November 1, 2020 by Terry Holmes Carpet & Flooring

How to Find the Perfect Flooring Installation for Your Basement

Every homeowner wants to make the most of their home’s space, and enhancing the basement’s potential is an excellent way of doing that. The first step of making it stand out is starting at the bottom. Like other rooms, there are many considerations when choosing the ideal flooring materials.

The wrong flooring installation choice is potentially disastrous to your home. In this article, you’ll learn about different flooring options and their ideal uses. One of the most common terms when it comes to flooring installation in is “below grade.” It refers to basement installation. Manufacturers have introduced many stylish and durable products that make a great fit for your basement floor.

How Will You Use the Floor?

This is the first question that every homeowner should ask themselves when looking for a flooring installation company in Alabama. For example, if you want to use the flooring space in your home as a work area, you need to go for clean and durable options. Some of the choices you have are vinyl and stained concrete.

Do you want to have a cozy area? If yes, go for carpet. On the other hand, if you are looking for a flooring option from Holmes Flooring that can potentially outlast your home, choose ceramic tile. There are special considerations when you are searching for the best floor installation option in your basement. One of the most vital considerations is exposure to moisture.

The causes of standing water must be addressed prior to the installation of a finished floor in your home’s basement.

In most homes, the air ducts for the upper levels are installed in the basement ceiling. If your ducts tend to condense and leak onto the floor, you’ll want to get that fixed by calling a licensed contractor ASAP. Likewise, your water heater is most likely installed in the home’s basement area and may need service to stop a water leak. Even if everything’s okay presently though, you’ll still want to consider the possibility of leaks from overhead pluming or air ducts. If that’s a concern, you’ll want to buy a waterproof or water-resistant product in case another leak occurs later on. One of the best options for such surfaces is waterproof vinyl. These floor options are durable and come in different beautiful looks. No matter what flooring option you choose though, you will need to do some prep work first…

Most people don’t understand the importance of the levelness of the floor installation unless they have an issue already in their home. During flooring installation, even slight slopes and flaws will affect your project. Many times in an older basement you need to use self-leveling cement to fill low spots in the concrete before adding a finished floor. If this is done correctly, you will have the level base you need to install your new floor.

If you prefer having carpet, purchase waterproof carpet for a basement area.

About Us

No matter which option you’re leaning towards, it’s always good to get a consultation from a professional floor installer. At Holmes Flooring, we have over 15,000 installations completed in the greater Birmingham area and we offer free in-home consultations, so you’ll know the flooring you choose is a good option for use in your home’s basement.

August 25, 2020 by Terry Holmes Carpet & Flooring

The Top 5 Custom Flooring Trends of This Year

The floor design is a make or break for every house from a design standpoint. It can make a home look small or big compared to its actual size. It can also help in improving the overall design and aesthetics of a room. Custom flooring offers the option of changing from the tired, old floors you’ve had since you moved in years ago to enhanced designs with more durable materials. Flooring is an easy update that can help your home look its best.

Thinking about a flooring update? Below is a list of the top 5 flooring trends that can help you decide on what to use in your house:

Waterproof Floor

With a new year comes new technology that allows you to have a wood-like feeling in your bathroom and kitchen without incurring the cost of damage. When we think of water resistant flooring options, porcelain tile may immediately come to mind, but a newer material called luxury vinyl plank also makes a great floor covering for bathrooms and kitchens. This option gives you the wood-like feeling that requires minimal maintenance and water resistance; thus, it will serve you for longer.

The design has very many options to choose from in terms of the color range and texture. It combines laminate hardwood and traditional laminate to give a sharp-looking floor that will leave your house with a classic design.

The newer waterproof carpet offerings are another design hitting the market by a storm. Who would have thought that the term waterproof and carpet would exist in the same sentence?

For those living in central Alabama and its surroundings, Holmes Flooring is a company that can make this happen as they offer expert services and excellent quality materials. from many of the top brands in the flooring industry. Our installers have over 15,000 projects under their belts and we’re here to help you pick the right flooring option for your home or place of business.

Creative pattern

New designs of patterned hardwood floors add a spin to the traditional look. It also makes a room look bigger. This custom option is ideal for small spaces and kitchen areas to give them that wide feel. It is also useful for a minimalist design as it adds a pop to the house.

Green Floors

This trend is picking up as individuals strive to keep the world and ecosystem alive. Green floors use reclaimed wood or environmentally friendly materials like the cork and bamboo that regenerate, reducing in the number of trees cut for hardwood floors.

People who focus on this option are also usually interested in where the flooring material came from and how toxin-free it is to their loved ones. Choose a low VOC flooring option like bamboo for cleaner indoor air.

Carpet flooring

This trend has been there for a few decades. Electric appliances made it more practical to maintain carpeting indoors over a hundred years ago. However, the carpet flooring’s improvement has seen the emergence of waterproof and ‘pet-proof’ carpet floors that are easier to clean and maintain than ever. If you’ve avoided carpet due to severe allergies, you’ll be glad to learn that modern nylon fibers actually tend to repel potential allergens and are much better for your sinuses than some of the older materials.

Carpet flooring is a bit easier to install than the rest and it’s usually more cost-effective. It also comes in varied patterns that capture various home designs.

Holmes Flooring offers a wide array of carpet flooring designs that will suit the house’s interior and exterior while staying true to your preference.

Wood flooring ‘look-alikes’ that mimic true hardwood flooring

Wood has been a most sought-after material and still is. However, its limitation to the areas it can cover has seen the rise of ceramics, vinyl, and laminate tiles that mimic wood textures.

These new flooring trends are a better option for those living in cold areas or for rooms such as bathrooms and kitchens. However, to give a uniform look in the house, wood-like flooring becomes handy.

There are various types of custom flooring options you can utilize. Choose a design that is not only cost-friendly in installing but easy to maintain too. If you’re in the greater Birmingham area, look to Holmes Flooring for expert advice and a free in-home consultation.

July 10, 2020 by Terry Holmes Carpet & Flooring

The Benefits of Bamboo Flooring

Bamboo is probably not the first word that comes to your mind when you think of installing wood floors in your home. However, bamboo flooring is a great option in many cases.

Once difficult to find in the United States, bamboo flooring has recently gained popularity as builders in America have discovered the benefits of bamboo the Japanese have known for decades. Bamboo flooring is strong, beautiful, relatively easy to install and maintain, and environmentally friendly.

A Strong and Lightweight Flooring Material

Bamboo is both strong and lightweight. This has made it a common choice to use for scaffolding in Japan. This same strength means bamboo flooring is less likely to chip than hardwood flooring. It also has a resiliency that makes it easier on joints than hardwood floors for people who have to stand on it for long periods of time. This makes bamboo flooring a great choice for an office environment. It also means if you install bamboo in a room with many heavy furniture pieces, the weight is less likely to damage the floor.

Bamboo ages well, generally staying undamaged and developing a color range over time so that it may look even better once it’s older. Bamboo is traditionally a light-colored floor, but you can find tinted bamboo if you’d rather have a darker color. Carbonized bamboo, which has been boiled, is darker colored, but it’s less durable.

Believe it or not – Bamboo is not technically wood flooring

Bamboo is actually a grass rather than a wood, which makes it easier to cut than traditional hardwood floors. In most cases, you can cut it with a hand saw rather than heavy-duty machinery. It may be possible for an experienced homeowner to install their own bamboo flooring, and the cost of professional installation is often less than similar installations for hardwood floors.

Bamboo can be installed over most other hard flooring surfaces, as long as the sub floor is clean and undamaged. However, most contractors recommend nailing bamboo flooring to the sub floor rather than doing a floating installation.

Bamboo flooring is easy to keep clean

Maintaining your bamboo floor is relatively easy too. Most of the time, a dust mop is all you’ll need to keep your floor looking beautiful. Bamboo floors do need to be refinished occasionally but generally less often than hardwood floors. You may use a damp mop on your bamboo floor when necessary, but be careful not to use too much water and to dry it afterward.

Bamboo does absorb water, as all natural materials do, so it’s probably not a good choice for a room that will get wet often, such as a bathroom. Too much water can make the bamboo warp. Be sure to wipe up any spills promptly.

Bamboo flooring is an environmentally friendly choice. Since bamboo is a grass, it grows much faster than traditional hard woods, and the bamboo used for your floor will replenish itself within about five years.

Bamboo flooring is available in a wide range of prices. Beware, though, of bamboo flooring that seems extremely low-priced. That may indicate bamboo harvested before it reached full maturity. A floor made from immature bamboo is more prone to damage.

If you’re looking for a great selection of bamboo and other hardwood flooring options from top manufacturers like Shaw, look no further than Holmes Flooring in Leeds, AL.

June 20, 2020 by Terry Holmes Carpet & Flooring

Bamboo Flooring: The 3 Most Popular Types

Bamboo flooring makes a much smarter choice to install in your home because it will continue to perform for many years without any need for sanding or refinishing. Moreover, it makes an ecologically-friendly choice and helps preserve already compromised natural resources. Bamboo is a grass that grows at an astonishing rate of 100-110 cm in a single day. The fast growth of bamboo ensures a fast production rate and discourages the deforestation of traditional timbers on a large commercial scale.

A Sustainable and renewable flooring choice

Bamboo is also famous for its sustainability and renewability as its extensive root system continues to produce new plants after the harvest. Another ecological benefit of bamboo is that it is conducive to fresh air and produces 20% more oxygen than a comparable-sized hardwood forest. Bamboo crop is denser than timbers and provides excellent protection against soil erosion, storms and floods. Moreover, it provides shelter and food for the native animals.

Bamboo flooring is a type of flooring that is manufactured from the bamboo species “Moso” or “Mao”. Once the bamboo plants are harvested, they are brought to factories where they are split into pieces. Those pieces are then boiled to remove starch and moisture. They are kiln dried and glued together under high pressure into planks. They are then varnished, sanded or stained in a variety of colors.

The Three Types of Bamboo Flooring

These are the three most common types of bamboo flooring:

Solid bamboo flooring
Engineered bamboo flooring
Strand Woven bamboo flooring

Solid Bamboo – The first type of flooring makes use of several solid strips that are adhered together to produce solid planks. Solid bamboo flooring is available in either vertical or horizontal style. In vertical bamboo flooring, the strips are not laid out flat and they lack the visible nodes or “knuckles”. Horizontal bamboo flooring, on the other hand, displays the natural nodes of the bamboo.

Engineered Bamboo flooring is manufactured with a wooden core, preferably oak, pine or plywood, with a thin delicate sheet of bamboo for the surface layer. It can easily be installed over a subfloor with the floating floor method of installation.

Strand Woven Bamboo flooring gives an attractive woven look and is made up of shredded strips of bamboo bound together under immense heat and extreme pressure. Strand Woven bamboo flooring is very strong, hard and durable. It can also be formed from strands of natural or carbonized bamboo.

Durable Bamboo Flooring

As far as the toughness and hardness of bamboo flooring is concerned, it outsmarts nearly all hardwood floorings on the market. It is 72% harder than Jarrah and nearly twice as hard as Maple. This attribute makes bamboo flooring an excellent choice to install in the high traffic areas of your home. Bamboo flooring tends to retain its finishing and great natural look in the presence of children and pets because bamboo is also a scratch-resistant material.

Bamboo flooring is not vulnerable to the attacks of termites, bugs, ants and pathogens. Moreover, you can confidently install it in your kitchen because bamboo is quite resistant to fire. It makes an easy-to-clean option as well and you can clean a spill with the help of a dry cloth or towel.

Call Holmes Flooring in Leeds, AL for a free estimate on bamboo flooring for your home or place of business.

June 15, 2020 by Terry Holmes Carpet & Flooring

Top Three Cheapest Kitchen Flooring Options for Birmingham Homeowners

If you plan on remodeling your kitchen floor this summer, but you’re on a tight budget, don’t give up hope! There are always cheap but beautiful kitchen flooring choices. Whether you are choosing new kitchen flooring for style or whether it is for a green design, these top three cheapest kitchen flooring options can help.

Vinyl can be both luxurious and affordable

Vinyl The cheapest of all kitchen flooring options, vinyl comes in a huge variety of colors and styles, as well as shapes and sizes. From basic stick-on tiles to entire sheets, vinyl kitchen flooring is one of the most common kitchen flooring options.

Vinyl flooring can easily be done DIY or installed professionally at a reasonable price. Stick-on or glued vinyl tiles can be arranged to copy a variety of real tile options. From stone to marble to checkerboard, vinyl is versatile. Best of all, it’s softer on the feet than conventional tile. That’s good news when you’re washing the dishes or cooking on the stove.

Affordable Linoleum Flooring

Linoleum Similar to vinyl but without the unfriendly environmental concerns, linoleum is made from sustainable and recycled materials. Wood flour, pine resin and linseed oils are pressed and heated into sheets or tiles in a huge variety of shapes, sizes, colors and designs. Birmingham homeowners will enjoy the ease of cleaning that vinyl provides.

While it costs a little more than vinyl, it does have all of the same features without the environmental concerns. Easily installed DIY or professionally, linoleum can duplicate a wide variety of kitchen flooring options such as wood, tile and stone.

Looking for more affordable ideas for a kitchen remodel? Check out this post by Okinus for more inspiration on designing your new kitchen. Or if you’re running out of space and always struggling to find that mixer or colander behind everything else in your cabinets, Table and Thyme has you covered with their list of kitchen organizational tips that can help you out between remodels.

Porcelain kitchen tiles are surprisingly affordable

Porcelain – If you’re not fooling yourself with faux wood and tile, why not spring for the real deal? Porcelain tile has all of the same features as typical kitchen flooring tile options, but without the high price. DIY or professionally installed, porcelain tiles can replicate any design, color or style that conventional flooring tile has.

Stone hues and colors are a common sight in kitchen flooring options. Easily replicated in light earthy tones to polished marble to natural stone, porcelain tiles can give you the natural stone look you desire, but without breaking the bank.

Installed just like conventional tile and stone, porcelain tiles can handle high traffic areas like a kitchen with ease. Porcelain tiles are also easily adaptable to under flooring heating solutions, making porcelain tiles the most versatile of the top three cheapest kitchen flooring options.

Contact Holmes Flooring for Affordable Floor Coverings in Birmingham

Price conscious homeowners in Birmingham love shopping at our showroom in Leeds right off I-459 near the Bass Pro Shops. (View on MapQuest)

We offer free estimates on luxury vinyl, linoleum, and porcelain kitchen flooring. Holmes Flooring has been serving the greater Birmingham area for decades and we have completed over 15,000 flooring projects over the years. Check us out around the web: