Why Flooring Matters in a Small Bathroom

Let’s face it—small bathrooms come with their own set of challenges. Limited floor space, minimal natural light, and cramped quarters can make even the simplest bathroom remodel feel like a massive task. But here’s the good news: the right flooring can make all the difference. It can maximize your valuable floor space, reflect light to brighten up the room, and create a cohesive look that ties the whole space together.

Plus, bathroom flooring isn’t just about looks. It’s also about durability, water resistance, and ease of maintenance. After all, a bathroom floor has to withstand daily wear and tear, from steamy showers to the occasional splash of water. So, let’s dive into some small bathroom remodel ideas that’ll help you choose the best flooring for your space.

Best Flooring Options for Small Bathrooms

When it comes to small bathroom remodeling, not all flooring options are created equal. You’ll want to choose a material that’s not only beautiful but also practical for a small and often humid environment. Here are some top contenders:

1. Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT)

Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) is a superstar when it comes to small bathroom remodels. Why? Because it offers the look of natural stone or wood, without the high maintenance or cost. LVT can be waterproof, durable, and incredibly easy to clean—a must for any bathroom. Whether you’re dreaming of a sleek, modern look or a more traditional vibe, LVT comes in a variety of styles that can suit any bathroom design.

One of the best parts about LVT is its ability to mimic the appearance of more expensive materials, like marble or hardwood, at a fraction of the price. This makes it a popular choice for homeowners looking to achieve a high-end look on a budget. 

2. Ceramic and Porcelain Tile

When you think of bathroom flooring, ceramic and porcelain tiles likely come to mind—and for good reason. These materials are classic choices for bathrooms, thanks to their water resistance and durability. But just because they’re traditional doesn’t mean they’re boring. Today’s ceramic and porcelain tiles come in a wide array of colors, patterns, and textures, allowing you to create a floor that’s uniquely yours.

One of the biggest advantages of ceramic and porcelain tiles is their ability to handle moisture. These tiles are naturally water resistant, making them ideal for a bathroom environment. Plus, they’re incredibly easy to clean—just a quick wipe, and you’re done. Whether you opt for large-format tiles to minimize grout lines or intricate mosaic patterns to add visual interest, ceramic and porcelain tiles are a solid choice for any small bathroom remodel.

3. Natural Stone

If you’re looking to add a touch of luxury to your remodel, natural stone flooring might be the way to go. Materials like marble, travertine, and slate offer a timeless beauty that’s hard to match. Natural stone brings a unique, organic feel to a space, with each tile offering its own distinct variations and patterns.

However, it’s important to note that natural stone can be more porous than other flooring options, meaning it may require regular sealing to prevent water damage. It’s also typically more expensive than materials like LVT or ceramic tile. If you want the look of natural stone without the hefty price tag, consider opting for stone-look vinyl.

4. Engineered Wood

Love hardwood but terrified of what your bathroom moisture could do to your flooring? It might sound like a recipe for disaster, but engineered wood is actually an amazing alternative to the natural version. Unlike traditional hardwood, engineered wood is made with a plywood base that’s designed to resist moisture, making it a viable option for bathrooms.

Engineered wood offers the warm, inviting look of real wood, with the added benefit of being more resistant to humidity and temperature fluctuations. This makes it a great choice for those who love the look of wood but need a material that can stand up to the challenges of a bathroom environment.

5. Laminate Flooring

Laminate flooring is another option worth considering for a small bathroom remodel. It’s affordable, easy to install, and comes in a variety of styles that mimic the look of natural wood. It may come as a surprise to see laminate flooring recommended for a room that will experience high moisture and frequent splashes, but many laminate products are water resistant or even fully waterproof, making it an excellent potential choice for bathrooms. 

If you’re looking for a budget-friendly option that doesn’t skimp on style, laminate flooring could be the perfect fit. Just be sure to choose a laminate that’s specifically rated for use in bathrooms to ensure it holds up over time.

Design Tips for Small Bathroom Flooring

Choosing the right flooring is just one piece of the puzzle. To truly make the most of your small bathroom remodel, you’ll want to consider a few design tips that can help maximize your space and create a cohesive look.

1. Go Light and Bright

In a small bathroom, light colors are your best friend. Lighter flooring can make a space feel larger and more open by reflecting natural light and reducing the appearance of shadows. Consider choosing a light-colored tile or LVT to brighten up your bathroom and create an airy, spacious feel.

2. Play with Patterns

Just because your bathroom is small doesn’t mean you have to play it safe with your design choices. Consider using patterned tiles or arranging tiles in a unique layout to add visual interest to the space. For example, herringbone or chevron patterns can add a sense of movement and dimension to a small bathroom floor.

3. Consider Large-Format Tiles

It might seem counterintuitive, but large-format tiles can actually make a small bathroom feel bigger. By minimizing the number of grout lines, large tiles create a more seamless, continuous look that can help expand the perceived size of the room. Plus, larger tiles are easier to clean—always a bonus in a bathroom.

