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Pros and Cons of Using Carpet in Your Home

Posted on by hilton

Are you building a new home and trying to decide what type of flooring you want? Perhaps you’re renovating the flooring in your current home? Have you thought about opting for carpet either in a few rooms or throughout your house? While hardwood flooring, tile, and laminate have enjoyed a massive rise in popularity in recent years, carpet is still an excellent flooring choice. That’s especially true if you live in a cool climate or just crave a little softness under your feet. 

If you’re contemplating carpet and aren’t quite sure if it’s right for your needs, our team at Hiltons Flooring is here to help! We offer both flooring and carpet services in DFW and Arlington. Below, we’ve outlined the pros and cons of using carpet in your home to give you a little more clarity in your decision-making process. 

Pros of Installing Carpet in Your Home

A lot of people think carpet is inherently a huge pain since it naturally requires a bit more upkeep than hard floors. But that isn’t true at all! Carpeting actually offers homeowners several benefits. Check them out below.

Carpet Is Soft and Inviting

If you love the feeling of soft, fuzzy fabric beneath your feet, carpet delivers. It’s a little tougher to achieve that feel with tile, laminate, or hardwood since you’d need to use several rugs throughout your home to get the same effect. If you’re in the market for the comfiest, most inviting flooring option, carpet is your number one choice. 

It Helps Control Noise

Installing carpet throughout your living areas or even in just a few bedrooms can really help cut down noise transmission throughout your home. Hardwood, laminate, and tile essentially reflect sound since they’re hard, so they can’t offer the same noise-dampening quality that carpet boasts. Since carpet actually helps absorb sound, it’s a great choice for upstairs rooms or even the upper levels of multi-unit dwellings. 

Carpet Helps Keep Floors Warm

Nothing can help keep your feet warm quite like carpet, so if you’re prone to getting chilly indoors, it might be the best flooring option for you. Since carpet features a layer of padding (called underlay) beneath the carpet itself, it provides far more insulation than any hard flooring can.  

Carpet Can Hide Dirt 

Obviously, white carpet won’t do you any favors in the masking-dirty-floors department, but if you opt for darker-colored carpeting, it can work wonders for camouflaging dirt. Plus, even when the carpet does get dirty, all it takes is a quick vacuum to get it clean. Occasionally, you’ll want to shampoo your carpet too, but that doesn’t need to be done more than once a year.  

Carpet Is Affordable

Compared to many flooring options, carpet is quite affordable. It’s certainly less expensive than hardwood, and generally it’s cheaper to install than laminate or ceramic tile too. If you’re on a budget and want high-quality flooring that both looks and feels great, carpet is an excellent choice. 

Cons of Installing Carpet in Your Home

What are the potential drawbacks of installing carpet in your home? As with any type of flooring, carpeting does have a few disadvantages that any homeowner should consider. Learn all about them below.

Carpet Traps Allergens

If not cleaned regularly, carpets can trap dust, pollen, dirt, dust mites, and other allergens within its fibers. If you’re sensitive to those allergens or anyone in your home has respiratory difficulties, you may want to think twice before installing carpet. Of course, if you’re diligent about vacuuming, you’ll significantly reduce the amount of allergens your carpet harbors. 

Carpet Shows Wear and Tear

Probably the greatest drawback of using carpet in your home is that it can show wear and tear and start to look dingy quickly if you don’t care for it properly. Light-colored carpets can stain easily, so they may not be a great choice for homes with small children or adults who don’t like cleaning. 

Without proper care, carpet can also show quite a bit of wear and tear in areas that see high foot traffic, so it may be best reserved for bedrooms rather than entryways or hallways.  

Carpet Can Be Susceptible to Moisture Damage

Because carpet is fabric and features underlay, it can trap moisture beneath the surface of the flooring. That moisture can prompt mold or mildew growth, which may pose a health hazard. Depending on the severity of the moisture problem, it could also do some damage to the subflooring if left unattended. However, moisture trapped beneath the surface of hard floors can also prompt mold and mildew growth and may also damage the floor’s structural components. 

Carpet Requires Consistent Maintenance

A lot of people shy away from carpet simply because they’re not keen on vacuuming all the time or shampooing their floors. And while it’s true that carpet does require a bit more maintenance than hard flooring, it’s also true that any flooring must be cleaned regularly. 

If you’re thinking about installing carpet in a rental home, consider your flooring options carefully. You never know how tenants might treat the floors and fixing damaged carpet when they move out is a lot more involved than replacing a tile or two or a few pieces of laminate or hardwood. 

Hiltons Flooring: Your DFW Carpet Installation Experts

Contemplating installing carpet for your DFW home? Get in touch with our team at Hiltons Flooring to learn more about your options! Our experts can help you assess your flooring needs and recommend the best options for your unique home. Feel free to stop by our Arlington showroom to browse our extensive carpet selection or give us a call today at [phone] for more information. You can also send us a message with your information and questions, and a member of our team will be in touch!

