1217 S. BLOSSER RD. SANTA MARIA CA. 93454
805 925-8113
Vinyl Floors with style!
No other floor covering category offers the variety of colors and patterned styles as vinyl flooring! Thanks to some great advancements in styling and technology, today's vinyl floors have been changed forever.
The unique manufacturing processes used today can replicate the look and textures of real ceramic tile, stone and wood grains. Plus, the resilient manufacturers have created new manufacturing processes to make vinyl floors more tear and stain resistant.
Once you have paged through the various web pages in the vinyl flooring section you should have a better understanding of how these new generation vinyl floors have changed forever the way we think of vinyl floors.
For information about a specific product, or for information about installing a specific vinyl floor you should always refer to the manufacturer's written documents. Use the information found here as a basic guide to help you better understand vinyl flooring. See your flooring retailer for expert advice.
Understanding Vinyl Performance
The wearlayer is critical to the performance of a vinyl floor. The thickness of the wearlayer varies with each manufacturer's collection, or series and is generally measured in mils. The thickness of a mil is about the same as a page in your telephone book. So a 10 mil wearlayer would be comparable in thickness to about 10 pages in your telephone book.
The more expensive vinyl floors generally will have a thicker wearlayer and a much better finish. Your expectations for how long your vinyl floor will look like new are usually based on the wearlayer's performance. To help you understand wearlayer construction we need to define what the performance characteristics are we are looking for in a vinyl floor. These performance characteristics can be broken into several key areas:
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Easy to clean
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Stays looking like-new
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Resists staining from normal household products
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Doesn't show scratches easily
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Easy to cleanup spills
The easy to clean relates to how tough it is to remove soiling and other marks from a floor's surface. When a floor begins to look old and drabby it is usually caused by hundreds of fine hair-line scratches in the wearlayer. The fine scratches come from dirt, girt, and sand laying on the wearlayer's surface. Another problem low-end floors and older vinyl floors have is staining of the wearlayer, which can happen from asphalt driveway sealers, Kool-Aid, plant food, marking pens, etc...
The new, high-end vinyl floors have better technology to help resist showing wear and staining far better than any of the middle to low-end vinyl floors made today. The special urethane finishes used on today's residential, high-end vinyl floors will give you a richer looking floor, better designs, better tear-resistance and much better performance!
Floor Care Guide
The new vinyl floors are extremely durable and long lasting, but like any floorcovering they still need regular maintain to stay looking like new. Follow these general guideline for vinyl flooring. For more detailed information always refer to the manufacturer's written floor care procedures.
Care After Installation
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For the first 24 hours after your new floor is installed protect all the seamed areas and don't walk on the seam sealer.
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Keep the room at 68* F or greater for at least a 2 days after installation to allow the adhesives to setup properly.
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Do not roll heavy objects directly on to a newly installed vinyl floor for at least 5 days. This can cause the vinyl and adhesive to become compressed, once the adhesive sets up any compressed marks will become permanent. Always lay plywood or underlayment to disperse the weight of a heavy objects being moved across your vinyl floor.
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Allow 5 days before thoroughly washing your floor. This will give time for the adhesive to cure.
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Before placing chairs or furniture on your new vinyl floor check the condition of all casters or rollers before setting them on your floor. Replace any worn casters or rollers.
General Floor Care
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Vacuum regularly to remove grit and sand. Wash your floor occasionally with the manufacturer's recommended floor cleaner, such as Armstrong's Once 'n Done No Rinse Cleaner, or Mannington's Award Cleaner.
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Wipe up spills immediately. If needed clean with the manufacturer's recommended cleaner. You can also clean with luke warm water and clear ammonia.
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If you floor becomes dull looking you may need to add the manufacturer's recommended floor polish to restore the orginal gloss level. First, try cleaning with luke warm water and clear ammonia to see if there is a film on your floor causing the dullness.
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Never use abrasive cleaners, soaps, paste waxes, or solvents on your vinyl floor.
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Place non-staining, walk-off mats at every outside entry to your room. This will help keep sand and grit from being tracked on to your floor.
Floor Care Tips
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If your floor gets a cut or gouge in it, cover the area immediately and call your professional floorcovering store. A professional installer can repair the area, but if the cut is filled with dirt it may be difficult to repair correctly.
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If you purchase an inexpensive PVC vinyl floor you should consider placing 2-3 coats of the recommended floor polish on the floor immediately. Any vinyl floor with a PVC wearlayer will show scuffs, scratches, and other marks very easily, by adding the coats of floor polish you will make the floor easier to maintain.
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If you have a seam open, cover it immediately, do not wash that area, and call a floor covering professional to come and repair the seam.
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When moving heavy objects across your floor place plywood, or underlayment sheets down first and move the object over the plywood sheets.
CARPETS UNLIMITED COLOR TILE OF SANTA MARIA
1217 S. BLOSSER RD. STE. A SANTA MARIA CA. 93454
805 925-8113