4. Don’t Forget About Maintenance

When choosing flooring for your small bathroom, it’s important to think about maintenance. Some materials, like natural stone, may require regular sealing to keep them looking their best. Others, like LVT and ceramic tile, are more low-maintenance options that can be easily cleaned with a simple mop or cloth.

Consider how much time and effort you’re willing to invest in maintaining your bathroom floor, and choose a material that fits your lifestyle.

Bathroom Flooring Installation: DIY or Hire a Pro?

Once you’ve chosen the perfect flooring for your small bathroom, it’s time to think about flooring installation. While some homeowners may feel comfortable tackling a bathroom flooring installation as a DIY project, others may prefer to hire a professional to ensure the job is done right.

If you’re unsure about your abilities or simply want the peace of mind that comes with hiring a pro, it’s worth considering professional installation. Empire Today® offers comprehensive installation services, ensuring your new bathroom floor is installed correctly and efficiently.

Transform Your Small Bathroom with the Right Flooring

When it comes to small bathroom remodel ideas, flooring is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. The right flooring can enhance your bathroom’s design, make the space feel larger, and stand up to the unique challenges of a bathroom environment. Whether you choose the durability of LVT, the classic appeal of ceramic tile, the luxury of natural stone, the warmth of engineered wood, or the budget-friendly nature of laminate, your bathroom floor should reflect your style and needs.

Empire® offers a wide selection of flooring options that are perfect for small bathroom remodels. From guidance to professional installation, we’re here to help you create the bathroom of your dreams. So, what are you waiting for? Schedule an in-home appointment to start on your bathroom transformation today!

The post Small Bathroom Flooring: Your Guide to Transforming Tiny Spaces appeared first on Empire Today Blog.

Home upgrades are always exciting, especially something as major as new flooring! We know you want to keep those gorgeous floors looking their best for years to come, and that’s why we’re offering an Empire Today Service Plan powered by Extend. While the limited manufacturer’s warranty provides some coverage, it does not include accidental damage, which is why adding an Empire Today Service Plan is a great step to help keep you protected from life’s messy moments. 

Why do I need an Empire Today Service Plan powered by Extend? 

Your plan includes accidental damage not covered by the limited manufacturer’s warranty, along with some other great perks!

• Save on unexpected costs: Homeownership always comes with unexpected costs (often at the worst times). But with a service plan, there are no deductibles or surprise fees for repairs. 
• Extra protection: If we can’t repair your covered issue, your flooring may be replaced.  
• Enjoy peace of mind: You’re making a great decision with your high-quality flooring, and now, you’ll get the most out of it for as long as it’s covered.  

Who is Extend? 

We’ve partnered with Extend so you can enjoy your new flooring without worry. Extend is a leading modern provider of shipping and product protection that helps consumers protect the stuff they love. While Extend provides the coverage you’ll enjoy with a plan, we at Empire Today are here to handle your product-related questions and all the servicing of your claims. 

What does the plan cover? 

With an Empire Today Service Plan powered by Extend, you’re covered in case of accidental damage and more for 5 years: 

Plus, enjoy: 

• $0 Claims or Fees 
• Friendly Customer Service 
• Cleaning Benefits and Kits 

How does the cleaning benefit work? 

We know you’re busy, so we want to help make your life a little easier with cleaning benefits through your plan. 

• Carpet Cleaning: Carpet cleaning credit of $100 in year two and $100 in year four upon claim request. 
• Hard Surface Floor Cleaning Kit: Cleaning kit with microfiber mop and specially formulated cleaning solution provided annually upon claim request beginning in year two. 

How much does it cost? 

The price of the plan is dependent on the type of floors you choose, as well as the total square footage. However, one of the best parts about the plan is that it is transferable should you sell your home. This can be a helpful selling point and is a great feature you can advertise so the next homeowner can enjoy all the benefits of the plan, as well. 

In the end… 

An Empire Today Service Plan powered by Extend is there for life’s messy moments. When accidental damage strikes, you’ll be grateful that you’re prepared. 

If you’re ready to upgrade your home with new flooring, Schedule a FREE In-Home Estimate today, and ask about adding an Empire Today Service Plan powered by Extend. 

◈ Limitations and exclusions apply. Complete details available at EmpireToday.com/EmpireServicePlan. Empire Today, LLC Licensure at EmpireToday.com. CSLB 1047108. 

*Benefits summaries for illustrative purposes only. 

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Before we begin, let’s get a quick refresher on what exactly a subfloor is. The subfloor is, as the name suggests, the floor that is or will be immediately below your finished floors. In typical residential situations, the subfloor will be made of plywood or OSB (oriented strand board). Wood subfloors are durable and affordable and make an ideal surface for affixing a wide range of flooring products. These wood subfloors can be attached to flooring joists, or often laid down over a concrete slab. However, adding that wooden subfloor can lead to additional costs and complications when having new floors installed on concrete. For this reason, many homeowners find themselves searching for a floor that can be installed on concrete without needing additional preparation.

Carpet on Concrete?

