What Type Of Flooring Is Best For A Bathroom?

The bathroom presents its own unique challenges for any homeowner when it comes to flooring. Do you go for the cosy feel of special bathroom carpets or a flooringthat offers more resistance to the damp and often wet environment of the typical bathroom?

Carpet

Back in the 1980s, carpet was actually quite a common sight in bathrooms, however most people realised that no matter how nice it was under foot compared to cold tiles, it really didn’t stand up very well to repeated splashes of water, which would get absorbed into the carpet and underlay and cause all sorts of issues with damp and discolouring. So while carpet has come a long way since then, as you can now get gel backed (rot resistant) waterproof carpets, which have their own merits; in our experience due to possible hygiene concerns, people who opt for these carpets in their bathrooms tend to be in the minority.

Vinyl Flooring

Vinyl was actually first turned into flooring back in the 1930s and has a long history as a versatile type of flooring particularly for use in kitchens, bathrooms and other areas receiving heavy traffic. Today’s vinyl flooring is available in all sorts of colours and styles as well as textures that mimic materials such as wood flooring, tiles, granite or marble. Compared to other types of flooring vinyl is much easier to clean and relatively cheap to buy. The modern vinyls look incredibly realistic as well, and can easily transform a bathroom.

Laminate Flooring

Laminate is an incredibly robust and versatile material which is used for all sorts of purposes in the home. Unfortunately, water is its one big weakness and if moisture starts getting into and underneath your laminate flooring for any length of time then it will distort and go out of shape. If you must have laminate flooring in your bathroom then some laminates come with a special aqua seal (in between the joints) and aqua resist core technology, which are the preferred choice because these will help resist moisture better. 

Why Buy Artificial Grass This Summer?

Summer is here and that means the sun will hopefully be out more and you’ll be hearing the familiar drone of lawnmowers as everyone with a garden struggles to keep their grass looking perfect. Fortunately, you don’t need to be mowing your own lawn any more because there is an alternative that is becoming more popular every year and that’s artificial grass!

Yes artificial grass  is making a comeback in a big way as more and more people decide that they would rather enjoy the summer than spend it looking after their lawns. Artificial grass is ideal for those awkward parts of the garden where the grass grows but never looks healthy and often gets waterlogged for more than half the year when it rains.

It also looks great when laid on penthouse rooftop gardens and patios when you want the beauty of a natural green lawn but it is hard or impossible to create the right conditions for a healthy, natural lawn to flourish.

Of course having an artificial lawn isn’t for everyone but the advantages of an artificial lawn are hard to argue against.  

Lawns take a lot of work to get them looking lush and green and they don’t take kindly to any extremes of weather. Droughts and dry weather are a particular challenge which is made worse when there is a hosepipe ban.

You get none of these problems with artificial grass and your lawn stays lush and green all year round.  

Unlike a natural grass lawn, you also get to choose the length and colour of your grass to make it look more natural. It can be easily laid out on most surfaces and is incredibly tough and durable.   

Artificial grass looks just like the real thing today thanks to advances in the way it is made. So, if you want to be freed from lawnmower duties this summer, give us a call at Homestyle Carpets.

3 Tips On Choosing The Perfect Carpet

A carpet isn’t something you will be investing in often, so care should be taken to ensure you are making the right choice for your home. Here are my top three tips to help you make the right choice.

Durability

Every room in your home will be used for different purposes. This should be foremost in your mind when it comes to choosing your carpet. If your room gets a lot of traffic such as the living room, then you will need to opt for carpet that can take a lot of punishment. Bedroom carpets on the other hand are not likely to receive anything like as much traffic so your carpet doesn’t need to be quite robust.

Colour

Many people will try to play safe when they choose a carpet and opt for a neutral colour. This can sometimes leave a room without personality if walls are also painted in neutral colours. Your choice of carpet should fit your personality and the style of your room, so don’t be afraid to experiment with bold colours and patterns.

Texture

The texture of your carpet can make a big difference to how it feels underfoot. Dense textures will be better suited to stairs and hallways while extra soft carpets will be better suited to bedrooms. Living room carpets need to be tough as well as retaining some softness.  

Is It Ok To Use Laminate Flooring In The Kitchen?

The kitchen is the centre of activity in most people’s homes. A place not only to cook and entertain but often a place where the kids sit down and do their homework and adults can sit around and chat over a coffee.

Naturally if you are spending a lot of time in a room you want it to feel warm, cosy and inviting. Your choice of flooring is essential to this of course so why shouldn’t you choose the cushioned warmth of a laminate floor in your kitchen?  

Unfortunately laminate gained a reputation for being the wrong choice in rooms where spillages occur frequently and regular mopping is a necessity.  This often leads people to opt for the water resistant properties of vinyl, which has come a long way from the old fashioned stuff that lay on floors in the 80s.

But if the infinite practicality of a vinyl floor isn’t for you and you can’t bear the thought of doing without the cushioned real wood effect of laminate, then you will be pleased to hear that laminate flooring is now far more resistant to the demand of the kitchen than it used to be.

Good quality laminate flooring for kitchens will certainly be splash proof and as long as it isn’t given regular soakings it should last you a long time. If however you are the kind of person who doesn’t think your floor is clean without having a soaking wet mop on a daily basis then you will probably be wiser choosing vinyl.