We’ve made it to the finals!

We just have one last request.

How to Vote for the Finals

The preliminaries are done, and the finals have begun. To take the prize as the best carpet and flooring company, we need to get you votes one last time.

To send in your vote, you’ll do everything you did during the preliminaries, which is listed below:

You’ll be taken to the “Shopping and Service ballot” via the link provided above Scroll down to the “Carpeting & Flooring Store” section Click the circle next to our name to select it Scroll down to the bottom and submit your vote

Thank you so much for the constant support!

Other Voting Opportunities

On the voting list, you may see other companies in different categories you’d like to vote for. Here is the list of companies you may recognize:

Antique Shops –

Labelle Antiques Max and Ollies Antiques Pollyanna’s Antiques Time Warp Vintage

Attorney –

Dan Larrin Haas and Associates Haddad and Haddad Lucido & Manzella Vince Vantiem

Auto Parts Store –

Advance Auto Auto Zone O’Reilly

Banks –

Chase Citizens Bank First State Bank PNC Talmer Bank

Banquet Facility –

DeCarlo’s Palazoo Grande Penna’s Vintage House Zuccaro’s

Bicycle Store –

Fraser Bike Hamilton Bicycles Macomb Bike Shop Main Street Bicycles Tim’s Bike Shop

Boat Dealers –

Colony Marine Dee’s Marine Jefferson Beach Platinum Yacht Broker

Bridal Store –

Arena Bridal Bombshell Bridal David’s Bridal Lace Boutique Once Again Bridal

Candy Store –

Bulk Food Marketplace Frontier Town Morleys Sanders Sydney Boggs

Car Dealer – 

Friendly Chrysler Jeep Jim Causley Buick GMC Moran Chevrolet Parkway Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Roy Obrien Ford

Car Repair Shop –

Basha Auto Bucks Garage D & L Auto Dons Auto Repair Warren Keith Evola

Car Wash –

Basha Car Wash Bubbles Harper Auto Wash Mr. C’s

Charitable Organizations –

Wounded Warriors 4 Paws 1 Heart Forgotten Harvest Salvation Army Veterans Returning Home

Cheese Counter –

Dearborn Sausage Nino Salvaggio The Cheese Lady Farmington Vince and Joes

Chiropractor –

Dr. Klida Dr. Lupo Duchene Fraser Shaeffer Chiropractic Total Health Systems

Collision Shop –

Automotive Service Center Bayview Collision Cox Collision Fraser Auto The Vette Shop

Credit Union –

Credit Union One FreeStar Financial Genisys Credit Union Michigan Schools & Government Vibe Credit Union

Daycare –

Bryant Child Development Center Kids Town Northbrook Early Childhood Academy The Learning Experience Wee Excel

Dry Cleaners –

Brite Cleaner Byblos Hall Road Cleaners Heavenly Cleaners Schneider’s Cleaners

Family Owned Business –

Aspen Restaurant Luedtke Heating and Cooling Lupo Chiropractic Penne Lane The Carpet Guys

Farmers Market –

Boyka’s Eastern Market Mt Clemen’s

Fish Market –

Andrea’s Nino Salvaggio Superior Fish

Florist –

Flower Peddler Jims Florist Warren Van Maeles Florist Viviano Flower Shop

Gift Shop/Boutique –

Circare Max and Ollies PRETTY THINGS Rustic Root Time Warp SCS

Grocery Store –

Kroger Nino Salvaggio Produce Palace Vince and Joes Whole Foods Market

Health Club –

LA Fitness Lotus One Yoga Planet Fitness Steel City – Richmond

Health Food Store –

GNC The Better Health Store Vitamin Village Whole Foods

Heating & Cooling –

C & C Heating & Cooling Luedtke Heating & Cooling Mike’s Heating North Wind Heating & Air Conditioning Randazzo Mechanical

Individual Dentist –

Dr. Christina Harris Dr. Mindy Salzberg-Siegel Dr. Rita Zorhab Dr. Thomas Kachorek Dr. Carl Papa

Individual Eye Doctor –

Dr. Ann Lacroix Fredal Dr. William Lakin Dr. Emad Nakkash Dr. Piero Simone Normandy Optical

Individual Pediatrician –

Dr. Kroll Dr. Laura Clark Dr. Mary Beth Steele Dr. Raymond Buzenski

Insurance Agency –

AAA – Michael Bisch David Johnson State Farm JOHN FLEUR AGENCY Signature Insurance

Jeweler –

Ati’s Jeweler Dominic’s Fine Jewelry HERMANS CREATIONS Lavdas Lucido’s

Lawn Equipment Store –

BOULIERS FRASER LAWN CENTER Hellebuyck’s Weingartz

Local Shopping District –

Downtown Mt Clemens Merchants Harper Ave SCS Partridge Creek Mall

Mall –

Lakeside Mall Partridge Creek Mall Somerset Mall

Meat Counter –

Hefling’s Amish Market Mario’s Meats Randazzo Fresh Market Vince and Joes

Music Store –

Ardis Music Guitar Center Huber & Breeze Motor City Guitar UHF Royal Oak

Nursery –

English Garden Hessell’s Greenhouse WEIGANDS

Pet Groomer –

BUBBLES N BARKS K9 Clip and Snip Posh Paws Puppy Love Dog Socialization Center & Spa Wag n Tails

Pet Store –

Pet Supplies Plus Petco Rocko’s

Photo Studio –

Flashointe Photography JCPenney Roseville

Place to Sell Gold –

Atti’s Jewelery Gold Cove Lavdas Maloof’s SCS Mike Mync jewelry

Plastic Surgeon –

Dr. Geoffrey Osgood Dr. Daniela Rodiguez Dr. S Reddy

Resale Shop –

Platos Closet Salvation Army Sunshine Thrift

Salon –

Absolutely Fabulous Bocci Salon and Spa Glow Salon N Vision Salon 6

Senior Living Community –

American House Atria Shorehaven Rose Senior Living Villa Bella

Spa –

N Vision Stephen James Aveda Terme Day Spa

Tanning Salon –

Body Bing Tanning Chili Peppers Tanning VIP

Tattoo Parlor –

Eternal Tattoo Signature Vicious Ink

Tire Store –

Belle Tire Detroit Tire Discount Tire Gratiot Wheel & Tire

Toy & Hobby Store –

Hobby Lobby Whistle Stop

Unique Store – 

Champane’s Wine Cellars Gifts Afloat, St Clair Shores Max & Ollie’s Vintage Boutique Time Warp

Veterinary Clinic –

Animal Clinic of Sterling Heights Kitty Clinic North Gratiot Veterinary Pets Ahoy Wilson Veterinary Hospital

View our collection of wide plank floors.Wide Plank Flooring Pros

Install time – wide plank floors take up more room per square foot, so naturally it will take less time to fill a room with 7-inch boards as opposed to 3-inch boards. This allows for quicker installation periods, especially when handled by a professional. Budget accommodating – wide plank floors vary greatly in price. Random width flooring is a popular option that falls within most people’s budgets. However, wide plank flooring can become expensive if you want boards that exceed roughly 10-inches. The illusion of more space – wide planks create an illusion that the room you’re in feels larger than it really is. For some, this is a great way to liven up a room. More characteristics – hardwood floors contain natural characteristics. Knots, natural splits, mineral streaks, and other characteristics can be seen easier with wide plank flooring as more of the board is exposed. This is something you cannot get with carpet!

Wide Plank Flooring Cons

Wide boards have a tendency to shrink and expand simply because they do not have as many seams as narrower boards. This can make it difficult for those who live in environments that fluctuate in temperature often. However, engineered wide plank floors help combat this issue. Engineered wood floors are built to withstand fluctuating temperatures.

Wide plank floors are not as DIY-friendly as you would like. Unless you absolutely know what you’re doing, leave wide plank floor installation to the pros.

As far as “is there such a thing as floors that are too wide?”, well… that’s simply a matter of preference. You can have hardwood floor planks as wide as you can imagine, but price may be your barrier. Also, the wider the floors, the more likely for issues relating to fluctuating internal temperatures.

 

Today we will teach you how to deal and prepare with year round seasonal gapping. But first, we’ll explain exactly what occurs during this process.

What Occurs During “Seasonal Gapping”?

To help you better understand this phenomenon, we’re going to use our skin as an example. When our own skin loses moisture, we become dried out. When we’re dried out, we’re more susceptible to cracked skin, etc. Hardwood floors are similar in this regard – however, a cracked floor due to severe lack of moisture is very rare.

What’s likely to happen in this scenario is your floors will lose moisture and then shrink in size – causing gaps. This typically occurs during winter when the weather is dry. These gaps tend to close up on their own during summertime when moisture is restored to the boards.

Wider boards will gap more than narrow boards, and some species will shrink less than others (e.g. a 5” Hickory will shrink more than a 5” oak plank). Also, Square edges will show more gaps than a beveled edge.

How To Deal With Seasonal Gapping

Now that we’ve briefly described this natural process, we’ll educate you on how to handle the situation.

In-Home Humidifiers – Humidifiers keep the relative humidity (RH) levels in your home at an acceptable range enough to minimize seasonal gapping – 30-50%. The alternative is to accept the gaps and wait until summer for them to close up. We highly recommend investing in a humidifier for your hardwood floors.

Touch-up Pens – you may spot small patches of bare wood showing as a result of the contractions taking place. A color coordinated touch up pen can fill in the color while you wait for summer. See MinWax Touch Up Pens

Fillers – if the gaps are absolutely unacceptable, then filling them with an Adhesive Caulking (i.e. COLOR-RITE) could do the trick. They’re available in many colors and will fill the gaps up to ¼”. If you do not understand what to do, then let a professional take care of this for you.

Pro Tip: If your hardwood floors are in an environment with “humid summers” and “dry winters” with lots of foot traffic/movement, then it is BEST to leave the gaps alone and let the process carry its course.

 

Truth is, most upscale restaurants have ditched the carpet, curtains, and tablecloths. They have now moved towards hardwood floors, high ceilings, and linen-free tables. Is this the new standard? Not necessarily, it all depends on your restaurant. However, a majority of restaurants could seriously benefit from hardwood floors.

Hardwood flooring comes in many shapes and sizes. There are many modern elegant hardwood floors perfect for the restaurant scene.

Elements of an excellent restaurant hardwood floor:

Withstands heavy foot traffic (very important). Matte finish to help prevent slips and falls. Easy to maintain.

A subtle perk to hardwood floors in restaurants is the added noise volume. With hardwood floors, restaurants may experience more noise than with other selections – resulting in an environment that encourages patrons to interact more with each other.

Urban Floor’s Personal Restaurant Hardwood Floor Recommendation

Any engineered hardwood floor in our Composer Collection. Why?

Durability – all hardwood floors in our Composer Collection are wired brushed and sand blasted meaning all soft parts of the wood have been brushed away. The only part left is the hard part of the wood!

On top of this all floors in our Composer Collection come with a professional UV cured natural oil finish from Klumpp Coatings® or Osmo oils®. You will not have to worry about heavy foot traffic with either of these professional finishes.

Maintenance – All of our floors in our Composer Collection are easy to maintain.

With spot cleaning and spot re-oiling capabilities, restaurants will never have to suspend its operations for floor maintenance. A regular cleaning and periodic oiling is all that is needed to keep the floor looking brand new.

Slip and Fall Prevention – Floors in our Composer Collection are matte finish, meaning they are not glossy and prone to slip and fall accidents. This is perfect for any patrons who may dawn more formal wear including heels.

Selection Variety – Our Composer Collection also features various designs and colors to select from including light colored options, darker hued floors, filled and unfilled knots, natural splits, mineral streaks, and bowtie inlays. Simply put, there’s a floor that will meet any restaurant’s needs.

The Composer Collection offers both durability and superior craftsmanship resulting in engineered hardwood floors that are perfect for restaurants and will impress patrons.

 

Christmas trees are a wonderful addition to any home during the holiday season simply because they bring back many memories, as well as leave a fresh natural scent in your home. However, many hardwood floor owners are skeptical of placing a real Christmas tree on their luscious hardwood floors in fear of potential damage. Good news: you can sport a fresh, real Christmas tree with hardwood floors!

Initial Preparation

It is recommended that you purchase a tree stand mat (also called floor protectors), or use a folded towel or blanket, to create a soft base for the tree stand to relax on. This will save you from the possibility of scratches to your hardwood floors.

Pro tip: We suggest shaking as many of the needles out as you can before bringing the tree into your home. Followed by cleaning the area that your tree will be placed in.

Tree Skirts

Just as rugs are hardwood floor’s best friend, a tree skirt is a Christmas trees’ best friend. You can get fancy with this, but whether you use a tablecloth, plastic sheet, store-bought Christmas tree disposal kit, or something else just make sure you have a tree skirt under the tree to help catch falling needles, as well as prevent water or tree sap from seeping onto your floors.

Needle Management

Falling needles will not damage your floors, but if you or someone else steps on them and begins to drag them around, then there’s always a possibility of scratches.

Make sure you are sweeping any needles off your floor whenever you have the chance. We recommend using a broom over a vacuum to make sure your vacuum does not become damaged.

Pro tip: Have your guests leave their shoes at the door.

It takes a little bit of upkeep maintenance to house a beautiful Christmas tree whether you have hardwood floors or carpet, but it’s all worth it in the end.