Get in the Groove or Go with the Grain, a Quick Brief on Different Flooring

In a past post, it was colors. Today its about flooring. Everyone at one point or another has thought about updating, changing, or redoing their flooring. And...everyone has their niche of what they have fallen in love with. Today we're going to fly through several of them and hopefully give you something to think about when you choose your next flooring option.  With advances in technology some of these flooring types have actually blurred. Remember with your flooring, make it something you'll like, something that will match your home, and something you can take care of.

First up on the list, the omnipresent Hardwoods
Natural and durable, hardwoods come in a multitude of colors and types and blend into almost any home. Maple, Pine, Cherry, Ash, Hickory, and Oak just to name a few varieties. More reclaimed woods have been coming onto the market in recent years. They can be refinished many times over giving that sharp quality look.

Manufactured/Engineered woods
For all intents and purposes, these are still considered wood flooring. The top layers are wood backed by other mixed construction layers. These are usually glued or snapped into place. Some have made the snapping process so easy that you can do it yourself.  Do it yourself wood floors, who would have thought of that years ago.  Still though better to let the professional do it in case any mishaps occur. This flooring can be finished once or twice at most, but not recommended if you don't know the surface wood layer's depth.

Bamboo
This has been increasing in popularity and even be seen here in the Tennessee Valley already. Not a hardwood, but it is more accurately in the same classification as grass. These planks are glued together are are durable. Also the setting of the grain will each result in a different look.

Laminate
Low maintenance, the plastic coated photograph of wood layered on plywood or fiber backing can be a low cost alternative to hardwoods that can still show off a nice clean look with a great sheen.

Linoleum
Usually coming as sheets for easy glue down with materials that include linseed oil and cork, linoleum is often seen in wet areas. Can have a protective coating for stain resistance. Due to the lowering costs of other types of flooring, we have seen a decline in linoleum areas in homes we have shown.

Ceramic Tile
Ceramic tile, the do it all substance which can blend in easily from wet areas to outdoor mosaics to terracotta rooftops. Made from shale and clay baked in a kiln for a certain time period. Although since it can come in style from simple blank tiles to complicated mosaic forms the cost of this varies greatly. A few varieties include glazed, quarried, porcelain, terracotta, and glossy.

Stone
That natural, earthen, and literally rock hard substance which can really give you that fantastic first impression when entering a home. Most popular include granite, limestone, marble, slate, travertine, and sandstone. Also makes an excellent finishing touch for wet areas.

Vinyl
Resilient. Durable. Low maintenance. Less expensive than other flooring, vinyl has come a long way from being the plain sheet glue down. Now it can be textured to mimic wood or stone. Most vinyl seen today will reside in wet areas.

Just quick info on each. For more information on costs, installation, and any other questions please feel free to contact your local flooring companies.

A few local companies include: James Carpets, Kemps Flooring, Carpet One, Flooring America, Haley's Flooring, One on One, and Rock Bottom Carpets. If you know of any more companies that people can contact be sure to leave a comment below for people to see.

Today's Tidbit: Always contact a professional for any type of floor work, repairs or upgrades. Also sometimes, your flooring may be just fine and just need a good cleaning or finishing with appropriate products. Talk to the professional floor experts and get their opinion, it never hurts to ask.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

What's Huntsville planning and its vision?

More often than not we see stagnation in the local media where not much is discussed on future planning and a vision of what needs to be done to make sure the city and local surrounding areas are on the right course.

For a while now, we have been dissecting and processing information from two valuable sites from the city. One is an overall broad vision and one is user input thoughts on what to do or improve.  Each one is worth reading through and filtering out the information you have the most interest. Be careful as you can go on information overload in some places due to the large documents the city has put out. The sites are Big Picture Huntsville and Imagine Huntsville.

Information in Big Picture Huntsville is segmented and is pretty easy to keep reading along as it flows very well. As always though, these are visions and plans, always subject to change as we have seen in the past so don't take anything as concrete. Just suggestions on what could possibly be done and making the road map as the city moves along.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Home Tips

Just a few tips for a homeowner to think about or remember.

If going away for a while remember to have someone keep an eye on your house for security, but also the lawn. Don't let the house look derelict.

After a rain and showers, take a look if there is standing water in the crawlspace afterwards. Is it well ventilated so there won't be a constant water presence. Contact a home inspector, contractor, etc for additional help in what to do if the water becomes a mainstay.

