ROUTINE MAINTENANCE FOR LAMINATE FLOORING

Sweeping and an occasional cleaning with a dusting mop, using the manufacturers recommended cleaner, is all you need to do. Never allow the floor to stay wet; slight moisture with a recommended cleaning product is all you will ever need. Do not use soap-based detergents, as they may leave a dull finish on your floor. Laminate flooring, like other smooth floors, can become slippery when damp. Allow time for floors to dry after cleaning. Immediately wipe up wet areas from spills, foreign substances, or wet feet.

Floor Coverings International, 4707 NE Minnehaha, Ste. #307, Vancouver, WA 98661 – 503-292-5833 ~ 360-571-5731

ROUTINE MAINTENANCE FOR HARDWOOD FLOORING

Sweep or vacuum the floor regularly to keep it clean and free of dust, sand and other abrasive materials. Place area rugs or doormats at entryways to help prevent sand grit, oils, dirt and other abrasive or staining materials from being tracked onto the floor surface from outdoors. (Avoid rubber-backed or similarly dense matting materials that may trap moisture between the mat and the floor; choose mats that enable airflow.) Place protective mats at high-use work areas such as sinks, ranges and workstations. Protect the floor from any exposure to liquids, water and other forms of moisture. Blot up any spilled food, drink or other liquid immediately. Never wet mop the floor when cleaning. Avoid walking on the floor with wet feet or footwear. Hardwood flooring will naturally undergo a change in color as it adjusts to the ambient light conditions of your home environment. The degree of color change varies by species. To ensure a uniform change, it is recommended that you do not place area rugs on the new floor for sixty days after installation. Thereafter, periodic re-arrangement of furniture and area rugs will help ensure that your flooring colors evenly. Put felt protector pads on the feet of all furniture and accessories that will be placed directly onto the floor surface. Avoid letting sharp or pointed objects come into contact with the floor surface. Do not walk on the floor with high heeled shoes, sports cleats, or other types of footwear which may damage the finish or cause indentations to the surface. Pets’ nails will scratch and mark the floor surface. Keep pets’ nails trimmed to minimize damage to the surface. Do not drag, push or roll appliances, furniture or any heavy object across the floor. Use heavy duty moving mats, dollies, or other moving aids to protect the floor surface. Cleaning: Routine sweeping or vacuuming will keep the floor clear of most dust, grit and debris. For more thorough cleaning, use a wood floor cleaning solution approved for use with your hardwood flooring Follow the product instructions. Do not use any household cleaners, oils, soaps, waxes or any abrasive materials or scouring agents on the floor. Do not use any wax or cleaner that must be mixed with water, such as oil soap, as this may ruin your floor. Failure to follow these floor care instructions may void your floor’s warranty.

Floor Coverings International, 4707 NE Minnehaha, #307, Vancouver, WA 98661 – 360-571-5731

ROUTINE MAINTENANCE FOR CERAMIC TILE

Floors
Vacuuming or sweeping will remove most dirt from interior tile floors. Occasional damp mopping with clear water will remove most dirt that is tracked in. A neutral cleaner will break down grease and oil but should only be used if needed. All excess residues should be removed and rinsed with clear water. One of the most common problems people have is using a cleaner but not removing the cleaning solution from the floor. Glazed tiles and most porcelain tiles will not absorb anything. Paint, nail polish and even most glue can be removed with the appropriate solvent without harming the tile—just clean off the solvent residue. Some tiles can be damaged with acids, such as lemon juice. Use cleaning products that state they are acid-free and wipe up acidic spills immediately. Cement-based grout will deteriorate from exposure to acids and some cleaners contain enough acid to damage grout with repeated use. Any cleaner that promises to remove mineral spots or even soap scum without scrubbing probably contains acid and will damage grout with repeated usage. If it does not say “acid-free”, use with caution. A few tiles are very rough, usually to give them increased slip resistance. Even though these tiles cannot be stained, dirt can get trapped in crevices and be difficult to remove by vacuuming or damp mopping. In these cases, a soft brush can be used with a neutral cleaner and water to loosen the dirt, which should then be removed with a sponge mop or wet/dry vacuum.

Counters
Kitchen counters get oil, mild acids and every color of staining material imaginable on a daily basis, so picking a good tile, grout and sealer, as well as getting a good installation are very important. The larger the tile and the smaller the grout joint, the easier it will be to keep a counter looking like new. Medium colors and a little texture are also easier to keep looking good, dark shiny tiles will show streaks. Finally, white grout will almost certainly discolor over time in a kitchen; a little color will make your life easier. If you follow these simple rules you can have tile counters that are not only beautiful and long lasting, but easy to maintain as well. Floor rated tiles are recommended for kitchen counters because they are impact and scratch resistant. Avoid rough textures—they will make cleaning more difficult. With good tile and small sealed grout joints, a clean dishrag will clean off nearly anything. Use soap for greasy spills and then rinse out the dishrag and remove the residue. Dark tiles will require a pass with a dry towel to remove water streaks. After preparing meat, fish or poultry, it’s good to use a highly diluted bleach solution to kill bacteria on counters and breadboards. When you see grout joints begin to darken when they get wet, it’s time to re-seal them. With a good sealer, once very few months will be as often as needed.

Walls
After showering, rinse off the walls with clear water. Soap scum and body oils will rinse of easily before they dry but will be hard to clean if they build up. Occasional cleaning with a neutral cleaner will keep things looking good with minimal effort. The best way to prevent mold and mildew is to use an exhaust fan during and after showers and keep shower doors open. With constant heat and moisture, mold will grow on anything, but good ventilation and a fairly simple cleaning schedule will usually keep it from being a problem. Sealing the grout will help keep mold out and occasional bleach- based cleaners can be used, but repeated use of bleach will also lead to grout damage over time. Using exhaust fans will also help prevent mold growing in other places, including your attic and in your walls, so make them a priority and make your life easier.

Floor Coverings International, 4704 NE Minnehaha, #307, Vancouver, WA. 98661 – 360-571-5731

CARPET CARE
There are a few things that may happen to your carpet after it is installed. They are nothing to be concerned about and can be easily cured. Follow these tips for care and cleaning of your carpet.
You may experience these things:

Shedding
Most carpets retain some loose fibers after they leave the mill or store. These fibers often appear as balls of fluff on the surface of your carpet or in your vacuum cleaner. With time, they will work their way out of the carpet and no longer be a nuisance. Shedding primarily occurs with cut pile carpets.

Sprouting
Occasionally, loose tufts will appear above the carpet surface. To remove the loose tufts, clip them to be even with the carpet’s surface. DO NOT PULL OUT LOOSE ENDS! If you do, you will permanently damage the carpet.

Shading
You may notice some variations in the color of your carpet – one area may seem to change color when you look at it from different directions. This is because light reflects differently as the pile is pushed in a variety of directions. Foot traffic generally causes this to happen and the best solution is to sweep or vacuum the pile in a uniform direction. Shading is impossible to eliminate in some cut pile styles, and is part of the character of velvets and saxonies.

Rippling
During times of high humidity, your carpet might experience some slight rippling. This situation usually resolves itself as the carpet settles. If the problem persists, please call your flooring retailer.

The New Carpet Smell
Like new cars, some new carpets have a “new carpet smell.” It is nothing to be concerned about and usually goes away within a week, sometimes within days. There are some things that you can do to minimize the smell. Most importantly, be sure to ventilate the area as much as possible. You should open the doors and windows. Use fans to keep the air circulating during installation and for up to 72 hours afterwards. Take advantage of your heating or air conditioning fans, if you have them. You should also vacuum your carpet often to help remove the odor.

Static Electricity
When your home’s relative humidity is low, a static charge can build up in your carpet as you walk across it. If you touch something made of metal, you get zapped. There are commercially available products you can apply to your carpet to reduce or eliminate static electric build-up. Patience is also a good remedy. Your carpet will hold less of a charge as time goes by. Most nylon fibers are pre-treated to reduce static electric build-up.

Crushing
Your carpet will display crushing in spots where heavy objects have been placed. To raise the pile back to its former height, you may have to do some vigorous brushing. You can also try passing a hot steam iron over the indentations — but bring the iron no closer than 6 inches above the carpet. Be sure to contact your sales professional or manufacturer of your carpet to avoid nullifying your warranty.

How to Keep Your Carpet in Great Shape
Your new carpet will bring you much satisfaction in the years to come, but only if you keep it in great shape. Here are a few tips to make your relationship with your carpet a long and happy one.

