Speedy Blog

The Best Flooring for Your Florida Room

sun room in house with furniture

Living in the sunshine state has plenty of perks for Florida residents. Many Florida homes feature sunrooms, or also known as “Florida rooms.” These spaces typically include panoramic windows to let in as much sunlight as possible. They differ from screened-in porches, as Florida rooms are climate controlled, interior rooms while screened-in porches are outdoor areas enclosed to prevent pests from getting in.

Considerations

Because of the increased sunlight, your Florida room will require different needs when compared to the rest of your home, especially when it comes to your flooring. Plus, if your sunroom serves as a point of entry from the outside, you may want to consider a waterproof option.
Best Flooring Options for Your Sunroom
You may be considering adding or upgrading your current Florida room flooring. To help you pick the right choice, we’ve highlighted our top four picks for sunroom floors.

Carpet

Carpet is a great option for a Florida room because it can make the room feel extremely cozy and it’s cost-effective. Carpet is also excellent at temperature control because it will not become too hot in the exposed sunlight. In the colder winters, it will retain heat better,

Read more »

Glazed vs. Unglazed Tiles: Which Should I Choose?

Tile is one of the most popular flooring options due to its durability and variety of options. Having a wide selection of options when choosing a tile can be overwhelming. We’ve broken it down to the most common forms: glazed and unglazed tiles.

The Difference Between Glazed and Unglazed Tiles

The difference between glazed and unglazed tiles really comes down to whether or not an enamel liquid is added to the clay tile before it is heated in a kiln. This small action actually creates many differences in the look, feel, and maintenance of tiles.

Glazed Tiles

Glazed, in this case, does not mean that the tiles are always shiny or glossy. Glazed isn’t the appearance of the tile, rather, it’s the process the tile underwent. Glazed tiles have liquid glass applied to the tile right before it goes into a kiln. Glazed tiles can come in matte or gloss finishes.

Benefits

Glazed tiles have many benefits that make them the most popular option for tile flooring. One of the biggest reasons homeowners choose glazed over unglazed is the fact that glazed tiles are non-absorbent their entire life. They are easier to maintain and won’t fade over time because of their protective sealant.

Read more »

Should I Add New Flooring Before Selling My Home?

dining room set in home with carpet

If you are looking to sell your home right now or in the near future, you want to minimize costs while also maximizing the selling price. Some upgrades aren’t necessary when looking to increase your home’s resale value. Flooring, however, is one of the most effective ways to make your home more attractive to potential buyers while also increasing your home’s value.

Analyze Your Current Flooring Before Selling

Before you make the decision to remove and replace your flooring, take a look at all of your flooring. If your floors appear to have no scratches or scuffs, you probably won’t need to replace them. You’ll need to look very closely at the carpet in your home because carpet shows signs of wear and staining more than other types of flooring. Also, if your flooring has almost reached the end of its useful life, consider replacing it because if not, your new buyers will have to, and they won’t want to.

Lastly, you’ll need to consider the market your home will be entering once you are ready to sell. New flooring in a home is largely decided on the neighborhood and how competitive your area is.

Read more »

How to Protect Your Home’s Flooring During the Holiday Season

decorated living room during christmas

The holiday season is packed with fun opportunities to relax, see friends and family, give and receive gifts, and celebrate. While the holiday season may hold great things in store, your floor may be susceptible to greater damage.

The Holidays are Tough on Your Floors

You may have friends and family visiting you during the holidays, which is always a treat! But more people in your home will cause your floor to receive more traffic, have opportunities for damage, and be exposed to more outdoor elements.

Five Ways to Protect Your Floors During the Holidays

You don’t have to cancel your holiday parties or decline hosting your family this Christmas in order to save your floors. We have five helpful ways to ensure that you can enjoy your holidays while also protecting your flooring!

Ensure That Your Furniture Has Protection

If you are hosting Christmas dinner or entertaining for a holiday get-together, your guests will most likely need to move around chairs. You may even need to arrange furniture to fit the needs of your party. If you have hardwood or tile flooring, you should ensure that your furniture won’t scuff the floor beneath when you are moving and rearranging.

Read more »

Best Flooring for Your Commercial Spaces

office space with desk

Whether you have a large restaurant or a small office, choosing flooring for your commercial space takes hours of research and planning. Different areas of your workspace will call for different flooring needs, such as durability or water resistance. We’re here to help you decide which flooring will serve your business best depending on a variety of factors.

How to Pick Flooring for Your Office and Commercial Space

Before we break down the best commercial flooring options, we first need to discuss the different aspects of flooring you need to consider. Just like when you choose to install flooring into your home, you’ll need to consider a few different things before you make your final decision.

Criteria for Floor Selection

  • Room Use: You’ll first need to decide on the different areas of your business that will call for different flooring needs. For example, lobbies will have different needs than a commercial kitchen.
  • Level of Traffic: You should also consider how much traffic these floors will receive. A conference room won’t require as durable of a surface compared to the front waiting room where everyone will have to walk through.