Carpet vs. Wood: Which One to Choose for Your New Home

Posted on by hilton

You’ve decided to renovate your home. Just one issue: Do you want carpet or wood flooring?

There are pros and cons to each. Often, homeowners aren’t going to select just one option. They’ll use a blend of both. Let’s take a look at the positives and negatives of each flooring option and which situations would cause you to choose one or the other.

Carpet: Comfortable, Affordable, and Stylish

There’s a reason so many homes have carpet. For one, it’s the cheapest option. But for some people, carpet just gives a home a nice, cozy vibe.

Pros of Carpet

Carpet is very comfortable. When it’s cold out, the carpet will be warm to the touch. Vacuum your carpet, and it can look brand new. And a lot of carpet today comes with stain-resistant treatments to keep it clean. Carpet reduces wear-and-tear on your joints (and the joints of any elderly pets you have) because it’s easy to walk on. Carpet also dampens sound.

In terms of style, there’s a carpet in every color. Carpets come in very short and very tall fibers. Carpet can fit in with anything, and often, it can be installed on top of other flooring options to protect it. Installation is another benefit to carpeting because it can be installed very quickly and very easily.

Cons of Carpet

Carpet can be perceived as “cheap,” but there are many luxury carpet brands out there. Carpet can be difficult to keep clean over time, necessitating deep cleaning treatments. If you have children or pets, it’s possible you’ll have to break out the carpet cleaner frequently. Carpet isn’t going to improve your property values, though it will make your property more comfortable.

Best Locations in the Home

Carpets are usually relegated to bedrooms and family rooms, areas where comfort is at a premium. Carpet can be installed pretty much anywhere, however. By incorporating carpet into your space, you can not only make your home more comfortable but also make your renovations more affordable. 

Wood: Timeless, Attractive, and Easy to Clean

If you see wood flooring in a home, you already know it’s worth more. Wood in a home is seen not just as a style and design choice but as an investment.

Pros of Wood

Wood improves the value of your home. It’s often seen as very attractive. It’s also very durable. Even if it gets scratched or nicked, it can be refinished and polished again. Wood flooring lasts a long time, and it’s very easy to clean. If you’re worried about fur and dust, a simple sweeping will take it up. Wood comes in an extraordinary spectrum of price points and appearances. You can find wood that is very light or very dark or thick or thin grained. You can find exotic woods that will dramatically increase the price of your property or affordable wood veneers.

Cons of Wood

Wood floors can be uncomfortable, especially for those who don’t like walking on hard surfaces. Wood will be colder than carpeting in the chilly mornings, and it does require more maintenance. If wood floors get wet, they can swell and get permanently damaged. Wood floors are also much more expensive. They can take a while to install, so your renovations may take a bit longer. And because the installation is complex, it often costs more.

Best Locations in the Home

Wood floors are often used in entryways, entertainment spaces, kitchens, and dining rooms. They are used throughout areas in the home that don’t necessarily need to be “comfortable” but do need to be kept presentable, attractive, and clean. There are many types of wood today, including engineered wood and wood veneers.

Choosing the Right Flooring for Your House

Choosing between carpeting and wood flooring is really a personal choice. It depends on the look and feel you want for your home. If you want a home that is warm and cozy, carpeting is the best option. If you want a home that is stylish and easy to clean, wood might be better. Though carpeting is generally cheaper, and wood is generally more expensive, there are also exceptions. You can always find a luxurious carpet and cheap wood.

Most people aren’t going to install one flooring throughout their entire home. It’s popular to install wood flooring everywhere except for the bedrooms and bathrooms, for instance. But ultimately, it’s up to you.

You might be surprised to discover just how many flooring options there are today. It may not be that wood or carpet is the right solution for you. The best way to decide which flooring is best for your home is to take a look at what’s available. Visit the Hiltons Flooring showroom at 2800 W Division St, Suite D, in Arlington, TX, to take a look.

How to Get Paint Out of Carpet

Posted on by hilton
How to Get Paint Out of Carpet

Painting a house can be a great way to liven up the place and transform a room. It’s a low-cost, low-effort means of making your home feel nice and new. Unfortunately, paint sometimes ends up in places where you don’t want it, like your carpet. When that happens, it can feel disastrous, but it isn’t as horrible as it seems. Paint can, in fact, be removed from carpet, as long as you know a few tricks. If you get paint on your carpet, follow this guide to remove it safely.

Determine the Type of Paint

The base used to make a paint is going to determine which paint-removing process will work on it. The first step is to identify that base. Paints will be water-based, latex-based, or oil-based. You can look at the paint can (or container), and it will tell you which base is used in your paint. Once you have that answer, you can move on to the removal process.

Removing Water-Based Paint

Let’s start by looking at water-based paints. They are the easiest to clean. The paint is mixed with water, so you can dilute and wash it with water.

First, if the paint is still wet, you want to absorb as much of it as possible. Blot it with a paper towel or rag. Resist the urge to scrub — that will only push the paint deeper into the fibers. Blot until you cannot absorb any more wet paint.

If the paint is dry, you can make a mixture of hot water and dish soap to clean the mess. You want the water and soap in a one-to-one ratio. Apply the mixture to the paint, and let it sit for a few minutes to soften the paint. Once the paint is soft, blot it away. Again, avoid scrubbing. It will probably require several iterations of the process, but by soaking the stain and blotting it, you can clear away all of the paint.

When you are blotting the paint, pay attention to saturation. Eventually, the carpet will be soaked, and adding more of the solution won’t help. Blot away as much as you can, and then let the carpet dry a bit before continuing.

Removing Latex-Based Paint

Latex-based paint is going to be a little more difficult, but it is removed in largely the same way as water-based paint. The first step is still to blot away any wet paint when the spill occurs.

For paint that can’t be blotted, you will need to make a mixture of dish soap and water, but it will be a little different from the previous mixture. First, you want lukewarm water in place of hot water. The ratio is about a teaspoon of soap to a cup of water. Mix up your detergent and apply it to the carpet. Also, be sure you’re using a mild detergent. Some detergents are harsh and can damage the carpet.

With your solution applied, the latex paint will begin to dissolve. You can blot away as much of the solution as possible. When you’ve taken that process as far as you can, you’re going to let the area dry completely. The detergent mixture should break up the latex in the paint. Once it dries, you’ll be able to vacuum up what remains.

Once again, you might have to repeat the whole process a few times to get all of the paint. It’s just a matter of patience.

Removing Oil-Based Paint

Oil-based paints are the toughest. They are hard to break up, and they are very sticky. Still, you can beat them. The first step remains the same: blot away as much wet paint as possible.

When dealing with dry oil-based paints, you want to soften the area. A steamer is the best tool. Apply steam directly to the paint until it is soft. Once you can see that it has visibly softened, you can pick at it with a needle or pin to break up the paint and remove it. The process will be meticulous and time-consuming, but if you keep at it, you can get rid of the oil-based paint without damaging the carpet.

When the majority of excess paint is removed, you can try attacking the spot with a carpet cleaner. It can remove smaller oil-based paint deposits and save you a lot of time. Removing paint from carpet can take a lot of work, but you can succeed if you stick with it. Beautiful, clean carpet is welcoming and warm. If yours no longer gives you that inviting feeling, maybe it’s time for an upgrade. At Hiltons Flooring, our professional staff can help you with any and all of your carpeting needs. Contact us online or call us at 817-910-7758.

Staircase Remodel Ideas

Posted on by hilton
Staircase Remodel Ideas

Want to remodel your staircase? The stairs in your home can be purely functional and get you from point A to point B, or they can be a powerful design element. If you’re ready to enhance the look of your stairs, you’ll need to know some terminology and what your options are. The staircase style, flooring, and railing you’re able to use will largely depend on the design of the house, but you’re not stuck with one style. Let’s take a look.   

Types of Staircases

Traditional Staircases

No surprise here; we’re talking about your everyday stairs, straight and direct. If your space calls for a traditional staircase, make the most of it. Variations in flooring, railing, and spindle styles can give your traditional staircase a much-needed lift. 

Curved Staircases

Depending on your home’s layout, a curved staircase may make more sense than traditional straight stairs. A slightly rounded staircase can have a grandiose feel, especially if there are two mirrored staircases. If you’re short on space, a spiral staircase might be the best fit, although a full spiral staircase may be steep and difficult for some people to traverse. 

Floating Staircases

Floating staircases feature a horizontal step (run) but not a vertical connector (rise). The steps are suspended in the air by cables or a hidden connector that runs underneath the entire staircase. The absence of the vertical rise means you can see straight through the stairs to what’s behind them. The visual effect is truly a work of art that gives the stairs a light and airy effect. However, because there is no vertical rise, it can be difficult for some people to judge the depth of the stair, particularly for those with a sight impairment. 

Flooring

Just like the rest of the floors in your home, your stairs can be constructed with a variety of flooring types. They can be gorgeous stained hardwood for a strong traditional look, or natural wood for a more earthy feel. You can use marble or granite for an elegant, powerful feature. And any number of specialty tiles can create a custom look. These solid materials are fantastic options, but you’ll need to incorporate some kind of non-slip surface for safety, and remember that a bare staircase can have a sometimes have a cold feel. 

