of us realizes the significance of these products, our planet will definitely become a cleaner place to live. Therefore, for your own benefit and for the benefit of mankind use eco friendly products for your home.

Reduce your efforts in building an effective shower area

All you ‘do-it yourself’ enthusiasts who have tried building a shower area would know about the time and effort that goes into the process. Technicalities such as the pan liner slope, depth of the mortar bed and the shower floor slope can get tricky and can easily ruin your showering area. It is for this reason that most people prefer using the services of professional tradesmen to take care of all the technicalities and to build a perfect shower area.

One way to reduce all this time and effort, and to ensure that all the technicalities are taken care of effectively, is to use a ready to tile shower pan. Reputed ‘ready to tile‘ shower pans such as ProPan can be conveniently installed within a matter of hours, and can also be tiled within the same day. This is in sharp contrast to the time taken in installing a pan liner, mortar beds and tiles using the traditional methods.

Ready to tile pan liners are highly effective since they ensure a completely waterproof shower sub floor. Although installing a pan liner is considered to be the most effective ways of waterproofing the sub floor, there have been instances of a leakage in the pan liner damaging the plywood sub floor. Since ready to tile shower pans eliminate the need to install a pan liner, there will be no chance of a leakage to the sub floor. Further, these ready to tile shower pans are manufactured high quality polystyrene to ensure high durability and a longer working life.

Ready to tile shower pans such as ProPan also eliminate the need to slope the shower pan manually, thereby reducing the time involved in building the shower area. These ready to tile shower pans have a pre-formed slope of 1/4” per foot to ensure that any water that seep under the tiled floor is directed effectively towards the drain weep holes. Thus we can see that not only do ready to tile shower pans floors reduce the time and efforts involved in building a shower area, they also make the shower area more effective.

All those of you who are looking for a curb entry into the shower would find these ready to tile shower area to be of high utility. ProPan comes with an attachment for a curb, which can be installed on the site of the shower. Since building a curb involves a lot of time and a lot of precision, this facility of a curb attachment ensures that you are able to build an effective curb by spending a fraction of the time and energy that is involved in building a curb the traditional way.

Finally, in case you are worried that your shower area is not of standard size and that these ready to tile shower pans will not fit in your shower area, ProPan offers the ideal solution. ProPan can be cut or extended on the site according to the specific shower area size, thereby ensuring that you are able to use these ready to tile shower pans irrespective of the size of your shower area.

Tiles are a great investment

Since tiles offer a number of advantages over other materials they are widely used for home renovation purposes. Tiles are widely preferred since they are highly durable and require very little maintenance. Let us take a look at some of the reasons that make tiles the right investment option:

One of the major reasons for the popularity of tiles is that there is a wide range for you to select from. You will find various tiles such as granite, marble, vinyl, stone and ceramic that offer specific benefits. Stone tiles offer a timeless aesthetic appeal, and are highly durable as well. On the other hand, ceramic tiles offer a more contemporary look along with being a lot more affordable to replace. With such a wide range to choose from, you cab ensures that you are able to select one that best suits the specific theme of your house. Tiles are available in different colors and you can either, mix & match to create a mosaic effect, or you can create borders or dividing lines using different tiles. Moreover, you can also find tiles with patterns and designs that continue into the next tile piece.

The best thing about tiles is that they are easy to clean and are resilient to dirt and water. Tiles have a smooth and shiny surface and any liquid that spills on it can be easily wiped off using a piece of cloth. This is in contrast to paint or wallpaper that absorbs moisture and results in staining. This further makes tiles more effective at high moisture areas such as the shower area.

Tiles are more resilient to chipping and other damages, thereby making them more durable than other flooring options. Since wood generally expands during the summers and contracts during the winters, it can pose a problem as a flooring option. Tiles are generally considered to be the strongest flooring material and are not prone to seasonal contraction and expansion, thereby making them an ideal flooring option for your house.

You can also use certain types of tiles to create a non slip area in you shower. Mosaic tiles, natural stone tiles porcelain tiles and ceramic tiles are ideal for creating a non slip area, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of your shower area.

Designing the various aspects of a house takes a lot of time and consideration. It is essential to select the right construction material and lights, among other things; however, one aspect of home designing that should be given the maximum consideration is the flooring. When it comes to flooring, tiles have become the preferred choice of many, due to the above-mentioned benefits as well as their cost effectiveness. These tiles enable to create the look of your house as you desire. It is for this reason that tiles are considered to be a great investment option over other materials, and are widely used by people for designing and renovating their homes.

