You'll take the checker flag every time when you show off your collector cars on a checkerboard floor.

Now the Internet can get you complete quotes with step-by-step instructions on how to put down the checkerboard floor you have always dreamed of. By being artistic, you can make concrete floors develop character and give you easy maintenance. All too often collectors fail to take full creative advantage of their facilities largest single surface, their floors. Epoxy coatings can not only give you the ease of maintenance associated with a class III laboratory floor surface but great individualized looks as well.

Your project will start by measuring your floors, length and width. Then decide on the size and color of the squares that you want. 24" x 24" squares will be less work than 12" x 12" and will not give that tile look. The color can be traditional black and white, but if you have a blue car, dark blue might be the answer. Naturally, if you’re going to do the work to achieve a custom checkerboard floor you want it to last. Just as with that glowing car finish, we all know that it is prep, prep, and prep that make the difference between a good job and a great job.

Ever notice how when you walk across concrete in your socks they get all dusty on the bottoms. That’s because concrete continuously deteriorates and breaks apart leaving the garage dusty like your socks. A few dips of oil on concrete might still be seen years later as the oil soaks into porous concrete. But if you seal the floor with an epoxy coating that adheres well to the concrete because your prep job was good, you can just wipe off oil, gas, and dirt with a rag. You can hose out and squeegee that garage floor to a clean shiny surface in minutes.

Your prep should include a high alkaline cleaner used with a rotary scrubber and a black pad or stiff Nilo grit type concrete brush. Your prep should include a high alkaline degreaser to bring the pH of the floor up to nearly 12 as it removes the left over adhesive and contaminants. Then you shock the concrete and contaminants into letting go by switching to scrubbing with an acidic cleaner containing water softeners, detergents, and rinse agents that bring the floor down to a pH of 3.5. This jump in pH will force contaminants and vulnerable cement particles to release from the floor. The acidic cleaner also opens the floor up to allow the epoxy top coats to create a strong long-lasting bond. A final scrub rinse and the floor is ready to dry and start accepting repairs and artistic coloring.

First you should coat the entire floor with two coats of your light color. You can screen between coats with your scrubber to remove any sand, bugs or contaminants that fell into the first coat. Next pull a chalk line diagonally through the widest part of your floor to set your pattern. Now lay down any size template squares side by side in two rows along the chalk line, and remove every other one. Using blue tape, place paper that is cut one inch smaller than your templates, setting them in the open squares. Tape the paper masking down with blue tape and move on. Once complete, you just walk on the paper and use a roller and brush to fill in the open squares. Note that for best results, brush from the tape towards the center to avoid getting epoxy leaking under your tape. One coat of your dark color should be sufficient. Once you have filled in all the open squares with your dark color be sure to remove the tape and masking paper. You don’t want to glue that tape to your floor.

Durall Industrial Flooring supplies kits of materials including checkerboard templates in 24" x 24" size that are customized to owner specification and delivered directly to the job site. Kits include full directions and 24/7 help lines staffed by seasoned flooring experts, so professionals and amateurs alike can successfully install a quality floor.

Web visitors can obtain free, job-specific quotes on materials or nationwide turnkey installations by completing a simple questionnaire at http://www.concrete-floor-coatings.com.

For high-resolution photo examples, visit: http://www.concrete-floor-coatings.com/photos/checkerboard

For more information, contact Harvey Chichester at: harvey@concrete-floor-coatings.com Phone: 1-800-466-8910 or 952-888-1488 (24/7)

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Here are useful tips learned during more than 40 years of installing epoxy urethane floor seals and coatings on Fortune 500 company concrete floors, as well as in basements, garages, and decks. These tips can help you avoid mistakes that can limit the life of your floor.

There are three broad steps to doing your floor project: planning and preparation, repairing, and applying the coating. This article is the first in a three part series, and deals with planning and preparation.

General guidelines for applying an epoxy coating to your floor:

Do no harm.

Investing in prep produces the best value, (cost divided by years of service).

Let the chemicals and equipment do the work.

What can go wrong, will go wrong, unless you think ahead.

Technique is what separates mortals from Rembrandts.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Now let's get started with tips on how to plan your job and prepare your floor.

Plan the job.