Make sure the surrounding area of a HVAC unit is clear and any near shrubs are pruned to give the unit ample space.

Remember to change your air filters routinely, no good letting pollen particles freely floating around the house.

Power wash the driveway and sidewalk, after months on end of collecting dust, dirt, and anything else its nice to see the brightness underneath after a good cleaning.

Let your sinks run and check if there's any leaks underneath in the cabinets. Sometimes we don't see what's right in front of us or below us.

Set an important date for the replacement of batteries in smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. Jan 1 or July 4, or even Oct 31. Pick a day you'll remember and it'll be come routine.

Clean your windows, yes exterior as well as interior. Its nearly Summer and time to get all the natural light in.

Remember to keep the blades on the lawnmower not too low, we've seen many a commercial lawn cutting service burn grass by cutting way too deep.

Everyone have a great Memorial Day!


Today's Tip: Remember the 2014 Cotton Row Run is Monday, so everyone go on and cheer the runners.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

What's going on with the apartment renovations along South Parkway?

Much like when The Springs apartments were taken over and changed into Huntsville Parc, The Renaissance at Memorial (next to Martin Road) was purchased in 2013 by Panther Properties and changed to Fern Parc apartments.  The entire complex is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation which can be easily viewed when driving Southbound on Memorial Parkway.

Panther Properties has made a large push in the past few years into the Apartment Real Estate Market according to its press releases.

Hopefully, Panther Properties with Huntsville Parc and Fern Parc and the new renovations there, will become a good partner in providing great apartments for people to live as well as to the community.  Everyone looks forward to seeing what the finished product will look like.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

A Little Early but...Happy Mother's Day

After a wonderful Panoply two weeks ago, oh and a special shout out to the wonderful vendors of Moe's Grill. They had wonderful service and fantastic food that was filled to the brim of the take out boxes.  That with wonderful entertainment including something for the children in the form of Dr. Osborne.  Just a great time all around.

This Sunday we have Mother's Day coming up.  Right now the team is running full speed ahead and wanted to send out a Happy Mother's Day to everyone if there wasn't time later.

(photo taken by Carol Jacobs team)

Everyone have a safe and wonderful Mother's Day and enjoy time with the family.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

This weekend 4/25-4/27 is Panoply 2014!

That's right, Panoply is back once again. And for how great 2013 was for this event (several team members took home some great artwork), we can't wait to see what's available this year.

Dates and Times:

• April 25 Friday: from 5:00 - 9:00 p.m.
• April 26 Saturday: from 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
• April 27 Sunday: from 12:00 - 7:00 p.m

An updating schedule of the stage activity can be found at al.com.
Also per al.com: "Advance tickets ($7.50 per day) for Panoply 2014 are available online via artshuntsville.org until April 25. At the gate, daily admission is $10. Kids 12 and under admitted for free."

Information on the Beer & Wine Tent.

WHNT's coverage of Panoply.

Information from The Arts Council website on Panoply.

Information on Downtown Huntsville Road Closures during Panoply.

We hope to see you there!

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Painting Dark Colors on Your Walls, Does it Matter?

Easy answer...of course it matters. Depending on what colors you use and in what location, you could have an entirely different feel and sight than you started with, for better or worse.

Now we've seen interior decorators pump up the volume on using more bold colors in different rooms. More Red, More Blue, More Forest Green.  Some of them don't go into detail of how or the whys, just that it goes with particular woods, or furniture looks.  But we'll leave their whys and hows to the decorators themselves. Let's talk about color and location.

There's nothing wrong with bold sweeping colors. Want your Reds, Blues, Purples? That's great, but the deep colors can't stand alone. They need help.  In some larger rooms, these colors may be able to pull it off.  Remember though these dark colors can make a room smaller if there is not enough light to accompany them.  When there is lots of light, these dark colors can glow beautifully. However, in unlit rooms, these dark walls can shrink a room even more so with lots of furniture. There are many times where you have a 10 X 10 bedroom that has been cut down to feeling  4 X 4 with a dark complexion, one window, and a small reading lamp.  If this is a preference then that's great, enjoy what you feel works best for you.  If you choose to use dark colors, let make them come to life and really grab family, friends, and guests and make them go WOW!

A Great Example of deep colors with great lighting making the colors pop out.

A Grand Example of those deep purples enhanced by more light.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes