Laminate Layers

Laminate is constructed in layers to create long-lasting, reasonable, gorgeous floors.

Four layers of material, each with its own reason, are merged together to produce laminate flooring that is sturdy and will last for years to come.

Layer 1: A melamine backing layer provides a dampness barrier and structural integrity.

Layer 2: EnviroCore™ - Dick Carpet’s environmentally friendly coreboard - is the dense inner layer made of recycled wood fiber meaning fewer trees used with less waste.

Layer 3: Beneath the top layer is the decor layer featuring natural hardwood designs.

Layer 4: A melamine wear top layer offers a tough, beautiful finish

Underlayment
• What kind of underlayment does this flooring require?
 
   TIP – Your installer will advise you if your subfloor needs to be prepared with patch or leveling products, or if you require new wood underlayment. While this will add additional cost, you will dramatically increase the life and performance of your new flooring.
 
Warranties on flooring
• What are the guarantees or warranties on the flooring?
• On the installation?
 
Installation – Remember, flooring installation shouldn’t be scheduled until all your painting, wallpapering, or other construction is finished. flooring should be the last part of your remodeling project.
 
Does the quoted price include installation?
• If not, what are the charges and procedures for installation? (Some installation systems are more labor or material intensive than others and cost more.)
• Will the condition of my existing floor affect the cost of installation?
 
Who is responsible for appliance and fixture removal and replacement?
 
TIP - If you can remove the stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, toilet, etc., you will save some money, but be sure to slide them over plywood panels, so you don’t damage your flooring. You may pay extra for the installer to do it, or have to hire other professionals, like a plumber, to disconnect and reconnect a refrigerator with an ice maker etc.
• Who is responsible for removing and disposing of old my flooring? Is there an additional fee for that?
• How quickly will my flooring be installed after I place my order?
• Will I need new moldings, wall base and toe kick guards? Or can my old ones be
removed and replaced? Will this cost extra?

TIP - Armstrong™ sells self-stick vinyl wall base for residential use, and offers a complete line of Coordinated Transitions moldings and transition strips for use with our laminate flooring.
• Will the new flooring add height to my current floor? Will I need to shave the bottoms of doors so they’ll swing freely? Can the installer do that? Is there additional cost?
• Is your installer certified by Armstrong or a trade organization such as CFI (Certified Floor covering Installers), FCIB (Floor Covering Installation Board) or the WFCA (World Floor Covering Association)?
 
Dick’s Carpet offers only #1 rated certified installers under strict compliance regulations for your safety and protection
 

 TIP - Armstrong Certified Installers are highly experienced flooring installers who are specially trained and certified to install any Armstrong flooring product. They receive ongoing product information and support from Armstrong. They also have access to the Armstrong Installation Training Network, a nationwide system of experienced installers available to provide additional installation expertise right in your neighborhood.

Make sure your Dick’s Carpet visit goes smoothly by going through our simple checklist below

Before you go:
Consider drawing a simple outline of the room indicating:
• Room exits – Are their exits to the outside? Are there sliding patio doors?
• Adjoining room floors – What types of flooring will flow into this room? What are the colors?
• Sunlight and other lighting – How much natural sunlight comes in during the day, from what directions?

What other light sources are in the room?
• Subfloor – What is underneath the existing floor? (Sometimes you can pull up an in-floor heating duct to see.)
• Measurement – Measure the length and width of the room in inches or feet. Don’t forget to include closets or other areas that will need Flooring.
• This will help you explain your new flooring needs to the salesperson.

Bring with you to the store:
• Samples – Bring swatches of furniture fabrics, draperies, bedspreads, wallpaper and paint that will remain in the room. These will help you match floors with your décor.

Questions the salesperson may ask you:
You might think the salesperson is asking a series of personal questions, but he or she is trying to help you select a floor that performs in your household and fits with your décor. Whether it’s laminate flooring, vinyl sheet, linoleum, hardwood, or ceramic, you can find the perfect floor for your home.

