Earth Day is coming up this weekend, and everyone is searching for things that they can do to be a little greener.  There seems to be a green alternative for everything now that we as consumers are buying.  Everyone wants to save the planet one tree at a time, and consumers are not making any exceptions when it comes to their home.  With the housing market being down, a lot of homeowners are updating their home and redecorating because they are going to be living there for longer than they expected.  Flooring is one of the major investments homeowners are making.  Choosing a floor can be very time consuming because unlike paint, it is a larger investment and you can’t go back the next week and change it if you are unhappy with it.  Price also plays a very important role when it comes to choosing what you will install in the home.  Hardwood flooring is a great choice because it increases the value of your home and lasts much longer than any of the alternative.  While hardwood flooring has always been a sustainable choice, there is now a more environmentally friendly flooring choice.    

Make a smart and “green” choice when you are choosing your new flooring.  Mullican’s Green Haven collection is harvested from 100% well-managed forests and is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.  Green Haven offers a solid and engineered line so it can be installed on every level of the home.  The engineered domestic collection from Green Haven offers Red Oak Natural and Hickory Natural.  The finish is just as beautiful as the domestics that are offered in our solid collections, but is more affordable for our price sensitive customers.   No matter what your budget, Mullican Flooring offers beautiful flooring choices that are not only affordable but “Green” for our environmental conscious customers.  

Green Haven Red Oak Natural

Purchasing hardwood floors can be a very exciting time.  There are so many beautiful colors and species to choose from.  After many hours of searching through hardwood samples you find the perfect color, but before you make your final choice take the flooring sample outside and look at it under natural lighting.  Often times the color can appear different under various lighting.  Once you have checked the flooring under several lighting options and decide you love it, you purchase it and have it installed and several weeks or months go by and you begin to notice the color of your floor is changing.  Don’t be alarmed as this is a normal and natural occurrence.  Hardwood flooring is affected by UV-rays just like your skin.  Every hardwood product is going to experience color change, but often times the species of wood that is used will help you determine how much change you will see. 

If you are in the market for hardwood flooring, always keep in mind that the color will transition some slightly over time.  Most species are affected when exposed to UV light rays, and each wood species has different characteristics.  When shopping, know that color differences are more prominent in alternative and exotic species that are imported.   Some examples of exotic wood are Brazilian, Andiroba and Tigerwood.    You will notice that these species darken at a more rapid pace.  American Cherry is considered an exotic domestic, and its color will also darken at a more rapid rate.  Other domestic species such as Red and White Oak, Hickory and Maple will remain more true to their color, and very little change is noticed over time. 

You will also want to keep in mind that wood is a natural product and no two pieces of flooring are the same.  They may be affected differently by UV exposure.  The sapwood and heartwood of hardwood age at different rates for most species that are used for flooring.  One way that manufacturers try to combat this change is with sealants that contain “UV blockers.”  Although this will not eliminate color variability, it will slow the color variation process to a certain degree. 

Now that you know about the changes a hardwood floor will go through when exposed to sunlight, here are some ways to help your floor age evenly.  If you have flooring in a room that is exposed to a great deal of sunlight, make sure to rearrange furniture and move rugs often, and close blinds and curtains during the day when the sun is shining through the windows.  You can also buy a UV blocking film to put on your windows to keep harmful rays out.  You will see an alteration in the floorings color over time as this is inevitable.  The photos below allow you to see hardwood flooring transition from light to dark and vice versa. 

*Flooring that has darkened over time.


*Flooring that has lightened over time.

It has been 5 years since the housing market crashed in 2007.  Every economist and congressman has been working to find ways to pull the United States out of the economic slump it has been in.  Just when hope seemed almost gone, things are starting to look up.  In the past six months 1.9 million American jobs have been created and unemployment is down from 10.4% to 8.3%.  Economic growth is at an annual 2.8%.  More Americans are now earning money and have started to regain buying power.  They now can again afford to purchase a home.  The National Association of Realtors predicts that sales of new homes will rise in 2012 from 305,000 from last year to 351,000.  The number of new homes being built in 2012 will increase significantly from 599,000 to 702,000.  A chief economist with the U.S. National Association of Homebuilders has stated America is in the longest period of sustained improvement that we have seen since 2007.  The number of Americans that signed contracts to buy homes rose in January to the highest level in 2 years, and sales of previously occupied homes are at their highest level since May of 2010. 

The value of houses is beginning to creep slowly back up to what they were at 5 years ago.  What that means for you is that it may be time to get your home ready for the market so that you soon may be able to sell it and get close to the asking price that you were hoping for before the housing market crashed.  There are several things that you can do to increase the value of your home.  Remodeling or redecorating increases your chances of selling the house at a much faster rate, in many cases doubling the money you put into the home.  Some minor things that you can do are to paint the walls, replace the countertops in the kitchen or simply redecorate or update your design scheme.  The number one improvement according to appraisers, are cosmetic upgrades that emphasizes neutrality, simplicity and openness.  Consider replacing old worn out carpet with hardwood floors.  Hardwood flooring has often doubled the home owner’s investment when the home is reappraised. 

Once you have remodeled anything that may have needed repair or updating on the interior of your home, it is just as important to consider the exterior of your home.  The exterior of a home is the first thing a potential buyer will see, so you want to make sure that you have great curb appeal.  You don’t have to spend a fortune to make it look nice.  Exterior paint is only around $25 a gallon, so you can paint the front door, the trim, and shutters a bold color.  This will help your house stand out.  If you have shrubs and bushes make sure that you keep those well trimmed.  Flowerbeds need to be cleaned out and new mulch should be put down.  Adding a swing or a bench and some potted plants to your porch will make it feel more inviting. Two of the most inexpensive things you can do are replacing your existing mailbox with a new one and replacing the numbering on your home with brass or stainless steel numbers.

After you have finished all of your renovations, sit back and relax and let your realtor take over.  With the housing market making a comeback and your newly renovated home, it should sell in no time.  You will reap the reward of your remodeled house when it is sold. 

*Hickory Nature from our Chatelaine Collection

With the nation’s economy hitting almost rock-bottom, many consumers are looking for a way to give it a boost back to recovery.  There are several ways that consumers can help to give the economy a push back to recovery, but the best way is to start buying products that are made in America.  People often buy products manufactured in other countries because they are relatively much cheaper, but they perceive the item to have the same great quality which is not true.  Often times products that are imported are generally cheaper because the quality is not there, and generally the product safety standards are lower.  Individuals making the products in factories abroad are not trained or educated as well as the employees manufacturing goods in the United States, and the work conditions here are much better.  There is also a guarantee in the United States that nothing you are purchasing was ever made by children.    By purchasing items made in the United States you are ensuring jobs for future generations to come.  

There are several things that are driving the need and demand for products to be made in America, and they are as follows:

When you purchase products made in America, the distributor can almost always guarantee that you will receive whatever it is you need because there is almost always inventory at the time the order is placed, and this helps to bring jobs back to the United States. 

Hardwood flooring is a great item to start with if you are looking to help the economy and buy goods made in America.  All of our solid domestic products here at Mullican have always been made in the United States, and now we are proud to introduce our first engineered collections, Hillshire and Lincolnshire, which are manufactured and made entirely in the United States.  Hillshire will feature 13 beautiful colors and Lincolnshire has 5 stunning colors, totaling 18 extravagant new flooring choices to choose from.  These two new collections are going to be the very first engineered products that Mullican has ever produced at our new facility, which will be bringing 164 new jobs over the next three years back to the United States from foreign grounds.  Watch for the unveiling date coming soon. 

If you have visited your local big box retailer recently in pursuit of a product to clean your hardwood floors, you will have noticed that the choices offered are overwhelming.  Not to mention everyone has a different opinion about what chemical you should be using to clean your hardwood floors.  If you are new to cleaning hardwood floors then it is very important that you choose the correct cleaning product, and avoid anything that could void your flooring warranty. 

One particular cleaning agent homeowners should avoid when cleaning hardwood floors is Orange Glo.  Orange Glo states on their website that it is a high quality wood conditioner, cleaner and polish that will leave no oily or waxy residue on surfaces.  That all sounds great, but unfortunately there is no truth behind that promise.  Orange Glo leaves behind a film on your hardwood floors, and if it is applied multiple times it can leave a dull white film on your floor that is very hard to remove, and can cost you thousands of dollars to repair or replace the flooring it was used on.  Orange Glo is aware that their product will damage your hardwood floors because their customer service representatives have directions on how to remove the film from your flooring. 

If you have used Orange Glo on your hardwood floors, don’t worry because the damage may be reversible.  Below are the directions on how to remove Orange Glo and restore the beautiful shine back to your hardwood flooring.  Once the film is removed, avoid any cleaners that are wax or oil based.  Bona Chemi Swedish Formula or Basic Coatings are the two cleaners that we recommend at Mullican Flooring.  If you are ever in doubt of how to clean your hardwood floors and what chemical to use visit Mullican’s web-page for all of your floor care questions. 

Instructions on how to Remove Orange Glo:

As spring time is approaching, we are all getting into spring cleaning mode.  Everyone starts cleaning in different places of the home.  Some choose the bedroom and some choose to start with the living room.  Eventually everybody gets to the worst part, cleaning the floors.  If you have hardwood floors there are certain things that you should be using to clean with, and certain things you should avoid at all cost.  The recommended choices for cleaning your hardwood floors are Bona Chemi Swedish Formula or Basic Coatings.  You should never use oil soaps or wax on your floor, as it will cause a buildup and create problems over time.