Stick your coating to something that is not going to move

The better the tools, the less work you have to do.

Removing loose concrete is as important as removing dirt

Different types of dirt require different cleaners

"Shocking" the floor can help free dirt and contaminants.

Some things must be abraded off.

Don’t blow bubbles through your finish

There is only one way to remove gum

Asphalt bleeds

If you coat over things that move, your floor may move

Vacuum out those holes

Gravity is unforgiving

. Once you prep your floor, anything in the air will eventually end up as dirt on your floor. So don’t wait too long to do your coatings. Bugs, leaves, dust, and lint can eventually compromise the quality of the job you end up with.. Water settles in floor cracks and holes. If you vacuum them out or blot them with a rag, you will not have the problem of unexpected delays due to finding water still in your floor after the surface has dried.
. Adhesives are often a problem to remove on floors. But if you leave the adhesive, your coating is like an eggshell. A hard exterior with a soft interior will often let the shell crack and peal away.
. If you use a solvent-based floor coating and coat over any asphalt spots, the solvents will make the asphalt bleed into your finish spoiling the color. Use a scraper to remove any asphalt. Then follow with some degreaser or mineral spirits.
. Modern gum is actually synthetic rubber and is not affected by cleaners or most solvents. Scraping is the most common method of removing gum but a 190-degree hot water jet works fast if you have one.
. Gases often come up through your porous concrete floor. Methane and radon gas are very common under concrete slabs and move their way through the concrete causing some bubbles in the finish. But most often bubbles are caused by the chemical reaction still going on between your cleaners and the floor. One or two good scrub rinses are needed to help avoid generating gas bubbles in your floor.
Gum, adhesive, asphalt, some paints, concrete splatters, silicone sprays from Rain X, and Tire Shine are just some of the blemishes that you may need to scrape or grind off by hand when preparing a floor.
When you do your laundry you put your shirt in the wash and it is probably at a pH of 6.5 or 7. Then you add your detergent, which may bring the pH up to 8 or 8.5. That pH change is part of what make the dirt particles want to let go of the fabric. When we do floors, we shock the floor by bringing the pH up to 12 and then hitting it with the acidic cleaner dropping the pH to 5.5 or so. That really helps make concrete particles that are about to let to, let go.
. If one cleaner worked for everything there would only be one cleaner sold. But some dirt and contaminants, like fats and oils, respond to alkaline-type cleaners and some dirt and contaminants, like minerals, rust and concrete respond, to acidic-type cleaners. If alkaline and acidic are mixed they cancel each other out to neutral, so two separate cleanings are needed for your concrete floor, one alkaline cleaning and one acidic, followed by a good scrub rinse to stop the chemical action.
. If you walk over concrete with your socks on, you will usually see that they get all dusty. That’s because the concrete is constantly deteriorating and breaking away. Your preparation should leave only concrete that is well attached, so aggressive scrubbing is a must.
Renting power scrubbers, walk-behind vacuums, double-bladed squeegees, and long-handled scrapers are all multipliers that reduce your work and increase your performance. You can try to do without lots of fancy tools, but you might have to ask yourself, will you stop your work earlier than you should because it's just too much work.
. Remember that a floor that has 3000 lb. or more going over it every day needs much better adhesion than a wall that may get brushed by an elbow occasionally. Stick your coating to something that is not going to move.
Save trips to the store and costly delays by getting everything you need ready before the job starts. One quick step would be to go to a website like www.concrete-floor-coatings.com for a free cost analysis which will list everything you need to do your job, including step by step instructions.

Remember, "Life imitates Star Trek." You may begin to notice in the future that virtually every floor in the galaxy seems to have a flow-coated, two-part coating on it. I am seeing fewer and fewer new wood floors, linoleum, or oriental rugs. How about you?

Follow the rules and your job will turn out with the great look you want.

For more information, contact Harvey Chichester at harvey@concrete-floor-coatings.com or phone 1-800-466-8910 or 952-888-1488 (24/7).

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Especially for the homes they live in, carpet cleaning is one service that most people have to do.There are absolutely many reasons for this including health, keeping the carpet beautiful, and simply cleanliness. So one thing you will definitely see a lot of are carpet cleaning advertisements.But the real trick is to exactly know which ads are with trustworthy companies.  So in this article we are going to look over some things to look for in a company.