Durability/Performance
• Is there light or heavy traffic in this room?
• What is the room used for?
• Do you have children or pets?
• How long do you want this flooring to last?
• Is there a door to the outside in the room?

Style/Appearance
• Do you have a certain color in mind?
• What are the room’s lighting sources?
• What types of furnishings do you have?
• What’s the style of the room? Traditional? Contemporary? Rustic?
• What’s the feel of the room? Casual? Formal? Somewhere in between?

Questions you may want to ask the salesperson:

Estimate
• Do you charge for an in-home estimate? If so, does it apply to the cost of purchase?

Samples
• Can I take a sample home to check how the flooring will look in my room?

TIP - If we don’t have samples, ask if we have a light box at Dick’s Carpet, which offers more homelike lighting conditions.

TIP - If you do take home a sample, check it out during the day and night. Also, look at the sample on the floor, not just at eye-level.

Everywhere you turn there is a mention to something green! This practicality reflects a growing desire to live a healthy and dynamic life and to minimize environmental harm for our own as well as our children’s advantage. The demand to “go green” is starting us on the pathway toward resolving many essential concerns such as global warming, reduction of natural resources, pollution, and the interference of natural habitats.

   U.S. households account for about 1/5th of America’s total greenhouse gas emissions. The average U.S. household generates more than 80 tons of carbon dioxide every year — that’s 22.5 tons per person! The average household also creates 3.3 tons of landfill waste every year — an average of 4.5 pounds of trash, per person, per day!

   Many organizations are making efforts to reduce the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and to develop renewable energy sources. They are also seeking to minimize their environmental trail by using goods with longer life cycles and less impact on the environment.

   We can all do our part by making smart purchases; so why not start with flooring?

You’d be pushed to find a owner who doesn’t want hardwood floors. Wall-to-wall carpeting is out, and hardwood floors are in. But will you get the value and the return on investment? Bottom line: at $8-$10 per square foot (installed), wood flooring is an added expense beyond carpeting or the more and more ordinary laminates that offer a comparable look.

If you’re on the railing and can’t decide whether to put in hardwood floors (or perhaps peel back your aged carpeting and refinish the wood underneath), this list may be able to be of assistance We’re going to take a look at some of the payback of hardwoods:

1. Longevity
Thanks to durable finishes that are easy to repair, solid-wood floors can last for a hundred years or more. There are very few flooring resources that have been around as lengthy as wood. Over the centuries, it has revealed itself to be a attractive and sturdy floor alternative. Other newer materials have yet to establish themselves.

2. Coziness and Warmth
Not only is hardwood more pleasing to walk on than laminate (which always feel cold and a little “plastic” underfoot), but it is of course warm. Wood is a brilliant insulator, thanks to its thousands of tiny air chambers per cubic inch, which hold in heat.

3. Hypoallergenic
Got allergies? Unlike carpets (read: reproduction grounds for mold, mildew, and dust mites, all of which can be tough on anyone with allergies), wood floors don’t give pollen, animal dander, mold, etc. any place to hide and thrive. Even when you steam clean carpets, it’s impossible to get them entirely clean. In fact, getting them wet just makes things worse. Hardwood flooring is an excellent choice for anyone with any kind of environmental allergies. (And it makes good sense for everyone else too–who wants to lie down on a floor that’s hiding mold?)

4. Easy to Clean
A little sweeping and a little mopping, and your hardwood floors will keep looking pleasant for a long time to come. Even families with dogs and kids are realizing that it’s easier to mop a hardwood floor than attempt to spray/scrub/wash grape Kool-Aid out of a carpet. Another plus side is that a cut here or a gouge there really just adds personality to wood floors (of course, you can always have them refinished if you prefer perfection).

5. Increase Home Value
Unless you’re going to be living in the same house for the rest of your existence you should think about how the flooring choices you make today will affect the price you can get for your home when you sell it. Carpet will look old and used in just a few years, whereas wood floors last a long time and add value to a home (if you’ve ever watched those house hunter shows on television, you’ve doubtlessly seen just about every potential buyer looking around hopefully for hardwood floors). Even laminate flooring, which looks like wood flooring, is a distant second choice for homebuyers. It just doesn’t have the same warmth and feel.

