Athens Flooring

Flooring ideas (tile, stone, wood, and carpet) and guidance for your new house or remodeling project. Ideas for cabinets, counter tops, and various surrounds. Brought to you by: Athens Flooring and Remodeling, [phone]. Send email to [email protected]. We have closed our store front and now work through the internet and one on one design flooring applications for your needs. We have several showrooms around the New Orleans where we can meet and show you the various products we provide.

[loftylovin]

The Old Mechanics Institute Hall

[athensflooring-blog]

What a great makeover for this building. Nice intermix of throw rugs where needed with the open floors.

[architectureblog]

(via desire to inspire - desiretoinspire.net - Styled for sale)

[athensflooring-blog]

Fantastic tigerwood floor. 

To view our products at an associated local or area show room and which can also be picked up or delivered from their warehouse (continental US only), go here and click on "Products" in the upper right area of the page. 

[athensflooring-blog]

Combat noise from your wood or laminate floor

from Flooring Advice

One thing you will almost certainly notice if you replace carpet with a real wood or laminate floor is the noise level when walking on the floor, not only in the room itself but also in the rooms below if your room is on the first floor. This is an especially common problem in flats, where owners and landlords often fit laminate flooring as a cost effective and hard wearing solution, only to find that they receive complaints about the noise from those unfortunate enough to live below them. In extreme cases the noise can be so bad that neighbours have taken legal action against the owner of the noisy floor.

Thankfully there is something you can do to prevent this from happening to you, and that is to use a specialist when you fit the flooring. Compared to the basic foam underlay that many people use (it’s under the floor and I’ll never see it, so why bother spending more than I need to?) specialist acoustic underlay tends to be much thicker and is designed specifically to dull down both the noise that travels through the floor and the noise in the room itself. As a bonus the extra thickness also provides better thermal insulation and will cope with a slightly more uneven subfloor. If you are fitting wood or laminate flooring in a flat or upstairs room it is well worth considering one of these underlays give you and your neighbours some peace.

Another form of noise often encountered with wood and laminate flooring is squeaking or creaking. This type of noise can be caused by several things but is usually related to an uneven subfloor or expansion and contraction of your flooring after installation. Both of these cases could be prevented through better preparation before the floor is fitted (always follow the manufacturer guidelines). If you’re simply looking for a quick fix, try sprinkling talcum powder around the edge of the offending board. The powder will penetrate the join, reduce the friction between the boards and may quieten the squeak.

For a more permanent solution you will need to find the cause of the original problem and address that. This could mean lifting your floor and preparing the subfloor to the correct guidelines, or cutting the flooring back if it pinches against any fixed points on the surrounding wall, therefore re-installing the expansion gap. Real wood and laminate flooring has a reputation for being noisy, and it is certainly noisier than carpet, but with the correct preparation and a little investment you can enjoy having a beautiful floor that won’t drive you or your neighbours up the wall.

[athensflooring-blog]

Make Thieves Oil at Home for a Household Cleaner

[loftylovin]

[athensflooring-blog]

Great use of a throw rug to define walk ways and break up the expanse of floor.

[athensflooring-blog]

Mushroom/Morning Sun Blend 5/8 x 5/8 mosaic with Mediterranean Ivory Travertine on backsplash and wall

To view our products at an associated local or area show room and which can also be picked up or delivered from their warehouse (continental US only), go here and click on "Products" in the upper right area of the page. 

[athensflooring-blog]

All About Grout

by Susan Jablon of Susan Jablon Mosaics

I want to be able to share with you a lot of knowledge I have learned along this journey and will feature a section called How To in my blog.  Most of the information in the How To  has been learned the hard way, so sharing is my best way of helping you avoid the normal and natural pitfalls when attempting something unknown. This article will focus on grout.

Grouting, whether it be projects large or small, comes with many learning experiences.  Emphasis on many!

What is Grout anyway?