Believe it or not, you can have carpet installed directly onto a concrete floor without any additional subfloor material. Depending on the area of your home that you would like carpeted, there are a few things to consider. If your goal is simply to spruce up a three-season room or unfinished basement, you might consider indoor/outdoor carpet. This rugged carpet is built to withstand exposure to the elements, making it more it an excellent choice for anywhere that regularly deals with lots of dirt or water.

A key part of its outdoor-ready construction is that it’s designed to be installed directly onto a concrete slab. However, it’s important to note that because it doesn’t use any carpet padding, indoor/outdoor carpet won’t be a huge upgrade in comfort. But it can still go a long way towards making a sunroom or dingy unfinished basement feel more welcoming.

Carpet tiles are another option. Though typically used in commercial settings like offices, they are perfectly suitable for use in areas of your home where you want a simple yet rugged soft surface floor. One of their main advantages is that carpet tiles can be installed directly onto concrete. Their modular nature also makes them great for oddly shaped spaces as well as areas likely to see higher traffic—if one area of the floor becomes severely damaged or stained, you’ll only need to have a few carpet tiles replaced instead of the entire floor.

If your primary goal is to maximize comfort on those cold concrete basement floors, then you’re in luck. Thankfully, you won’t be limited just to indoor/outdoor carpets. In fact, the most common styles of carpet, like plush or Berber carpet, can also be installed onto a concrete floor. When selecting a carpet for concrete floors, you’ll also often have the option to choose from a variety of carpet pads to be used during the installation. Opting for a thick, dense rubber carpet pad can greatly increase how soft the carpet feels underfoot, as well as help insulate it from the cold concrete flooring below it.

Vinyl Flooring is an Ideal Concrete Covering

While traditional carpet over concrete is a viable option for many homeowners’ needs, it isn’t a good choice for certain spaces, like a basement that deals with persistent dampness or a mudroom that will see, well, lots of mud. Situations like these are best served by floors that are easy to keep clean, and which can endure exposure to water. In areas like these, your best bet will be some type of vinyl flooring. Sheet vinyl, vinyl plank, and vinyl tile all offer options that are rugged, waterproof or water-resistant, and also still look great.

One of the great benefits of having vinyl flooring installed over concrete is the vast array of visuals available across its multiple formats. Luxury vinyl plank floors offer the convincing look of hardwood; vinyl tile is an affordable alternative to porcelain or ceramic tiles; and sheet vinyl is available in a mix of both aesthetics. While vinyl flooring can be installed directly onto concrete, you can also choose to have an optional underlayment used during the installation. This underlayment will help insulate your new vinyl floors from the concrete slab below, and can also add a bit of cushion to make it a more comfortable surface

Tile Floors are a Great Choice for Concrete

And there’s always ceramic or porcelain tile, the stalwarts of basement flooring. Both types of tile can be installed on concrete floors. Tile will provide much of the same feel and functionality as a bare cement floor—it will still a hard surface that will feel cool underfoot and won’t do much to improve the comfort of a room. But tile’s similarity to a concrete floor means it also shares many of the benefits: a tile floor is typically very durable, resisting scratches and chips; it’s easy to maintain, requiring little more than regular sweeping and mopping; and it’s a floor that can stand up to the spills and dampness that a basement might typically encounter. Plus, tile floors are a great way to improve the look of a bare space without adding worries about complicated upkeep.

When it comes down to it, if you’re looking to have finished floors installed onto concrete, you’ll have more choices than you may have imagined. There are even some wood laminate and engineered hardwood floors that are suitable for installation directly over concrete, though they often come with a few more maintenance concerns and may not be a good choice for basements. But Empire® offers a great variety of carpet, vinyl, and tile floor products that can be installed on concrete, improving the look and feel of your home while still keeping some of the low maintenance of bare concrete.

If you’re hoping to have flooring installed onto concrete in your basement, three-season room, or other area of the home, give us a call or click any of the “Schedule In-Home Appointment” buttons on the site to set up a free, no-obligation consultation with a flooring professional today.

The post The Best Floors to Have Installed onto Concrete appeared first on Empire Today Blog.

Comfort with Bedroom Carpet

With its soft surface and welcoming warmth, it’s not hard to understand why carpet is the most popular choice for bedroom flooring. The last thing your feet will feel at the end of one day and the first thing they’ll feel at the start of the next should be surface that maximizes comfort.

While bedroom carpet offers the benefit of comfort, it has also, in recent years, earned the reputation of adding a “dated” effect to a home’s décor. While the coziness of carpet does often cause a sense of nostalgia, there are many cuts and styles of carpet that still have a decidedly modern flavor. Both plush and pattern (cut and loop) carpet offer the most on-trend marks, thanks to their neutral tones and distinct designs.

Believe it or not, bedroom carpet can also simplify cleaning and overall maintenance. Many modern carpet products are crafted with enhanced stain and soil protection, making it easy to take care of all sorts of messes—including pet accidents. These styles are perfect if your four-legged friends call your bedroom home too.