Vacuuming is Key
Vacuuming is key to keeping your new carpet looking new. Dirt and grit embedded in the pile will affect your carpet’s color and cause matting, so you’ll want to vacuum heavy-traffic areas every day if possible. Less heavily used areas can be maintained with once-a-week vacuuming. Vacuum about three passes for light cleaning, and up to seven passes where there is more soil. For best results, a high suction vacuum cleaner with a beater bar or rotating brush should be used according to the manufacturer’s directions. Make sure you adjust the attachment to the proper height for your carpet. For loop pile carpet, avoid attachments with teeth or ridges.

Shampooing
Vacuuming won’t always take care of your carpet cleaning needs. Sometimes you need to do a little heavy duty cleaning to get your carpet looking like new again. Many different types of carpet cleaners are commercially available, including dry cleaners, spray-on foam cleaners and wet shampoo. Because there is a chance that these can damage your carpet and invalidate your warranties, please call us to check which cleaning method is best for your particular fiber and carpet. The best method, however, is to hire a professional carpet cleaner to give your carpets a thorough cleaning. When you decide to have your carpet cleaned professionally, choose the carpet cleaner with the same care you’d take in maintaining any major investment. Don’t be afraid to ask your carpet cleaner for a reference or a firm estimate. And don’t hesitate to call us for a recommendation.

Give It a Rest!
Redistributing the load your carpet bears can lengthen its life. So, rearrange your furniture periodically to give some areas of your carpet a rest.

Warranty and Required Maintenance
Regular carpet care and routine maintenance are essential to maintaining your warranty coverage. Over time, normal foot traffic and soiling will cause a change in any carpet’s appearance. Hot water extraction, either alone or in combination with cleaning, is required to maintain your warranty. The service must be performed by a trained carpet care professional every one and a half to two years to refresh the texture and rejuvenate the fibers in your carpet. You must retain your receipts for proof of maintenance service, should a warranty claim arise.
Do not use hot water extraction with natural fibers. It may cause fading or shrinkage of wool or sisal. Each fiber manufacturer has its own definitions and limitations regarding stain, soil and static resistance. Abnormal matting, crushing or loss of texture retention from normal foot traffic is defined by the standard rating scales and definitions set forth by each fiber manufacturer.

Things to Have Handy
The following solutions should be kept handy for treating spills and stains.
Detergent: Mix 1/2 teaspoon clear dishwashing detergent with 1 cup warm (not hot) water.
Pre-Soak Solution: Mix 1 teaspoon enzyme laundry detergent (such as Axion, Biz, or others) with 1 cup water.
Hydrogen Peroxide: Mix 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide (3% strength available in drugstores) with 1 teaspoon of household ammonia. Use within two hours of mixing.
Ammonia: Undiluted household ammonia.
Dry Powder Cleaner: Powdered carpet cleaner.
Dry Cleaning Solvent: Non-oily, non-caustic type sold for spot removal for garments.

Floor Coverings International, 4707 NE Minnehaha, Ste. 307, Vancouver, WA. 98661 – 360-571-5731

My clients range from  the corporate CEO to the 16-year-old home user.  At one time or another, they all have the same concern:  how do I get rid of spyware and adware from my computer?   I show them how and explain that preventing these damaging pests is easier than removing them. Taking a few proactive steps can save many hours of headache.

What is spyware and adware?

Spyware is software that sends your personal information to a third party without your permission or knowledge, including information about web sites you visit or even your user names and passwords. Often, this information is used to send you unsolicited targeted advertisements.

Adware is software that displays advertisements on your computer that randomly pop up on your screen, even when you’re not online.  Some companies provide “free” software in exchange for advertising on your display.  Companies generate profit this way.

Checking your computer

Many people may not notice spyware or adware but do notice a gradual slowdown in the performance of their computer.  Also, programs like Internet Explorer might not work properly anymore or your computer might hang more frequently.  Checking your computer and removing unwanted installations is straightforward but can be tricky if the infection is bad enough.  Specially-designed software can help detect and remove spyware and adware. I often recommend Adaware SE Personal from Lavasoft (www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware), which is free for individual users.  Update the software regularly as you do antivirus software to make sure the scanning engine is up to date.  If the spyware keeps coming back, the computer’s Registry could have entries that re-install the software at each reboot;  pesky stuff!  I recommend consulting a professional if cleaning the Registry is necessary, as changes made to the Registry can cripple the functionality of the computer and personal data can be lost.  Removing spyware successfully is difficult enough to make preventing it a priority. 

Protecting and preventing infections

Adware and spyware usually install on your computer covertly by using one of two methods:

1) Tricking you into clicking a link that installs it.  For example, a web site that’s trying to install spyware onto your computer might open a window that looks like a Windows dialog box, and then trick you by installing when you click a cancel button to close the dialog box.

2) Installing free software that includes it.  For example, you might install a free file-sharing program that installs spyware on your computer without notifying you.  Other culprits are the gambling sites that ask to install software on your computer in order to work with their site.  Make sure the programs you install don’t contain adware.  Many free programs do;  that’s how the publishers make their money.  Read the license agreement (theseare usually shown directly or through links as part of the installation process) and check the publisher’s website carefully.  If an unexpected installation window appears, stop the installation by closing the window.  Even if you have to shut down the computer by holding the power button down, do not let the installation finish!  A more advanced approach is to search Google Groups for the name of the program  and the keywords adware or spyware.  If you don’t find any postings about it, then you’re probably OK.  You can also install a blocker to prevent adware and spyware pop-up windows.  Most spyware installs after you click a deceptive link in a pop-up browser window.  Install a blocker, and you won’t even be tempted to click those links.  I recommend using a free pop-up blocker from Google (www.google.com/toolbar), which even keeps track of the number of pop-ups it has blocked. As long as there are computers, advertisers will tryto make money by tracking what you do and targeting advertising to you through the internet.  Now that you have a better understanding of spyware and adware and, most importantly, how to prevent its installation, you can check your computer for it, and  you are on your way to a more trouble-free computer experience. 

Still having trouble after following Tony’s steps (or don’t even want to TRY it yourself)?   Call Home Services and we’ll help you get in touch with my SbSa!

503-626-0393  1-877-849-8898  WWW.PRU-NW.COM  HOMESERVICES@PRU-NW.COM

An annual check-up can prevent minor problems from becoming major headaches

Properly installed asphalt and cedar roofing willprovide years of protection. The homeownercan ensure maximum roof performance byinspecting annually to evaluate its condition anddetect potential problems before major damage occurs.The best time for an inspection isin the spring after the severe weatherconditions have abated. Many of theseobservations can be made from theground with binoculars or from a ladder.Getting on your roof can be dangerous and can damage some types of roofs, so be sure to contact a professional to determine what owner maintenance can be done safely based on your roof’s construction, materials, and pitch.

What to look for

■ Check inside the attic and inspect the roof sheathing for evidence of leaking such as water stains. Walk around the house and inspect the overhangs. Check your roof for visible signs of wear. Over time, composition(fiberglass) roofs begin to lose their granules and become brittle. Cedar shakes become vulnerable when the shake liner felt breaks down from being exposed tothe sun and weather.

■ Remove overhanging tree branches and leaves from the roof. Trimmed trees prevent branches from scuffing roof surface. A clean roof prevents debris dams that can force water to back up and cause leaks, and reduces the risk of fire. Keep climbing roses, vines, andivy trimmed away from the roof.

■ Clean gutters and downspouts. Clogged gutters fill with water and the extra weight causes them to pull away from the house, allowing water to flow betweenthe gutters and the house.

■ Inspect metal flashing at the edges of the roof and around penetrations like chimneys, plumbing pipes,and roof vents to ensure it is sealed and secured.

■ Look for exposed nails or staples that have worked their way through asphalt shingles.

■ Remove as much moss from the roof as is practical. Unobstructed water flow on low-slope roofs is especially critical because water drains slowly, creating a greater possibility of water back-up and damage to roof sheathing. Moss growing in the spaces between shingles can cause water to flow sideways under shingle courses and a slow saturating type leak can develop.

■ Treat area of roof that develops moss with a moss inhibitor.

■ Replace or repair any damaged or missing shingles or shakes.

■ Check your roof to make sure you have enough roof vents. Good ventilation is essential in the space behind the roof deck to prevent moisture-laden air from being trapped. If inadequate ventilation is provided, roof sheathing may buckle and shingles will blister. Mold and mildew may develop in the attic. A good rule of thumb is 1 1/2 vents per 100 square feet of roof surface. Proper soffit vents and roof vents provide good cross flow ventilation. For more information and pictures of roofing problems, visit our website at www.realestateroofing.com.

Just as soon stay off that ladder? Give us a call at Home Services and we’ll get you in touch with RealEstate Roofing Services.

503-626-0393  1-877-849-8898  WWW.PRU-NW.COM  HOMESERVICES@ PRU-NW.COM