Read more »

How to Pick the Right Tile Size for Your Floors

dark tiles

Tile flooring is a popular choice for flooring because it’s built to last and comes in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes to fit your taste. Having so many tile options to choose from can overwhelm homeowners. Between styles, finishes, and sizes, it can be hard to pinpoint the right tile for your home.

Different Sized Tiles for Different Tastes

While we can’t recommend one style of tile over another, we can offer guidance when it comes to which tile size is right for your specific space. We’ve broken it down into two broad classifications of tile sizes: large and small.

Large Tiles

large white marble tiles

Tiles that are 8”x8” or bigger are classified as large floor tiles. These tiles make a big statement in your home and come with added benefits including:

  • Expand a Room: Large tiles actually make your smaller room feel much larger than it actually is. This is because there are fewer grout lines in your floor, therefore visually expanding the room without having to knock down any walls. This is ideal for small bathrooms, powder rooms, foyers, or any other areas that are smaller than your liking.

Read more »

Tile Cracking? How to Remedy the Problem

pastel colored tile floor

Tile flooring is an attractive flooring choice in your home because of its aesthetics along with its durability. You may wonder why your durable flooring choice suddenly shows cracks. Before you can fix the problem, you first have to understand why the cracks occurred.

Why Your Tile Floor is Cracking

Your tile floor can last over 50 years with proper care, but it is susceptible to damage from things above and below the floor. We’ve outlined common reasons why your tile floor is cracking.

Heavy Items Delivering Sharp Blows

Many tile cracks occur in your kitchen because of the large appliances you need to cook, clean, and for storage. Appliances like fridges and dishwashers may be heavy, but tile is engineered to withstand their weight because it is evenly distributed in the four corners.

When you are moving appliances, you run the risk of delivering a sharp blow to your tile flooring. These drops cause serious damage to your tile, resulting in cracks and even deep chips. If you are having your appliances removed or installed, be sure that a professional is handling your appliances.

Concrete Cracking Below

concrete floor

Your tile may be perfectly safe on the outside,

Read more »

Which Flooring is Best for My Lifestyle?

When it comes time to install flooring, style isn’t the only factor to consider when choosing between options. Your lifestyle largely affects how long your flooring will last and how much upkeep is required to maintain it.

Lifestyle Affects Floor Maintenance

Your floor, arguably, receives the most wear and tear out of all the aspects in your home. Spills, damage, shoe scuffs, and tracked-in dirt threaten the look and functionality of your flooring. Depending on your unique lifestyle habits, you need a floor that can withstand your habits.

Factors that Determine Best Flooring

Before you fall in love with a certain flooring choice, you must consider these factors:

  • Traffic Level: If you constantly have people coming in going in your home, your floors will receive a lot more wear and tear. High traffic areas like the entryway and living room will have a lot of traffic, so it’s best to choose flooring that can take the heightened activity levels.
  • How Often You Entertain: Hosting parties and get-togethers in your home can put a strain on your flooring. Messes are inevitable when more people are invited into your home. If you plan on hosting often,

Read more »

The Average Lifespan of Your Flooring

hardwood flooring painted white

It’s only natural that your flooring will wear out over time. Maybe you installed flooring a long time ago or you’ve inherited an older home with flooring you didn’t choose, which begs the question: how do you know when you should replace your floor?

What Determines How Long Your Floor Will Last?

Aside from obvious stains and damage, your floor’s expiration date depends on the material it is made up of. Every material lasts for different lengths of time. However, the material used is just one indicator of how long your floor will hold up. Other factors include:

  • Quality of the material
  • If your flooring was properly installed
  • The amount of traffic that your floor experiences
  • If you are maintaining it regularly

The Lifespan of Common Flooring Materials

The lifespan of materials can’t be exactly predicted. Rather, there’s a range for each type of flooring’s lifespan. If you are properly maintaining your floor and minimizing the amount of damage it’s exposed to, your floor will tend to last longer.

Hardwood

dark brown hardwood floor

Hardwood flooring can last a lifetime,

Read more »

Anatomy of Flooring: What Are the Components of Your Floors

When it comes to your floors, there is a lot more than meets the eye. In the same way, when it comes time to remove your flooring, you have to ensure that each layer is properly taken care of to ensure a smooth installation of your new floors.

Every Part of Your Floor Matters

Each of the layers in your flooring matters and has a significant purpose to the stability and function of your floor. If one layer is installed or removed incorrectly, it throws off the entire structure of your floor as well as the overall look. This can lead to more money spent to correct the oversight.

Components of Your Floor

When you look at your floors, you may only think of the one layer that you see. Like the ground you stand on, there are several layers underneath the top one that ensures the stability and function of your floor.

Joists

At the very bottom of the layers that make up your floors is what we call joists. Think of these as the bones of your flooring. They are used to frame the layer that will sit upon your home’s foundation.

Read more »

MENU