Hardwood’s Natural Beauty

With a warm, natural look that stands the test of time, hardwood is an ideal flooring choice for a bedroom. Made from real wood, solid and engineered hardwood floors are available in many species, such as oak, hickory, or maple, that can each add a special character to your floors. And the warmth goes beyond just aesthetics—walking across genuine wood in the middle of the night can be much more comfortable than many other hard surface floors.  Another great benefit of hardwood? It doesn’t trap dust, pollen, or other allergens, and it’s easy to clean those up when they do occur. Keeping the floors clean in your bedroom can help keep you breathing easier at night.

Laminate: Less Money, Less Maintenance

While genuine hardwood is great, it can be a bit pricey for some renovations. Wood laminate is a budget-friendly bedroom flooring option that provides realistic hardwood visuals at a much more attainable price point. Laminate flooring can also mimic the textures, grains, and feel of genuine wood—all in a product that’s easier to maintain than the real thing.

An added perk of laminate floors is that they are available in both water-resistant and 100% waterproof options. So if you accidentally knock that full glass of water off your nightstand, you won’t end up with nightmares about liquid-damaged floors. Cleaning up a spill is a simple and easy affair, avoiding permanent damage to the floors.

Versatility of Vinyl Flooring

Over the years, advancements in the manufacturing of vinyl flooring have led to increased durability and stunningly realistic wood and tile looks and textures. What used to be a last-resort choice is now one of the industry’s most popular products.  Vinyl plank, vinyl tile, and sheet vinyl are available in a vast range of styles, designed to complement everything from ultra-modern bedroom décor, to old-timey rustic looks. Plus, they all offer advantages that will make any homeowner happy: some of the best durability compared to other flooring options, easy maintenance, and an increase in underfoot comfort compared to real tile and many hardwood floors.

In the end, choosing the best bedroom flooring requires finding your ideal balance between comfort and style. Are you more interested in feeling warmth underfoot when you hop out of bed in the morning or are do you prioritize a modern design scheme? The good news is, you can often achieve both goals with the same floors!

This post only scratches the surface of what you should consider when trying to find the best bedroom flooring options for your home. Traffic volume, kids, pets, and how often you’ll be in your bedroom are all important factors that are specific to you and your household. For a more detailed rundown of flooring that fits your needs, contact us to schedule a free in-home estimate and a flooring professional will walk you through a wide range of options—all in the comfort of your own home.

The post The Best Bedroom Flooring Options appeared first on Empire Today Blog.

The good news is that these days there are quite a few eco-friendly flooring options, including products like bamboo wood floors, which are made from a fast-growing, easily renewable natural resource. Ceramic and porcelain tile also get high marks for eco-friendliness because they’re long-lasting flooring products that are made from a plentiful raw material. But what about homeowners who want something a little softer? The common soft surface options, like synthetic fiber carpets, would seem to be among the worst choices. But believe it or not, carpet can be one of the most eco-friendly flooring options that you can choose. Read on to learn more about the eco-friendly carpet options available from Empire Today®.

It’s true that most of the carpet on the market today is made from synthetic fibers like nylon or polyester, which are petroleum-based products. And on the surface, that would seem to make them one of the worst choices when it comes to the environment. But what many consumers don’t realize is that a growing number of those new carpets are actually made from recycled materials. Some carpets are made with small amount of recycled material blended into their existing manufacturing stream, while the most eco-friendly carpets may use up to 100% recycled consumer products.

Eco-friendly carpet: the comfortable, Earth-conscious choice

Empire® is proud to carry a selection of carpets crafted using a proprietary manufacturing method called the Continuum Process. This process takes discarded plastic bottles, transforms them back into a raw material that is purified and formed into soft fibers. Those fibers can then be woven into gorgeous, comfortable carpets that are indistinguishable from carpets made from raw polyester or nylon stock.

According to Earthday.org, Americans buy around 50 billion plastic bottles of water a year. The Continuum process prevents some 3 billion of those bottles from ending up in our oceans or landfills every year, and turns them into a useful product for your home. Each square yard of carpet made this way contains the plastic of about 63 recycled bottles. This manufacturing process itself also uses less energy than the act of making the fibers from scratch, leading to additional environmental benefits.

 And the Continuum process has fringe benefits that are more immediate to homeowners. Carpet made with Continuum fibers are often more durable and easier to maintain that traditional synthetic carpets. In fact, some of these carpets include limited lifetime warranties against staining.

Empire’s selection of eco-friendly carpet spans a wide range of colors and styles, offering options that will match nearly any interior design scheme. With a look, feel, and durability that matches traditionally made products, you’ll get everything you love about new carpet—all while helping do something good for the earth. Contact us today to speak to a flooring professional about our eco-friendly carpet or any of the other green flooring products we offer.

The post How Eco-Friendly Flooring Can Reduce Your Environmental Impact appeared first on Empire Today Blog.

Tile Water Absorption Rate

In our previous post about the differences between ceramic and porcelain tile, we briefly touched upon this concept. The water absorption rate of a tile is a way to quantify the water resistance of that particular model of tile in a standardized, objective way. The test works like this:

Five small fragments of a tile—usually just a few inches square and taken from the centers of the full-sized tiles—are baked in a lab oven until their weight no longer changes. Fragments are used to increase the amount of exposed porous surface area of the tile, while the baking process assures the testers that there is absolutely no residual moisture in the pores of the tile.

After baking, the starting weight of each fragment is recorded. The tile fragments are then boiled in water for five hours and then left to soak in water for another 24 hours. Once that time is up, the fragments are weighed again. The finished weight is compared to the starting weight and expressed as a percentage; that percentage is the tile’s water absorption rate.

The lower the water absorption rate, the more resistant to moisture a tile is. This is also one of the key defining characteristics of porcelain tile in comparison to ceramic tile. In order to be officially classified and sold as porcelain tile, The Tile Council of North America mandates that the product must be at or below a 0.5% water absorption rate. Ceramic tiles, in contrast, are not bound by any industry standards for water resistance. While some ceramic tiles do get down to just above a 0.5% water absorption rate, most are in the low single digits, but others can get up into the double digits. So while most ceramic tile still offers good water resistance, porcelain tile will be the better solution for areas that see high levels of water exposure. Interested in the finer details of the testing process? Read more in this article from the TCNA.

PEI Rating

This is a term you’ll probably encounter on your tile shopping journey in a list of technical specifications for a particular tile model. Established by the Porcelain Enamel Institute, a trade organization that supports the development and use of porcelain across many industries, the PEI rating of a surface describes the hardness of a porcelain glaze. The harder the glaze, the more resistant to surface wear that tile is, and the better suited it will be for high-traffic areas of a home or business.

The PEI scale comprises 6 classes that fall on a scale of 0 to 5. At the low end would be completely unglazed tiles, with the high end reserved for the tiles with the toughest surface glaze. The most common household tiles will usually have a PEI rating of 3 or 4. Lower ratings don’t automatically designate a lower-quality tile, just one that shouldn’t be used in areas seeing lots of foot traffic. For instance, some high-end tiles may be designed to be used exclusively as a strong visual element on walls or backsplashes and simply were not constructed to deal with lots of wear.

Through Body vs Color Body

This term is used to describe the visual similarity between the surface glaze of a tile and its interior construction.  A “through-body” tile will have a consistent tone throughout the thickness of the tile, all the way through the visible surface. Most porcelain tiles have a through-body construction, while most ceramic tiles typically will not. Ceramic tile is usually crafted with a method known as “color-body,” in which the surface design or glaze are a different shade than the rest of the tile body. Imagine each tile as a piece of cake. The through-body tile would be a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, while the color-body tile would be a white vanilla cake with chocolate frosting.

What does this mean in practical applications? In daily use, there won’t be any noticeable difference between the two types of tiles. The major benefit of through-body only becomes apparent when the surface is chipped. If we go back to the cake example, imagine running a finger through the frosting of the chocolate cake. The results of your sneaking a taste probably won’t be visible except under close inspection. Now do the same thing with the vanilla cake, and the white dough underneath will likely alert the rest of your party that you’ve sampled the sweets. In the same way, a chip on the surface of a through-body tile will be much harder to notice from a typical viewing distance than a chip on a color-body tile.

If you expect your floors to need to endure abnormally high traffic or situations that may lead to chips, it may be a good idea to seek out products with a through-body construction while you’re tile shopping.

These were just three of the many mystifying terms you might encounter while perusing flooring products online. Whether you’re just beginning to consider what type of floors you might want to have installed in your home, or you’re already deep in the tile shopping process, Empire Today® is always here to help. From our award-winning customer service team to our free in-home consultations, Empire® is dedicated to helping you find the best floors for your home with as little hassle as possible.

The post Three Terms to Know While Tile Shopping appeared first on Empire Today Blog.

While you don’t need to be an acoustical engineer to understand the benefits of particular surfaces and their influence on noise levels, a basic background on how sound travels will help illustrate why certain rooms can “feel” much louder than others. Sound travels in waves of energy which, like a tennis ball, bounce off of hard, flat surfaces with predictable strength and direction. Throw it straight down at a concrete driveway, and it will bounce straight back up with nearly as much force as you used to throw it.

But try to bounce it on a lush lawn, and it will either simply stop with a thud in the grass, or bounce a tiny bit in an unpredictable direction. In short, the harder a surface is, the more easily a soundwave will bounce off of it. A bounced sound wave becomes an echo and contributes to a louder sounding room. But soft materials greatly cut down on the reflection of sound waves by absorbing the energy or scattering it in many different directions at once.

Carpet is King for Quieting a Room

From that very brief science lesson, you might guess that a carpeted room will sound quieter than a room finished in ceramic tile or real hardwood floors—and you’d be correct. A fully carpeted floor can help reduce ambient noise levels by upwards of 20 decibels compared to tile or vinyl floors. That can mean the difference between being able to hear someone who is in the same room whisper vs them needing to speak loudly. In general, the thicker and more dense the carpet, the better its sound-reducing characteristics will be. So, you can usually expect a frieze or plush carpet to be a more sound dampening floor that a pattern or Berber carpet.