These are just a few of the benefits of hardwood floors. We didn’t even mention the aesthetic value: at the end of the day, they just look better than the alternatives. If you can afford to pay an extra couple dollars per square foot, go with hardwood. If you have hardwoods hiding under your existing carpets, tear those suckers up and get the wood refinished.

If you settle for laminate or just replacing the carpeting, you may regret it down the road.

Below are a few things to assist you understand why certain carpets perform superior than others.

YARN TWIST - When it comes to carpet “tighter is better”. In general terms, the tighter the twist the longer the carpet will achieve before it begins to compress and dull. By taking plenty of fine fiber strands (called filaments) and rotating them into a securely twisted yarn and then locking them all as one with warmth you get a much more resilient yarn for making carpet.

SHORTER NAP - The depth of the carpet’s nap is also significant to the general performance of the carpet. The higher the yarn stands on top of the backing of the carpet the more complicated it is for the manufacturer to construct the carpet crush and matt resistant. So the shorter the pile depth the more mash resistant and the longer the like-new look of your carpet will last.

STITCHES PER INCH - Like most fabric material, carpet that has more yarn (or stitches) per inch will moreover be more crush and matt resistant. Some carpets are so thick that it is nearly unworkable to push your fingers in between the yarns. Clearly the carpets where the yarns are so packed and packed together will have a easier time resisting crushing.

CARPET CUSHION - A first-rate class carpet pad will lengthen the life of any carpet, regardless of the value of the carpet. Carpet cushion serves a vital reason which is frequently over looked. First-rate quality carpet cushion acts as both a shock absorber and a spring which helps perk up a carpet’s overall performance. Review the carpet manufacturer’s cushion recommendations prior to purchasing a carpet.

Families with pets or anxious about spills should look for carpet cushions that are made specifically to obstruct spills from penetrating the cushion and are odor-resistant. As examples, Mohawk offers carpet cushions with Odor Eaters™ and Invista’s STAINMASTER™ carpet cushion features the DuPont™ Hytrel® breathable moisture barrier to keep spills from soaking into the cushion.

CONTINUOUS FILAMENT NYLON (CFN) - If you see on the back of a carpet example a tag that says “CFN”, or “BCF”, that means this carpet is made from Continuous filament nylon. Continuous filament nylon starts out as one long continuous strand before made into yarn. The other type is called staple nylon, which means each fine filament starts out as a short strand about 7 inches long before it is spun into yarn and then tufted into carpet. As the short, unsecured pieces of staple nylon come loose from the yarn pile you get pilling on the exterior of the carpet. This does not happen with a continuous nylon carpet.

LOOPED CARPETS - From level loops to berbers there is an significant issue to look for when buying a crush resistant looped carpet. This is the concentration of the loop and how much free space is beneath the loop. Like all carpets the more filaments that are crammed into the yarn and the tighter the loops the improved the performance will be.

Many homeowners choose carpet because it is warm and flexible under foot. When you choose a carpet you usually purchase it with the hope that your new carpet will appear just like the example in the store for many years. To assist you in meeting your expectations it is most excellent to first have some wide-ranging information about the different uniqueness of carpet before choosing the carpet for your area.

Call us for a free consultation - no obligation.

BERKELEY

1065 Ashby Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94710
Tel. 510-883-2111

OAKLAND

36 Hegenberger Ct.
Oakland, CA 94621
Tel. 510-633-9533

   When installing a cork floor over radiant heat, not all floors are created equal. Most cork manufacturers and suppliers will only recommend the use of a floating floor. Cork floating floors do work well with radiant heat bearing in mind that the floor will take a little longer to achieve full temperature due to the MDF core. Conversely, the floor will retain heat longer.