Use polyurethane sealants to repair cracks effectively

Cracks in the walls or on the floors can be a matter of serious concern. Not only do such cracks affect the aesthetics of your house, but they can also result in water leakage, thereby causing significant damage to your house. You can either call in an expert repairman to fix the cracks in your walls and your floors, or you can undertake this task yourself. Although a number of serious cases of cracks would require you to call in an expert, minor cracks in your basement or on your concrete slabs can be easily fixed by using a polyurethane Sealant.

Polyurethane is an organic compound that has excellent corrosion and moisture resistance qualities. Further, polyurethane is also effective as a heavy duty adhesive and is ideal for coating. It is for this reason that polyurethane sealants are widely preferred for repairs and waterproofing in both commercial as well as domestic sectors. Apart from its heavy-duty adhesive and waterproofing properties, polyurethane is also renowned for the flexibility it offers when applied over joints.

This flexibility comes in handy while using over concrete joints since concrete expands and contracts due to temperature changes. If a concrete crack is not treated in time it would get worse and could result in significant damage in the future. What makes a polyurethane sealant more effective while fixing cracks in concrete is that it is generally applied using a caulking gun. This makes it significantly easier to fill in the cracks with the sealant, thereby resulting in effective repairs.

Polyurethane sealants are also ideal to repair cracks in wood floors due to its various benefits. Polyurethane offers excellent abrasion resistance as well as scuff resistance, thereby making it ideal for use on wood. The use of a polyurethane sealant on wooden floors will ensure an effective waterproof and water resistant layer.

Polyurethane sealants have very high viscosity and can easily seep into even the minutest cracks to form an effective and waterproof seal. This is especially effective in case you find minor cracks in your basement wall. Although, a crack in the basement wall could be due to improper foundation, but in case you find that it is not a foundation crack you can easily use a polyurethane sealant to fix the problem. Further, since a polyurethane sealant can easily expand and contract, your basement crack will be effectively sealed and will remain waterproof for a long time.

A high quality polyurethane sealant will effectively adhere to different surfaces such as wood, masonry, concrete, steel as well as aluminum. The polyurethane seal will remain flexible as well as corrosion resistant for a long time. You can even paint over a polyurethane seal to ensure that the aesthetics of your house are not affected in any way. It is due to the excellent adhesion qualities as well as the other additional benefits that are offered by a polyurethane sealant that these are becoming the preferred choice for home renovation and repair work.

Ready to tile shower pans an ideal way to build a shower area

A shower pan is probably the most important part of a shower area since it prevents excess water from trickling down to the sub floor and causing damage. Traditionally, shower pans used to be made up of mortar; however, since mortar was not all that effective, a separate layer of pan liner used to be placed over the shower pan. Although this method is widely considered to be the most effective solution to the problem of leaky shower floors, there have been many instances of leakage in the pan liner as well.

It is in order to provide an effective solution to this problem that you can install ready to tile shower pan floors in your shower area. Ready to tile shower pan is an easy to install structure that can solve all the problems associated with traditional forms of shower pans. Let us take a look at some of the problems associated with traditional shower pans and how a ‘ready to tile’ shower pan solves those problems:

Creating a mortar shower bed is not an easy task and requires a lot of skill and labor. Multiple layers of material have to be used to ensure that water does not seep through to the sub floor. In case a pan liner is being used, it is essential to set it in the right place. Any miscalculation or problem during the creation of the pan floor can result in leakage and severe damage to other areas of your home. Since ready to tile pan floors are completely waterproof, there is no chance of a leakage to the sub floor.

In case you are concerned about molds that have appeared on your shower floor, the answer to this problem lies in the area in between the pan liner and the shower floor. Since your shower tiles are not completely waterproof, there is a chance that water might accumulate above the pan liner, thereby leading to the growth of mold. By using a ready to tile pan floor you will be able to eliminate this layer between your shower floor and the pan liner, thereby eliminating the chances of mold growth.

Finally, creating the appropriate slope on the shower floor can be a big challenge, especially for the ‘do-it-yourself’ enthusiasts. An inappropriate slope can lead to water accumulation on your shower floor, thereby leading to problems of leakage and water accumulation. However, most of the reputed ready to tile shower pans come with a pre-formed slope of ¼” per foot, thereby ensuring that your shower floor is perfectly pitched.

It is due to benefits such as these that ready to tile shower pans have gained in popularity across households. Further, these ready to tile shower pans are constructed using high grade material and are treated with waterproofing coatings to ensure that they remain waterproof for a long duration of time. So if you are looking to re-do your shower area or are considering building a new one, you should definitely consider using a ready to tile shower pan.

Month: April 2010

Be a responsible citizen Use eco friendly products

Reduce your efforts in building an effective shower area

Tiles are a great investment

Use polyurethane sealants to repair cracks effectively

Ready to tile shower pans an ideal way to build a shower area

About Us

Contact Us

Quick Links

Newsletter Subscription