Another factor to consider is what type of carpet padding is used. Based on the same scientific principles as before, the thicker and denser the carpet padding is, the better its noise reduction properties will be. And here’s where auditory and tactile comfort converge: those thicker and denser carpet pads will also be more comfortable to walk on. This combination makes carpet the ideal flooring for gathering areas like the den or a dedicated playroom. After all, the benefits of having an isolated home office or a dedicated playroom for the kids aren’t as great if noise still becomes a distraction.

It’s also a smart choice for kids’ bedrooms that are on the upper level of a home, as the noise-insulating properties of carpet will help keep more of the ruckus from coming through the floor and reaching the rest of the home. This is one of the main reasons that many multi-level buildings in major cities have an “80% carpet rule,” which stipulates that the majority of hard floors should be covered by rugs or carpet in order to help isolate noise within a unit.

But even with the practical noise-reducing properties of carpet, for many people, carpet simply will not fit into a décor scheme. And even if a quieter home is a high priority. Recent industry surveys have shown that if homeowners could choose their “dream floors,” they would overwhelmingly opt for hardwood flooring. So what can those shoppers do if they’re caught between their desire for a quieter home and the floors of their dreams, which are made from wood—a notoriously “noisy” floor material? That’s where WhisperHome® from Empire Today® comes in.

WhisperHome®: An Engineered Hardwood Sound Dampening Floor

WhisperHome® is an engineered hardwood flooring material that has been specifically optimized to prioritize quietness. In a typical use case, a WhisperHome® sound dampening floor can absorb almost as much noise energy as a carpeted floor. That means much less of the clacking and tapping that often comes from typical foot traffic on a genuine hardwood floor.

And because WhisperHome® is an engineered flooring material, you still get many of the benefits of genuine hardwood floors: the real wood top surface with its truly unique grain patterns, and the ability to be refinished one or more times in its lifespan.

There are, of course, other variables to consider when shopping for new floors if controlling noise levels is a high priority. The type of subfloor already installed in your home and the multiple types of available underlayment materials can help create a more sound dampening floor. With all of the options to consider, it can be nearly impossible to come to any solid decision on your own. And that’s why the Empire® In-Home Shopping Experience can be so valuable. Being able to see and feel hundreds of samples of carpet or other flooring types while picking the brain of a season flooring professional—all in the comfort of your own home—takes all of the guesswork out of buying new floors. Click the link or give us a call to set yours up today and you’ll be enjoying the benefits of sound dampening floors in no time.

The post How a Sound Dampening Floor can Make Your Home a Calmer Place appeared first on Empire Today Blog.

Keeping Your Indoor Floors Clean Starts Outside

Your first line of defense for protecting the floors inside your home begins at your front door. Much of the typical damage to hard floors comes from small actions that you may not even recognize as being potentially harmful. Like the metaphorical mosquito in a tent, oftentimes, it’s the small things that can do the most damage. A small, sharp pebble lodged in the tread of sneakers can wreak havoc on hardwood floors, sometimes more than a day full of shuffling heavy furniture around. Even the finest bit of dirt can act as an abrasive, accelerating the amount of wear that normal foot traffic can cause.

The best way to prevent outside debris from making its way onto your floors is by making your home a “shoes-off” environment. Your shoes and your kids’ shoes could have trekked through a field of lava rocks and a parking lot littered with broken glass, but if those shoes come off at the front door or in the mudroom, none of that debris matters. Eliminating a major cause of floor scratches before they ever get near your floors is one of the best methods of prevention.

But you know what they say about the best-laid plans.  Whether it’s a distracted child or a group of guests over for a dinner party, it may be near impossible to enforce the house rules 100% of the time. And all it takes is one stray pebble stuck in a shoe to cancel out all of your preventative efforts. If you can’t go fully shoes-off, the next best way to keep your floors safe is with a system of floor mats. Outside, opt for a robust doormat made with heavy fiber bristles, which work well for getting deep into the treads of shoes to dislodge the substantial bits of crud that may be stuck. Follow that up with a larger, softer mat right inside your front door—this will help remove wetness and other fine debris that made it past the first mat. This system can help cut down on a significant amount of dirt that gets tracked into the home.

Use Floor Protection Under any Furniture That Moves

While most floor blemishes may be caused by the cumulative wear and tear of regular life, it often takes just one errant move of a heavy piece of furniture to cause the kinds of major scratches that can lead to costly repairs—or even needing to replace a section of the floor. In general, there are two main instances where it’s integral to use furniture pads to protect hardwood, vinyl, or laminate floors: on furniture that often moves as part of its normal life, and furniture that is typically stationary but will occasionally need to be moved.

The first case covers the chairs and tables that are used on a regular basis, like those at your kitchen table. Dining chairs will typically be manufactured with an integrated slider, but oftentimes it’s a fragile plastic or some other material that’s not much better than having no padding at all. Most flooring manufacturers recommend heavy-duty felt chair pads (see Shaw Flooring’s recommended flooring protectors), as opposed to the hard plastic type which can crack and create dangerously sharp edges. After they’re installed, it’s a good idea to regularly inspect the pads to ensure they haven’t fallen off or picked up any rough pieces of debris that can lead to flooring scratches.

The other scenario in which to make sure you use flooring protection is any time you want to move heavy furniture that is typically stationary. Think about the heirloom China cabinet or heavy entertainment center you’d like to occasionally sweep behind.  For these cases, you should opt for specialized furniture sliders. These are larger than chair pads, distributing the weight over a larger contact patch with the floor to further reduce the likelihood of any scratches or scuffs. They are also typically designed not to stay permanently attached to your furniture, unlike the chair pads. Instead, you simply slide a pad under each leg of the furniture before the big move. Since the larger pads can be a bit unsightly—especially when used under what is often elegant furniture—this lets you protect both your floors and your interior design standards.

Wheels Don’t Always Prevent Scratches

Wheeled office chairs can in fact end up doing more damage to your floors than a typical stationary chair leg. Next time you sit in your home office chair, take a closer look at the casters; even better, run your finger around the perimeter of the caster. Odds are that you’ll end up with a bunch of crusty gunk under your nails. While office chair casters are made of hard plastic, the material needs a bit of give in order to grip your floor and let your chair roll effectively. That softness means that particularly dense debris can still get lodged into the material, essentially turning each caster into an abrasive disk. It might seem like the presence of a wheel would cut down on floor damage, but they can be just as harmful as any other hard surface being dragged on a floor. In fact, your office chair is likely to do more damage than a typical dining chair or wing chair because you so spend a third of your day in it and are much more likely to intentionally move around in it. Eventually, day after day of work in an office chair with dirty casters can quickly have your new hardwood or laminate floors looking pretty rough.

The best way to protect your hard floors from office chair wheels is with the ubiquitous office chair mat. Seen in countless offices around the world, they’re used because they work. The mats’ thick plastic construction will stand up to years’ worth of work days, protecting your floor while actually helping your chair roll better. Important note! Make sure you purchase a mat specifically designed for use on hard floors; the mats made for carpet have spines on the bottom side for gripping the carpet and these can damage your hard surface floors.

Not keen on having a large sheet of plastic clash with your careful interior design scheme? A great alternative is to simply place a rug on the floor beneath your desk. Choose one large enough to cover the typical area you might roll around in; a standard 5 foot by 7 foot rug should be plenty big. Also, opt for a low-profile rug with looped fibers (similar to Berber carpet) to create the best surface for your chair to roll on.

Your new floors represent a sizeable investment in your home, and they’re something you’ll want looking their best for as long as possible. Taking these few small preventative steps can help ensure that remain in beautiful condition for years to come.

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So, What Exactly Are the Differences Between Luxury Vinyl Tile and Luxury Vinyl Plank?

Luxury vinyl plank (LVP) and luxury vinyl tile (LVT) flooring are two high-end subsets of the larger vinyl flooring category. Both are light years beyond the flimsy vinyl floors of yesteryear, with significant advancements in durability, versatility, and style. And they both offer notable improvements over even modern sheet vinyl.  Though they are quite similar in construction and tend to offer nearly identical feature sets, there are a few key distinctions that might affect your decision when choosing between LVP and LVT.

The most evident differences between these two products are the shape of each flooring piece and the surface visuals.

As the name suggests, luxury vinyl plank is built to mimic the look of a wood plank. That means it will be manufactured in a rectangular form factor, with one dimension significantly longer than the other—just like a plank of real hardwood flooring. Additionally, the photorealistic image that graces the surface of the luxury vinyl plank will be that of wood. Thanks to its man-made nature, just about any wood species, grain pattern, and “stain” color can be recreated in a piece of vinyl plank.

Luxury vinyl tile, as you can probably guess, is a vinyl floor product that replicates the appearance of traditional tile or stone flooring. LVT’s surface image will often feature the artisan aesthetics of ceramic tile or the colors and veining of fine stone materials like marble or travertine. When it comes to dimensions, vinyl tile will often be crafted in a square format, though there are also some LVT products offered in rectangular formats that may be closer in dimensions to a vinyl plank but still feature the look of tile or stone.

How is Each Type of Luxury Vinyl Installed?

Though not always visually evident, there is often a difference in how LVT and LVP are installed. Luxury vinyl tile is installed with an industrial adhesive. Each individual vinyl tile gets glued directly to the subfloor in a method similar to traditional tile installation. If a customer chooses, LVT can also be installed with gaps between each tile to allow for grouting, again, just like a ceramic or porcelain tile floor. This option is almost entirely an aesthetic choice.

In contrast, luxury vinyl plank flooring typically uses a click-and-lock construction that interlocks each plank to its neighboring planks and does not require adhesive, nailing, or any type of securing to the subfloor. This installation method tends to be more efficient and cost-effective and allows for easy installation on nearly any type of subfloor material, including existing tile or hardwood floors.

Though the installation methods may differ, the range of applications does not. Anywhere one can go, so can the other. Both LVT and LVP are suitable for all areas of the home, including below-grade floors and directly onto a concrete slab. That means you can choose either for your bathroom, mudroom, or even the basement.

LVT vs LVP: Under the Surface is What Matters

When it comes to practical aspects like materials, durability, and flooring features, most luxury vinyl plank and luxury vinyl tile products from Empire Today® are practically interchangeable. If a vinyl tile product has particular features you are interested in, there will almost certainly be a vinyl plank model that offers the same set of features.

Beyond the superficial differences, luxury vinyl plank and luxury vinyl tile are essentially the same product by all other metrics. Both are constructed around a highly stable vinyl core, which gives them excellent overall durability, and they are both finished with a specialized wear layer that resists scratches, scuffs, and staining. And both vinyl plank and vinyl tile will usually be embossed with a texture that matches the wood grain or stone patterns on the surface.

All LVT and LVP flooring products from Empire® are built with Aqua Defense technology, which makes them a fully waterproof flooring choice. They will all also typically be resistant to mold and mildew formation. Their robust construction makes them equally easy to take care of, with neither requiring any routine maintenance beyond regular sweeping and mopping up of any larger messes.

Overall, the similarities between luxury vinyl plank and luxury vinyl tile tend to outweigh the differences. In the end, if you’ve heard about LVP and LVT but weren’t sure which would be better suited for your needs, the answer will usually be simple: pick which one you like the look of! Nearly any functional flooring need you have can be solved equally well by each product type. In the end, the main decision you’ll really need to make is what kind of look you want in your home. Schedule an in-home estimate with Empire and a flooring professional will bring a full catalog of LVT and LVP samples directly to you, to make the shopping process even easier.

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Stick to Hard Surface Floors

One of the most common tactics for allergy-prone households is to avoid carpeting and rugs as much as possible. Because carpet is more prone to trapping allergens than hard surface flooring, it’s much easier to keep a tile, vinyl, or wood floor clean of things that can aggravate allergies. After a quick sweep and damp mopping, you can be almost certain that there’s nothing left on your floors that will make its way back into the air—and then your respiratory system.

Opting for hard floors is simply one of the easiest ways to minimize the amount of allergens that lurk hidden in your home. Of course, avoiding carpet floors also eliminates a level of comfort that many homeowners find important in certain areas like the bedroom or family room. Thankfully, there’s a way to have your carpet, er, cake and eat it too.

Hypoallergenic Carpet

While choosing products like tile or vinyl flooring has always been the easy way to keep your home environment a little fresher, it’s no longer the case that consumers are limited to hard floors. Thanks to hypoallergenic carpets like the Home Fresh line from Empire Today®, you can now enjoy the comfort of a soft surface beneath your feet—without worrying about how it might affect your breathing.

HOME Fresh carpet uses a special integrated padding designed to greatly improve airflow, allowing the typical household vacuum’s suction to reach deep into the flooring and even beneath it. This makes vacuuming much more effective at removing dust, dander, and other allergens that will often stay trapped in the fibers of a traditional household carpet. Additionally, HOME Fresh carpets are all made with hypoallergenic fibers and are certified to not release any VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) into the air in your home.

Look for Low-VOC or VOC-Free Flooring

While it’s often a consideration when carpet shopping, it’s a good idea to look for the potential VOC content of all flooring types, including hard surfaces. VOC “are gases that are emitted into the air from products or processes” and it’s important to note that while certain VOCs are dangerous at any exposure level to any persons, the presence of many other VOCs is not automatically a cause for alarm and may only be an issue for those with certain allergies or sensitivities. In fact, some can be nearly impossible to avoid, as many items in the typical household can release small amounts of VOCs, including candles, air fresheners, and even some forms of cooking. Still, eliminating as many as possible is a good idea for allergy sufferers and is an added bonus for everyone in the home.

Some pressed wood materials—a key component of wood laminate and engineered wood flooring—can contain VOCs. Empire® always strives to offer the highest quality flooring products from trusted manufacturing partners, and these often prioritize the use of VOC-free materials. Still, there are some products where the presence of minor levels of VOCs is unavoidable. If your allergies are sensitive to any level of VOCs, make sure to ask your flooring professional whether the products you are considering have been certified to be VOC-free and that any installation materials needed are also safe.

Easy-to-Clean Flooring Can Help Eliminate Other Sources of VOCs

When attempting to eliminate as many allergens or allergy triggers as possible, it’s easy to overlook the way that certain products might encourage the introduction of a different set of triggers—even if the original product is allergy-friendly. For instance, a genuine hardwood floor might be VOC-free, but it’s possible that certain hardwood floor cleaners might aggravate your allergies. Meanwhile, a waterproof wood-look vinyl floor that can be cleaned with warm water and mild dish soap could offer a more pleasant overall environment for allergy sufferers. There’s no catchall answer to this idea, but it stresses the importance of holistically thinking about your flooring solutions to see how the big picture will affect your life.

Don’t Hesitate to Ask for More Information on Flooring Types or Materials

When it comes to a topic as expansive as personal allergies, it’s impossible to cover every potential xxx to avoid or feature to look for in new floors. While the most commonly requested info is usually easy to find, some more obscure stuff can be buried in manufacturer data sheets. If you have a specific question about the makeup of a flooring product or the materials used during its installation, don’t be afraid to ask! The flooring professional you work with when selecting your new floors will be more than happy to find that info from you.

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