First of all when you see a carpet cleaning ad, then you have to be careful. Especially when you see the ads that advertise real low cost carpet cleaning.The key reason why you have to be very careful is simply because at the cost they advertise they wouldn't be able to make money.So the very first thing is basically to be wary of the low cost advertising.  With our San Diego carpet cleaning comapny we practice being upfront about our costs unlike these other companies.

Low cost advertising doesn't make sense because all businesses are in business to make money.So there will surely be an upsell at the prices they quote you on their ad.  It has to be an upsell when they get to your house or they are losing money. So don't take a chance on calling these companies immediately. Look for companies with reasonable rates of course.  Depending on the type of company will determine the costs.  In other words companies like my carpet cleaners Point Loma company cater to high end customers. 

Finally the best way to make sure you are picking a reputable company is customer testimonials.The main reason for this is simply because anybody could tell you to just trust them.  But the best person to tell you about a company is their customers. So if you can find a company with glowing and impressive testimonials then surely go with them.  That is why we emphasize feedback from all our customers of our carpet cleaning La Jolla service.

So simply follow these useful tips when looking for a carpet cleaning company.When dealing with someone especially to work on your home, you want it to be someone you can truly trust.

• Why our carpets get soiled fairly quickly
• What to do about your carpets and keeping it clean

Here are useful tips learned during more than 40 years of installing epoxy urethane floor seals and coatings on Fortune 500 company concrete floors, as well as in basements, garages, and decks. These tips can help you avoid mistakes that can limit the life of your floor.

There are three broad steps to doing your floor project: planning and preparation, repairing, and applying the coating. This article is the third in a three part series, and deals with applying the epoxy paint to the floor.

General guidelines for applying an epoxy coating to your floor:

Do no harm.
Investing in preparation produces the most years of service.
Let the chemicals and equipment do the work.
What can go wrong, will go wrong, unless you think ahead.
Technique is what separates mortals from Rembrandts.
An once of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Now let's get started with tips on how to coat your floor with an epoxy or urethane floor paint.

 

Plan the job.

Good floor prep is key to a long lasting floor.

Take a break.

Mix 200 strokes.

Easy work makes for a better job

No one is perfect

Don’t worry about tricks of gravity

A rag may not save you

Technique, technique, technique.

This is an application pattern I like to teach and can serve you very well. Tip your roller and remove it quickly before it fills with liquid. Apply a quick wet line 3 or 4 feet back from where you had stopped coating. Now fill in the area between that wet line and your previous rolled area. As you overlap the new wet part, . The strong two-part coatings you are applying are not the water-based latexes that wipe easily off with a rag or a little water. If you get the coating on something you did not want to coat, it may be less harmful to leave it than to smear it all over the place. You may be better off chipping it off once it dries a little, or coating over it with paint that matches what you got it on.
. As you put your first coat down, you will find things, bugs, sand, water, lint, and the like. What was in the air eventually will be on the floor. Remember this is a two-coat process. Yes, remove what you can as you go but those small bits of debris may be easier to remove when you screen between coats and sweep before your second coat.
. I do floors lots of floors and still have misses, marks, and errors. I just can’t rely on myself to be perfect all the time. That’s why two coats are always planned.
. Tape your cutting brush to a broom handle, use a wheeled bucket for 18-inch rollers, and several pails if using 9-inch rollers, and wear a mask if using solvent based products. Save your back and let yourself move quickly. Moving fast is more fun but it also sets a rhythm, which keeps a repetitive job interesting enough to maintain focus.
Two-part flooring products can produce floors that click when you first walk over them. That clicking often means that the two parts were not mixed well. Clicking is sucking dust off your feet and could cause both lifting and discoloration problems down the road. Yes, the floor will usually stop clicking and harden, but it may come from aging rather than a strong chemical change. Mixing is not a science, but you must be able to count to 200.
I always take a break after floor preparation to let the floor dry. Putting down a coating can be smooth and uniform or splotchy with misses. A little rest before the artistic part of the job will improve the quality of your application process.
For this article, we will assume that you have done a good job of doing you’re preparation and repair work already.
Two-part coatings harden in the can once mixed, so it is best to have everything you need at the start of your job. A useful first step is to go to a website like www.concrete-floor-coatings.com for a free cost analysis report that also lists everything you need to do your job including step-by-step instructions.
you re-wet your roller
and as you overlap the previous area your roller is re-moistened. When you get to the end, roll back over the same area a second time. This re-rolling will spread any lines that may have come off your roller edges as you move across the floor.

