The Silver Lining of Water Damage
Consider this scenario. You have a water loss cased by a burst pipe, a bad hot water heater or a faulty toilet. Water gets out in the open and does its thing, which is to migrate downward. The floor almost always is involved and if you are fortunate enough to catch it early, the damage can be minimized by our Steamatic team who can remove the water and begin the drying process. In cases involving wood and laminate, water damage is difficult to reverse, but sometimes flooring can be saved as with carpet where pad replacement, a good cleaning and re-stretching work just fine. Either way, with adequate homowners insurance, you likely have a covered loss and will receive some compensation to restore your floor. Now what? (more…)
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Whole House Cleaning from Steamatic
Enjoy Special Savings on Whole House Cleaning Services from Steamatic…The Healthy Home Authority!
Call Steamatic of Columbus (a division of Flooring & More Carpet One) for special savings on carpet, upholstery and area rug cleaning through January 31, 2011. Offer only good with this coupon.
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Steamatic now offers wood floor cleaning.
We are always looking for new and better ways to clean and maintain the floors that we sell. Our newest tool in the cleaning toolbox is the Dirt Dragon designed for professional hardwood maintenance. This machine gives our Steamatic division a superior cleaning machine complete with proprietary chemistry to clean wood. The process is dustless and can be used for 1) intensive cleaning, 2) cleaning and refinishing or 3) cleaning and recoating.
The intensive cleaning step aggressively scrubs the floor to remove built up dirt and contaminants. This can be performed as a simple routine maintenance procedure.
A dirty floor prior to Dirt Dragon intensive cleaning.The same floor after one cleaning pass.
One word of caution, looking at the extracted cleaning solution comes with a certain “yuck” factor. We were amazed the first time we saw the amount of dirt extracted in one cleaning pass. Of course, some floors are dirtier than others, but it was a definite “WOW!”
Filthy recovery water (it started out a very light blue).
After the cleaning step, you have three options: 1) call it a day, my floor is clean, 2) apply the Hardwood Floor Refinisher to restore a uniform sheen of gloss or satin, or 3) apply the TyKote Dust Free Recoating system for a uniform sheen PLUS a protective coating for more durability.
In our first use of the Tykote system, we found the results to be quite impressive. Not only did the floor look great, there was no sanding involved (with the attendant mess) and the finish dries quickly…3 hours to walk on it with socked feet and 24 hours to replace furniture. We found it to be a great alternative to re-sanding. Call us for more information.
Refinished floor with restored gloss and luster (note the reflection!).
Tykote recoating finish being applied to a Dirt Dragon cleaned floor.
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Learning is a Constant at CFM and Steamatic
Learning is (or should be) a life long experience. We try to practice what we preach. At Flooring & More, we have regular PK’s (product knowledge meetings). The subjects can cover products, installation techniques, promotions, applications, trends, and a whole lot more. We are committed to providing expert advice and guidance through our store where there are literally 1,000′s of products. Some products are better suited for certain applications than others. For instance, you may have seen an earlier post on our dogs (family members and the live with us inside as well as out). We are also looking and replacing existing carpet with wood flooring. The choice quickly moved to a handscrapped, distressed wood look to better “tolerate and disguise” the inevitable knicks and scratches that will occur over time.
Joey, Chris, Sondra and Yong listen to a Bonsol technical rep.
Bonsol "hands on" demonstration.
Not all of our training is at the store or even local. We travel to get the best information and to attend regular trade shows and seminars. Below is a picture of Glen (www.SteamaticOfColumbus.com division). He is playing co-pilot on our way to Ft. Worth, Tx for training and to bring back some new equipment.
Glen hitching a ride to a trade convention (we train constantly)
View above the clouds at 10,000 feet
In the words of Neil Young, “Rust never sleeps” and neither do we!
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Best Carpet for Pets
Chloe and Cooper...two of our more active children!
I received the following question over the weekend and thought it might provide some answers to all of us with animals that are more than just pets, more like family members. Here are two of our guys who are part of our “active” test team for carpet and upholstery!
Question: Al, I have five dogs and five cats (I’m a sucker for stray animals), and as you can imagine my carpet takes a beating. Which brand and style (pile and cut) of carpet would be best for ware(heavy traffic) and hiding dirt and hair?
Thanks, Michelle
Answer: Michelle, we're dog lovers, too! Right now, we're down to only three dogs and one cat, all members of the family with full range of the house. Our suggestion would be a lower pile friese (think low pile shag), and maybe something in a fleck pattern (using the color combination to help hide dirt between cleanings). Given the pet situation, we would also suggest you consider a Stainmaster carpet pad under your carpet. The Stainmaster pad has an anti-microbial treatment as well as a moisture barrier to help prevent liquids, including urine, from soaking into the pad (which is impossible to clean completely because of its foam characteristics).
On the carpet fiber, you have two primary choices: nylon and PET (polyester). Nylon has traditionally been a longer wearing, more durable fiber but is a little less tolerant of stains. Having said that, today's anti-stain treatments have come a long way. Polyester, on the other hand, is generally a softer fiber and is naturally more stain resistant than nylon. We don't think you should rule out either without looking at the options they both offer.
One final thought in terms of a specific product is that you consider the Bliss Healthy Essence line of carpet from Beaulieu. The Bliss Healthy Essence line features Magic Fresh which is an odor fighting treatment built right into the carpet fiber, a real plus if pet odors are a problem. Bliss Healthy Essence also features Silver Release technology, which like Magic Fresh, is built into the carpet fiber. Silver release is a Beaulieu patented technology which actually kills bacteria making it an anti-microbial product just like the Stainmaster pad. You can see more about Bliss carpets at www.blissflooring.com.
And don't forget professional cleaning. All of our major carpet manufacturer's recommend professional hot water extraction cleaning at least once a year. In your case, as with our dogs, we clean a little more frequently than that. You can find out more about professional cleaning at www.SteamaticOfColumbus.com. 
I hope this helps! Al
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