COREtec Floors

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June 06, 2022

Why Waterproof Floors Are Important to Your Home

What Does Waterproof Mean?  If you look around the flooring world today, you will see many options marketed as waterproof or water-resistant, but it seems as if each of these products mean different things when making these claims.  We’re here to help clear up the confusion.  COREtec makes a 100% waterproof floor. This means that COREtec floors will never swell, expand or contract when exposed to water. This stands in contrast to floors that are water-resistant. ‘Water-resistant’ floors will resist damage from water for a limited time but will ultimately swell when exposed for long periods.   COREtec’s 100% waterproof floors are also different from laminate floors that simply have a waterproof top layer or finish. While these floors will stop damage from above, they will eventually succumb to water damage from below. This is important because water from below can lead to expansion and subtraction, which often leads to contraction, which will ultimately lead to warping.  So, when COREtec says 100% waterproof, it means 100%. All COREtec floors are protected from water both above and below the surface, for any amount of time. And this is fully backed by COREtec’s waterproof warranty, which states, “The floor plank or tile is warranted to be 100% waterproof and the structural integrity of the floor plank or tile will not be significantly diminished by exposure to water for the life of the product.” * Why You Should Care About Waterproof Floors  It’s important to realize all the ways in which water damage can occur. It’s more than just spilling your glass of water on to the floor. Leaky faucets and pipes, steam from showers and appliances and even the presence of humidity during the warmer months can all introduce water into your home.  Photo: Briar Oak VV735-06013Once water enters your home, it can quickly cause serious damage if you don’t have the right protection. When it comes to water damage, it’s typically manifested in two ways – warping or mold and mildew. Although warping will be the more obvious problem, the presence of mold or mildew will be the more serious one. It has major effects on your home’s value and is known to impact the human respiratory system. It’s bad for everyone and everything involved.    The Benefits of Waterproof Flooring  Waterproof floors have benefits beyond what they can prevent. Most obviously, waterproof floors offer you significant peace of mind. Knowing that spills from little ones or pet accidents won’t cause any lasting damage can be a great worry reliever.   And waterproof floors are also significantly easier to clean than non-waterproof options. Water isn’t able to soak through a waterproof floor, so it remains on the surface of the floor, allowing you to simply wipe away any spills or splashes. In the long run, this will save significant money on deep cleans and maintenance.  COREtec’s waterproof core has other appealing benefits. Since our core is so thick (a necessity of truly waterproof cores), the flooring is naturally quieter and warmer than other laminate or vinyl options.   Where to Put Your Waterproof Floors Pictured: Draco Oak VV735-04019 Although we think COREtec floors are perfect for every room of your house, there are several rooms where COREtec’s waterproof feature provides enhanced benefits. Take your basement for instance. 98% of American basements will experience water damage within their lifespan. And often, the water damage in this room can seemingly come out of nowhere. Being below grade (below ground level) makes these spaces more susceptible to “quieter” forms of water damage – ground water leaks, seepage caused by gutters not diverting water far enough from your home and leaky pipes.  So, naturally, hardwood floors are generally a bad idea for this space, whereas waterproof floors like COREtec are perfect.   Obviously, waterproof floors are extremely beneficial for rooms that contain faucets and appliances connected to water lines. For most people, this means bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms. In fact, research shows that these three rooms, combined with basements, make up the four spaces in your home most likely to experience water damage. Installing waterproof floors in these four rooms alone will go a long way towards protecting your home.  And the best part of being able to install COREtec’s floors in these spaces? It allows you to have consistent flooring throughout your house. For too long, the flooring in your kitchen and bathroom had to be different than the flooring in your living room. But since COREtec has hundreds of styles ranging across their collections as well as the valuable waterproof function, you can easily find a floor style that looks good and performs well in every room of your house.    Water You Going To Do About It?  Waterproof floors can be a huge stress-reliever and money saver, and the worst time to think about installing them is after you’ve already suffered from water damage. So, if you’re considering a waterproof floor as one of the ways to protect your home, visit a local retailer and ask to learn more about COREtec floors and their waterproof core.   Visit our Find a Retailer page to locate a COREtec-selling retailer near you!  *Be sure that proper sub-floor moisture tests are performed prior to installation to ensure you don’t trap moisture underneath the floor.

#warranty #waterproof #water-resistant
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September 13, 2021

Reinventing the Home Office

Pictured Above: Pro Plus Springfield OakMaking ‘Work From Home’ Work for You. The phrase “work from home” has become one we are now all too familiar with, but its impact on our homes has been more widespread than originally predicted. Our work that was initially done in high rise office buildings has moved to our beds or dining room tables. Now, after some time to adjust, work has moved into its own nook in the home: the home office. With this migration of all aspects of our lives happening at home, the entire concept of the home office and our home office design ideas have been reinvented to suit our new needs.Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a designated office space in the home was more of a luxury than a necessity. We may have had desks to house our drawers full of personal documents or forgotten craft supplies, but not much actual work was being done at them. Now in 2021, a home office is not just a want, but a need for most people.With more of our homes being shown on Zoom these days, the need for a functional, stylish and calming workspace has only increased. The reality of our lives, from kids to pets to clutter, is now on full display, so we have no real need to try and conceal this with minimalistic design anymore.Finding the perfect work from home office designs Stark whites have given way to a variety of color and pattern combinations. Dark, contrasting hardwoods have given way to lighter, more inviting tones, like COREtec’s Lyric Oak and Shoreline Maple. Products like these give our home office space a brightness that keeps us motivated when the couch is calling and keeps us glowing during our virtual meetings.   While we still crave organization within our workspaces, the crisp and empty aesthetics that were popular in years prior have given way to more practical styles that allow us to use as much of our space as possible. What used to be a room used mostly for organizing bills or maybe even just an empty corner of the living room is now being utilized to serve a variety of purposes. Kids need a school desk, parents need a workspace, and our new quarantine hobbies need a place to live.Hybrid & Functional Home office design ideasWhile we need our homes to serve a lot more purposes nowadays, we don’t all have the luxury of one space for one purpose. We need products to improve the efficiency of these spaces to serve all of our needs. Stylish, durable and functional products can help us get the most out of our space. COREtec’s Pro offers flooring that is waterproof, warmer and quieter than competing floors, and impact and dent resistantEven as we transition back into a more “normal” way of life, many are still choosing to work from home or have adapted to more hybrid work schedules. While this has definitely shortened our commutes, it has simultaneously increased our need for a designated work space that helps us separate the different aspects of our lives now all taking place within our homes.Pre-pandemic, the simple act of entering our homes marked the difference between the workday and our free time. Now, these aspects of our lives are intertwined, and it can be hard to switch the brain from work to relaxation after logging off. Whether it be a new desk or a certain seat on the couch, designating a specific location for work can help to ease the transition at the end of the workday.This past year has brought about a lot of change; that’s clear. This has created a strong need for comfort and the desire to curate an experience within our spaces, whether that be through personal photos and trinkets or cozy blankets and rugs.For those of us living with roommates or family members, our limited amount of personal space has to serve a lot of purposes: private work spaces, places to work out, personal sanctuaries for relaxing, and so much more. Because of this, we’ve had to put intentional effort into curating our spaces to meet this wide variety of needs.Something that we might have just bought off the rack in passing back in 2019 is now something that we’re taking our time picking out so that we can find the perfect products to fit our spaces. We want desk chairs with adequate back support, keyboards that feel nice under our fingers, and storage to help us transition our spaces through their different uses. Things like rugs help us to feel cozy while high quality resilient flooring allows us to go from pillow forts to at home yoga with ease.All the change of the past year has forced us to adapt our homes to fit this “new normal”. As we adjust, we’ve curated spaces that fit our personal styles and needs and allow us to truly enjoy the spaces we inhabit.Our home office designs have come to reflect who we are and what we value in life, adding an extra layer of comfort to our days by reminding us what we’re working for. Stylish, durable, and functional products paired with organization and comfort pieces make our lives easier and help our space to work for us. While our needs are constantly evolving, one thing we can be certain of is that the need for a home office is not going away.

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