Push the roller on, not off.

I always flip my roller so that I move towards the open end. This little step pushes the roller onto the frame not off it. Each time the roller moves on the frame you have the danger of opening a gap at the end that fills the roller with coating as you dip. Soon you are getting lines as the liquid drips out of the ends of the roller. And soon the roller is sliding back and forth on your frame because the interior is now very slippery.

Don’t hit the roller.

If your roller cover starts to slide off the frame, don’t tap the roller, tap the frame. If you tap the roller, you often get dents in the roller that show up as marks as you roll. If you tap the frame end of the roller, it will slide on without changing its shape.

There is dirt in that pail.

I can’t say how often I have compromised the quality of a job by pouring my last amount of coating out of the pail onto the floor as I exit. The problem is every piece of sand, lint, or bug that had stuck to the roller is resting at the bottom of the pail. Right where I have wanted the floor to look its best (at the entrance or exit), I have poured out all my debris on the floor so that I can use that last 3-oz. of coating. Don’t do it! You will be sorry.

Screen the floor after your primer coat repairs are made

. By screening your floor with a 60 grit screen after any additional repairs are made, you can usually shave your floor flat. This screening removes bubbles, lint, sand, bugs, leaves, and fillers that are above the desired surface.

Sweep your floor with a kitchen type broom before coating.

Push brooms just don’t pick up enough of the small grains. A kitchen broom takes a little longer but does a better job.

Vacuum the corners

. It is just too hard to get grains of sand and other small particles out of corners and along baseboards or out of holes unless you use a vacuum.

• Epoxy Floor Paint Projects: Tips and Tricks That Save Time and Money
• Madera Floors. Fairfax, Va. Hardwood Floor Specialists. Installation, Sanding And Refinishing

Madera Floors provides professional quality wood flooring services including installation, sanding, refinishing, repairs, maintenance, and custom design. At Madera, we only use the highest quality materials/finishes and are always up to date on technological advancements in the wood floor industry. We target contractors, designers, corporate clients, and homeowners in the Northern VA, MD and D.C. areas. Madera's goal is to meet our client's budget and timeline while exceeding expectations, thus resulting in repeat business.

Madera Floors specializes in custom finishing, installations and material sourcing for all of your hardwood flooring needs. As flooring contractors, we are always abreast of new techniques and materials in the industry, which allows us to grow while remaining environmentally friendly. As a certified CMP installer we can also perform self-leveling concrete installations. Every project represents our organization; hence our great strides to achieve perfection on each individual project.

Hardwood floors are an investment that will last for a long time with the proper installation and care. There are different modes of installation for engineered wood strips, solid wood strips, and parquet. With all modes of installation moisture testing is imperative to ensure proper installation. Installation can be a painstaking process but we take pride in leaving your home or business looking as beautiful as we found it. Our expert technicians have seen every situation and are proficient in the three different types of installation for hardwood flooring.

Nail Down/Staple Installation In this method we nail down or staple solid or engineered wood strips to the sub-flooring (usually either plywood or plank wood). The floor is done with random length strips. A few strips are placed down and arranged prior to fastening to ensure proper placement and tautness.Glue Down Installation In this method we glue down engineered wood strips or parquet directly to the sub-floor. In these cases the subfloor is usually concrete, so we pay extra attention to moisture.

With glue down installations, it is important to consider any kind of allergies and sensitivities to smell. We use an acrylic based glue which is more mild than some of the other options. Glue down installations can be walked on the next day and furniture can also be moved in.