A carpet runner that extends the length of the staircase but isn’t as wide can soften the look and add interest. And if you’re a fan of carpet, fully carpeted stairs are a great soft and lush choice. Consider using a coordinating carpet that doesn’t exactly match your other spaces for your runner or carpeted stairs. Even something like a herringbone runner in the same general color as your other carpets would add a layer of design to your space.  

Railing and Balusters/Spindles

Changing your handrails is another way to update your overall look. A metal railing made of steel gives an industrial, masculine look. A wood railing tends to be more traditional but can be crafted to fit a more transitional or modern space. 

And don’t overlook the spindles. These are the vertical rods that support the railing and are sometimes called balusters. These can be wood, wrought iron or even wire. Even simply painting wood spindles can give your staircase a new feel.

Make it Yours

These are just a few of your options. Now it’s time to get creative. Whether you’re doing a full remodel of your stairs or just want an update, you can mix and match flooring, textures and materials to create a look that’s perfect for you.  

Want to go the extra mile? Incorporate LED lights under the run of each step to add brightness for aesthetics as well as safety. And don’t forget the area underneath the stairs. It’s called a spandrel, and it’s a great place to get creative. Use it for storage, or turn it into extra shelving, a wine cellar, or even a tucked-away nook perfect for playing or reading. When you’re ready to take your ideas to the next level, Hiltons Flooring can help. We have the materials you’ll need for your new staircase to make sure it is as beautiful as it is safe. Call us at 817-910-7758 or contact us online to get your project started today!

Best Flooring Types for a Kitchen Remodel

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Best Flooring Types for a Kitchen Remodel

Thousands of homeowners in the United States renovate their homes each year (more than 40,000 in 2019, according to the 2020 U.S. Houzz & Home Study: Renovation Trends study). If you’re planning a kitchen remodel this year, you’re probably wondering which flooring options are best.

Whether you are still considering your options or chomping at the bit to get started, this article will help you compare flooring types for kitchen remodels in Texas.

What Does the Best Kitchen Flooring Option Look Like?

Have you noticed how many different types of flooring are available today? Dozens of natural stone and tile options, plus hardwood, vinyl, laminate, carpet — the list goes on and on. On top of that, retailers shout about how their solutions are the best! Best value, best color, best installation, best return on investment, best variety. But what does “best” really mean?

According to an online dictionary, “best” means “of the most excellent, effective, or desirable type or quality.” At Hiltons Flooring, we agree with that definition but also think you must go further. The very best flooring option for your kitchen remodel, based on our many years of offering flooring solutions in Arlington, TX, is one that fits your lifestyle and budget perfectly while adding value, beauty, and functionality to your home.

Tile & Stone Kitchen Flooring

If you love the beauty and design flexibility tile and natural stone offer, you’ll be happy to know there are many options. Here are three stone and tile options that we think are terrific to use in any kitchen.

Granite

This natural stone is excellent if you have young children who love to bang on the floor beneath your feet while you’re cooking. Granite is strong and stands up to years of heavy traffic and the occasional pounding by little hands. It is also scratch and moisture resistant.

Glass

Because they are slip-resistant, glass tiles are great for seniors who may be more likely to fall. The tiles never fade and do not require special care to prevent chemical, mold, or stain buildup.

Porcelain

A great choice that is extremely durable and resists scratches during daily use.

Laminate Kitchen Flooring Solutions for Your Arlington Home

Laminate flooring is a very popular solution for Arlington homeowners. Here are three reasons why laminate is a top choice.

Budget-friendly

Laminate is usually less expensive than stone or tile, and it is very durable, so you can expect to get years of service for your investment.

Less disruption during renovation 

Since laminate snaps together above existing flooring, there is typically no construction mess during a dismantle-and-replace job. No glue means no chemical orders in the air, and there is no cure time, which means no waiting. You can use your floor immediately after the installation crew leaves.

Looks like more expensive flooring options

Laminate flooring can be made to mimic any flooring — hardwood, tile, concrete, stone, mosaic — because its look comes from a photograph that rests between the top layer and the high-density fiberboard that gives the floor durability and strength.

Hardwood Flooring: Cork, Solid Hardwood & Engineered Hardwood

Hardwood flooring in the kitchen, depending on the style and wood species you choose, adds warmth, elegance, charm, and long-lasting beauty. The most popular hardwood flooring solutions for kitchen remodels are birch, hickory, maple, and oak. Pine and walnut will work, but both of these wood species may be more susceptible to damage with daily use and heavy traffic because they are softer.

Colors, styles, wood grains, and other features vary depending on which brand of flooring you choose. We offer a wide selection of hardwood flooring solutions and will be happy to help you choose the best for your space. When you’re ready to plan your kitchen renovation, Hiltons Flooring is here to help you explore the best flooring solutions for your family. Remember, the best flooring demands professional installation. Call us at 817-910-7758 or visit our showroom in Arlington, TX, to get started.