   Solida  also recommends the use of glue down floors  over radiant heat. Many manufacturers will not suggest this due to uncertainty with adhesive. Some cork suppliers do not provide adhesive or the adhesive they do provide is not suitable for this type of installation. Solida supplies a premium waterbased contact adhesive with every order. This adhesive passes the Woodwork Institute of California test for heat resistance and is perfectly suitable for installation over radiant heat. Solida’s adhesive also exceeds California’s stringent air quality requirements under Rule 1168.

   When installing glue down tile over a radiant heat floor, two rules must be adhered to. First, 5 days prior to installation, the heat must be brought up or down to room temperature (70-72 degrees Fahrenheit) regardless of season. Secondly, the floor temperature should never exceed 85 degrees Fahrenheit. After the floor is installed, the temperature can be adjusted as long as the second rule is not broken.  All other installation guidelines must still be followed.

   A correctly installed and maintained cork floor will look beautiful for generations.

   There seem to be a lot of negative claims as to where cork can be installed. There have been articles in various publications stating that cork flooring is only suitable for above ground installation. This is simply not the case!

   If someone has a damp basement there are really very few choices of flooring that are suitable so the moisture problem needs to be corrected.

In a dry basement there are 2 choices:

1. Glue Down Cork-this will offer warmth and comfort over a hard concrete surface and will not be affected dampness or flooding if installed according to directions

2. Floating Floor- this will still offer warmth and comfort however, as with any laminate, wood or carpet is susceptible to damage from flooding

   The ideal selection would be a Solida site finish cork floor which is installed with a waterbased adhesive and finished on site with waterbased polyurethane. This system seals the floor and the surface so no moisture can permeate the joints.

   There have been several instances of home owners having floods leaving the basements under water. When the water was removed the Solida Cork floor survived without damage.

Not true.

   Carpet is one of the lowest emitting sources of VOC’s used in the construction of a space. A study was conducted in two classrooms in a Dalton middle school. The rooms were across the hall from one another. One room had carpet the other hard surface. When the spaces were tested for VOC’s they were the same. To further test, the existing carpet was replaced with new carpet. The VOC’s went up by a miniscule amount and within 48 hours had dissipated completely back to background of the measurements and they are gone forever.                   

 Definition: VOC - Volatile organic compound. A highly evaporative, carbon-based chemical substance, which produces noxious fumes; found in many paints, caulks, adhesives as well as carpet and pad.

   So how is carpet the source of VOC’s? To take this further, the school decide to strip and refinish the gymnasium floor when school was out. This area was about 100 yards from the classrooms. The VOC’s in the classrooms after the gym floor was refinished went up 30 fold from background. Other VOC’s go in and out of an air space but it is not from carpet.

   All of the science, conducted by independent studies, proves carpet is not the culprit many like to say it is. The fact is, carpet traps dust, soil and other airborne contaminants and holds it in place. Further, the work the carpet industry has done with the vacuum cleaner industry through the Seal of Approval program, has greatly improved the performance of vacuum cleaners. No other segment of the floor covering industry has done more to insure its products are as safe as carpet.

   This myth does not jive with reality. A study done by Dr. Mike Berry at the University of North Carolina where he took carpet, ceiling tiles, drywall, wall studs and all sorts of building materials found in construction and put them in a high humidity chamber with elevated temperatures, both necessary for mold to grow including a food source, and after three days everything in the chamber was covered in mold except for one thing; the carpet – there was no mold on the carpet.

  Why? Because carpet is a synthetic polymer which mold cannot use as a food source. If mold is found on a carpet there’s a problem; out of control moisture in the building and the building and carpet is dirty. Getting rid of the carpet accomplishes one thing – getting rid of the carpet, you have not solved the mold problem. Carpet that is kept clean and dry will absolutely not grow mold. If the carpet has mold on it you’d better start looking elsewhere to find the source of the big problem you have. Another myth dispelled by proven scientific fact.

   Remember the evidence never lies, it will always tell you what the problem is if you know how to interpret what its saying. The evidence will also always take you to the truth.