Floating Installation In this method we glue together the tongue and groove of every plank and the floor floats over a foam cushioned padding. If the flooring has a locking system we can lock the pieces together without glue. This can be used with either laminate or engineered wood floor, but either way the flooring is pre-finished. Not all engineered surfaces can be floated. Floating installation can also be placed over sub-flooring of questionable quality unlike the other two modes. Also, floating floors are a great option if you have multiple layers of flooring and do not want to remove them all. With floating installation the wear layer is important to consider as the thicker the layer the more times it can be refinished. Generally, laminate flooring gives a hollow feeling underfoot with this mode of installation. Remember that floating floors expand and contract as a unit because the pieces are fused together. Allow for as much expansion area as possible.

Refinishing and sanding your hardwood floors is necessary to preserve their quality and beauty. Any refinishing is done solely to enhance the woods natural color and protect it from the elements. The best time to sand and refinish your hardwood floors is when you move into a new house or apartment as all of the furniture, rugs, etc. need to be removed from the area during the process. Proper refinishing should last about 10 years. However, high traffic rooms will need to be done more often.

Pre-finished Hardwood Floors These are the new main stream products in hardwood flooring. They can be acrylic impregnated, engineered, or solid. They have a tough factory finish, which is the main reason for its popularity. They are also extremely easy to install and eliminate the need for messy sanding. Most pre-finished floors done within the last ten years are urethane finished. Test this by placing a couple drops of water on an obscure area. If the area turns white after 15 minutes, you have a waxed finish. Older floors are likely to have shellac or varnish finishes. Unfortunately these do not work well with the newer urethane finishes and must be completely removed if you want a urethane finish. There is also likely to be some amount of aluminum oxide in the newer prefinished floors.

 Unfinished Hardwood This type of flooring comes in solid and engineered, and both must be job site finished. They come in varying lengths and widths. Sanding and finishing can take anywhere from a few days to a week depending on size, stain, and number of top finish coats. Generally the finishes are oil or water based. Our first priority is to protect the beauty of your home so whether you have finished or unfinished floors, we section off other areas and furniture to prevent sanding dust from spreading throughout your home. Our expert technicians also use dust containment systems to limit the amount of dust in the air. And with refinishing, it is important to have as little air flow as possible in the area as airborne particles can become embedded into the newly applied finish. Something as simple as foot traffic or turning on the air conditioner/heating system can kick up dust. So it is better to allow more time to dry to avoid problem areas in your floors.

Many things can happen to a floor over the years. Termites, cable holes, leaky roofs, sink overflows, cats, dogs and reconfigured spaces can leave holes or very odd-looking stains in your hardwood. All is not lost!

Boards can be replaced in such a way that no one will be able to tell that new wood has been added to the floors. When replacing boards, we take care to lace the new boards in with the old ones, so there is not a square or rectangle shape where the boards have been replaced.Other precautions are taken to match up the wood as best as possible. As wood ages, it darkens. This is why we purchase reclaimed wood in various sizes and species. If aged wood is not available for your floor, we take care to stain the boards that we are replacing to match the color of your existing floor as close as possible.

Custom Wood Floors are a medium of specialty floor coverings that includes, but not limited to these Types of Custom Wood Floors: Accents, Borders, Domestic Species, Exotic Species, Feature Strip, Inlays, Marquetry, Mixed Media, Medallions & Crest, Painted or stenciled, Parquet, Parquetry, Plank, Reclaimed & Recovered,Distressed, Specialty Products, Stained-Tinted or Colors Developed during the middle ages in Europe, elaborate designs, borders, inlays & medallions were crafted for significant buildings such as castles, & monasteries. Today these wood flooring styles are reflected in the modern day manufacturing and can be enhanced with something as simple as a strip border around the perimeter of the room or as ornate as a coat of arms in a foyer or a great room. Using exotic woods from around the world, these custom designs & patterns can add to and become the center focal point of any room. Giving each room a Custom-one-of-a-kind wood floor. Custom designs can give a homeowner a "one-of-a-kind" floor and is a wonderful way to put your personality and individual character in a home. The choices of pattern, design, exotic woods sources and an artistic flare can provide a limitless number of possibilities.

Floors with oil and urethane-type finishes are extremely durable. With just minimal care your floor will look beautiful for years to come. The key to preserving your floor is protecting its finish. Hardwood floors require minimal care, but it is important that you provide regular care.

Visit us online at: www.maderafloors.com

Visit our blog at: www.maderafloors.blogspot.com

Thanks

Madera Floors. Fairfax, VA.

 

 

 

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