One of the most common mistakes made that causes multiple costly issues, is the use of a steam cleaner on hardwood floors.  There are several manufacturers of steam cleaners on the market that have stated that their products are safe for hardwood flooring, and this is just not true.  Steam cleaners use steam to clean floors, and steam is essentially water which is hardwood floorings worst enemy.  If a steam cleaner is used, over-time the water will be absorbed into the boards and it will cause them to swell and buckle.  It can also affect the finish of your hardwood flooring.   So before you choose to use a steam cleaner and void your warranty, check Mullican’s web-page for the recommended ways to keep your floor looking beautiful all year long. 

http://www.mullicanflooring.com/FloorCare.html



Flooring Damaged by A Steam Cleaner

Everyone has begun to sneeze and go through tissues at an earlier time this year than normal.  This is due to the mild winter that we are having.  Allergy season has arrived early, and just because you have to battle allergens outside your home, doesn’t mean that you have to battle them in your home also.  There are several things that can be done to keep allergens to a minimum in your home.  Start by adding, replacing or cleaning the mini-blinds in the windows.  Wooden blinds are easy to wipe down and add a certain look of elegance to a room.  If you have potted plants throughout your home, add fish-tank gravel or decorative stones to the flowering pots to keep mold from the dirt from reaching the air.  Try to avoid upholstered furniture, and replace carpet with hardwood flooring.  Hardwood floors are much easier to clean and are not a good home for dust mites like carpet.  

If you are planning on redoing your floors, choose from one of the beautiful new colors that Mullican has added to the Castillian solid collection.  There are 5 beautiful colors to choose from, and it can be paired up with Mullican’s Moisture Mat to protect your floor from moisture below the surface.  Mullican is the only flooring manufacturer in the industry that offers a lifetime moisture-warranted solid flooring.  The colors range from a dark, rich Oak Midnight to an Oak Glacier which is very light in color.  No matter the color of flooring you are looking for, you will be able to find what you want in our Castillian collection. 

Spring cleaning is just around the corner, which means it’s time to go through the closets and drawers and get rid of everything that is just being used as a space saver.  This year before you throw everything out or add it to the garage sale pile, you may want to reconsider.  Taking old things and finding new uses for them is a growing inexpensive trend, but you have to find your creative side in order to be successful.  Take all of the items you are going to throw out and salvage some of the really unique items that can be transformed into eye-catching decorative pieces.  Some examples would be to take old wool or cotton sweaters and transform them into decorative pillows, or take old board games with missing pieces and transform the game board into a treasure box for your children.  If you have recently renovated your home and there are old windows and shutters lying around, use the windows for picture frames and the shutters for shelves. 

All of the money that you have managed to save by turning old junk into new treasures could go towards a new hardwood floor that will look great with your rustic, but creative, new decorative pieces.  Hand sculpted Sundance Hickory from out Chatelaine collection would add a design element that is hard to achieve.  The color is reminiscent of a beautiful summer sunset, and the hand sculpting gives the flooring a vintage heirloom quality with a time worn appearance.  With widths up to six inches, flooring from the Chatelaine collection can add elegance and a form of master craftsmanship to any home.  Follow the link below to view Mullican's Hand Sculpted Chatelaine collection. 
http://www.mullicanflooring.com/PRODUCTS/Chatelaine.html

The coldest months of winter are now amongst us.  Everyone is dreading the electric bill.  Don’t fret over the electric bill, instead be pro-active and get your home ready for the coldest days that winter has to offer.  One way to keep warm and reduce the electric bill is by safely using small space heaters in the rooms you use the most in the home, and turn down the thermostat.  Rooms that are not being used should be kept closed and the vents in the rooms closed as well.  The heat will then be redirected to the rooms you use the most.  If you have south-facing windows, open the blinds and let the light in.  At night close them for extra insulation.  The biggest money saver would be to replace your old thermostat with a programmable thermostat.  Set it to automatically lower the temperature inside your home by 5 to 10 degrees at night and during the day when no one is going to be home.  This will reduce your heating bills by up to 20% a year. 

If you are looking to remodel or replace your flooring, choose wood flooring.  Hardwood floors are better insulated than other types of flooring.  Wood has thousands of tiny air chambers per cubic inch, which work naturally to hold in heat.  Not only can you reduce your heating bill, but you can also add a “Wow” factor by choosing hardwood flooring from Mullican’s Nature or Castillian collections.  Both collections offer flooring that is manufactured in the U.S.A., and offers the great quality you have come to expect from products made in America.