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About John Michaels
Expertise
All questions pertaining to all indoor floor coverings regarding best products to choose, proper installation techniques, and proper maintenance techniques.

Experience
We are a nationwide floor covering inspection service. We inspect all types of indoor floor coverings in every city and town in all 50 States and in all the Provinces of Canada. We see where errors in choice of product, improper installation, and improper maintenance lead to complaints being registered and we are then called upon to inspect those products and issue certified reports indicating from where those complaint issues eminate. We have done this type of work for over 40 years.

Publications
Floor Covering Weekly & Floor Covering News

Education/Credentials
Carpet, vinyl, and hardwood manufacturing, installation, and maintenance, prior to just inspecting, and a division of our Company specifies proper floor covering choices for residential and commercial uses.

You are here: Experts > Style > Interior Decorating > Flooring and Carpeting > Laminate Flooring

Flooring and Carpeting - Laminate Flooring

Expert: John Michaels - 11/8/2009

Question
We would like to install laminate flooring in our living room which contains a heavy piano. We are wondering about flooring weight restrictions, how to protect the floor from damage, and best laminate flooring options. Thanks.

Answer
Hi Melanie;For a laminate floor, I suggest you visit the website of <tarkettna.com> and <mohawkind.com>. On the Tarkett website, look through their laminate offerings and choose any of their products EXCEPT Trek. Trek is an only 7mm protective layer. You need at least an 8mm protective layer. On the Mohawk site, look through their laminate offerings and choose any of their 8mm products. If the piano has roller casters, it is better if you put a furniture leg protector under each leg of at least 2 inches square to disperse the weight of the piano. There are areas on both of those websites to locate a dealer near you. Please do NOT shop for you flooring at one of those large home supply stores or over the internet. Shop at a local, reputable floor covering dealer who can supply proper product, proper installation, and give references that you should check out. BEFORE you purchase, make certain you obtain the installation specifications of the product you choose and read them thoroughly. You will then know how the product should be properly acclimated and installed, and you can then watch the installer to make certain your investment is being protected and properly handled and installed. Also, BEFORE you purchase, obtain the maintenance manual for the exact product you like and make sure it addresses the piano and proper furniture leg protectors. If it doesn't address the piano, have the dealer contact the technical services department of the exact manufacturer of the floor you like, and get it in writing for you that the piano can be used on your chosen flooring. I would also suggest that you do not position the piano legs on the side or end seams of each laminate plank installed. Also, we suggest that you do not purchase any products made by Shaw Industries. We have found Tarkett and Mohawk to be very reliable manufacturers of quality products.

Now I want to ask you why you are choosing laminate, or any hard surfaced flooring for your living room. Hard surfaced flooring is non-absorbent, so harmful soils such as track-in soils, air polutants, allergents, etc., become airborne with normal foot traffic and normal home air currents, allowing the human lung to become the trap and filter. One of the healthiest floor coverings one can have is carpet. It has a pile that traps, filters, and holds those harmful soils until they are properly vacuumed away, and, on occassion, properly professionally cleaned away. The true cost of any floor covering is product, installation, and maintenance over its useful life. Carpet costs less as a product, less to install, and less to maintain over its useful life. Depending upon the environment in which you live, you may have to maintain hard surfaced flooring on a daily basis. Visit the website of The Carpet & Rug Institute,
<carpet-rug.org> to learn true health information and obtain their lists of vacuums, spot cleaning agents, and professional cleaning systems they have tested and certified as being truly 'green', friendly to our environment. Many hard surfaced floor manufacturers, in their maintenance information, indicate the use of area rugs (carpet), over proper rug pads, in high trafficked areas.

If you do consider using carpet, please feel free to get back to me for generic specifications you can use to shop. I would need to know the population of your home including pets, the type of footwear mainly used to walk on interior floor coverings (shoes, stocking feet, bare feet, sneakers, etc.), the soil conditions directly outside your home (dirt, asphalt, gravel, concrete, outdoor decking, etc.), and the part of the world in which you live. Also, if you have any other questions, please feel free to get back to me.

Cordially,

John Michaels

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