Grout is a cement based product that exists to fill in spaces between two objects.  So whether it is mosaic art piece or a ceramic or glass floor, grout is what goes in between thespaces of the tile.  It comes in many colors, mostly in earth tones with a few blues and greens, and it comes either sanded or unsanded.

Sanded versus Unsanded Grout

Many years ago in the far away distance of grout history I think grout was made using natural beach sand as filler, producing Sanded Grout.  Sanded grout is traditionally used as a filler of joints that are larger than 1/8″.  It can be used on a floor, on a wall, in a pool.. just anywhere you need to grout.  Because early on it was made with large particles of sand as the filler, it was very abrasive and scratched everything it was rubbed on.  So it was used with great care and probably mostly avoided because of this abrasive quality.  Today, the sand filler in sanded grout is very pulverized and micro particled, and is used with much more frequency.

We recommend most installations that we sell use sanded grout. OMG!  You should hear the calls we get about this.  Installers who have been in the business for 30+ years think we have lost our minds to recommend using sanded grout with glass tile. DON’T WE KNOW IT SCRATCHES!!  Well, we know it used to scratch, but not so much anymore.

We recommend sanded grout because the results achieved using just unsanded Grout , in  my opinion, are really not so great.  If you are installing mirror tiles or stainless steel tiles, ok: surrender here,  please use unsanded grout.  These surfaces scratch just by looking at them.  Otherwise, unsanded grout leaves a result akin to Crest toothpaste drying between your tile pieces.  It doesn’t finish as nicely as sanded grout, it doesn’t fill the grout joints as nicely as sanded grout and often, you have to grout two separate times to make it look full jointed and finished.  Not saying it can’t be done, it can.  Lots of installers will only use unsanded grout and it will be ok. It is just not our preference.

Installers will also say that you must use unsanded grout in tight joint spaces because the sanded grout will not fit in these thin spaces.  Again, maybe small boulders of sand were the norm 30 + years ago in grout manufacturing, but today sand is micro pulverized and fits easily into tiny little grout joints.

And here’s a third alternative: mix the two.  Mixing the two gives installers a place to put down the gauntlet.  They get to use their favorite unsanded grout with a pinch of sanded grout beefing up the body of the grout. If you are installing a blend that we have made that used touches of mirror and/or stainless tiles, this is often a good solution.  Also by treating those sensitive tiles gently while grouting, you can achieve a beautiful result and everyone is happy.

Every one being happy is the goal of good grouting.  Grouting is  probably the most important step of your installation, although you don’t realize it until it is over and done.

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[athensflooring-blog]

One way to keep the floor shiny under the door...

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[paleoint]

Love the dark cabinets with the light countertops and backsplash

[instyleerika]

EXPERT WAYS TO MAKE YOUR STONE INSTALLATION STAND OUT -PART II

Request that your stone is templated & cut to follow the bump-outs in your cabinetry.

[instyleerika]

Expert Ways to Make Your Stone Installation Stand-Out

Expert Ways to Make Your Stone Installation Stand-Out

Behind your vanity top, instead of having the ordinary, straight, 4” back-splash that is flat polished on top; why not add a decorative flair by making the top edge match the finished edges of the countertop?  Or, change the back-splash piece’s shape entirely by bowing the top and having the sides taper, or scallop the corners?  

[houseroomdesign-blog]

Curious what will be the 2013 trend color? Dulux, one of the paints and coatings company said that the main color of the color trends 2013 is “indigo” or bluish purple called “Inspired Violet”. Mixed purple color blue is believed to provide inspiration, tranquility and stability in life. [more]

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Living Room in period modern home with a striking dark wood floor.

[homedesigning]

Wood Look Tiles

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[whittlewoods-blog]

I love this set-up. Very elegant wood flooring,.

[homedesigning]

Small living room inspiration

[athensflooring-blog]

The dark cabinets work well with the dark floor treatment.  The throw rug provides a touch of color.

[athensflooring-blog]

The wall and floor treatments and the great tub makes for a minimalist look.