Over time it is natural for carpet to experience wear and tear from every day living. We have some quick and easy solutions to common issues that will get your carpet looking like new again. Before trying any of the following solutions or any other carpet maintenance type, we suggest checking the carpet care instructions provided by your manufacturer to see what they recommend.

1. Snags: If a pet’s claw, a child toy, or any other sharp object hooks on the fibres and creates a small snag. Using a pair of scissors, clip the snag as close to the carpet base as possible.

2. Dents: Heavy pieces of furniture can cause dents or indentations in your carpet but they can be removed. Work the carpet pile back into place using your fingers tips or a spoon. Use a hair dryer to raise the tufts and gently pull up the tufts.

3. Shedding: Happens often with new cut pile carpets and can be removed by vacuuming. Shedding will gradually disappear within a few weeks or months, depending on how often you vacuum.

4. Pilling: It’s not just your sweaters that experience pilling. With certain carpets, heavy traffic can create little balls of tangled fibres and lints. To remove them, clip them with scissors.

5. Burns: If your carpet has a small burn, you can remove the darkened fibres using a pair of curved fingernail scissors. But if the burn is too extensive, you will have to consider patching or replacement.

6. Sprouts: With cut pile carpet, small tufts or sprouts rise up above the surface of the carpet. Please don’t pull the sprout out. Instead, cut it off with a pair of scissors.

7. Crushed Pile: When your carpet pile is crushed and matted, bring it back to life by vacuum with a beater bar vacuum or using a carpet rake.

It’s been a busy month at MIRA, but that hasn’t stopped the team from having fun. Lyndon, Kevin, and James participated in Movember, a cause they were thrilled to donate to. If you aren’t familiar with the event, Movember is a moustache growing charity event held every November to raise money for men’s health. Find out more on the Movember website.

The results:

Photos have surfaced from the Grey Cup weekend of James (top right) and Kevin (bottom right) supporting their hometown of Winnipeg. The Blue Bombers suffered 23-34 defeat, but that didn’t stop the pair from enjoying the game.

Hardwood floors are a great choice to consider when renovating your space. They are a timeless and elegant option that adds value to your home. Solid and engineered hardwood flooring are the two main types of hardwood. Both types are made from wood and look the same once installed – can you tell the if the photo to the left is engineered or solid? But there are some differences between them in how they are manufactured and their features.

Solid Hardwood
As its name suggests, solid hardwood is milled from wood. It can be sanded and finished many times to stay in pristine condition. Solid hardwood is not recommended for rooms where moisture from daily activities or the ground could damage the floor. This includes kitchens, bathrooms, and any areas below grade such as basements. Homeowners should be prepared for solid flooring to expand and contract as moisture changes in each season.

Engineered Hardwood
Each plank of engineered hardwood is made up of multiple sheets of either hardwood, fibreboard or plywood laminated together with a final layer of hardwood on top. Each layer is put on top of each other in the opposite direction to create a dimensionally stable floor. Using this method called “cross-ply construction” creates a dimensionally stable floor that withstands changes in moisture better than solid hardwood. It is suited to kitchens, bathrooms, or basements. Engineered floors can even be sanded and refinished.

In addition to your budget and personal preference, consider the rooms you will be installing hardwood in before making your flooring decision. The research is worth it when the end result is a beautiful hardwood floor for generations to come.

Our highlight of the month of October was the Vancouver Home + Design Show. All members of our sales team had a chance to be at the booth and meet with new customers. Our featured supplier for the event was Creative at Home. We always receive great feedback from customers on their products at every event we show their products at. Their hand crafted wide plank hardwood makes a lasting impression.

Home shows and conferences are our favourite events (Aside from hockey games. But those aren’t flooring related!). Our plans for November, include exhibiting at the BC Non Profit Housing Association Conference.
Know of a home show or industry conference you think we should be at? Tell us about it!

We’re excited to say that we now carry cork and vinyl floors from Cork Art! With the new display in our showroom, we’ve been asked a lot of questions about this lesser known flooring option. Here’s 5 main reasons why you’ll love cork floors in your home:

1. Comfortable
Cork Art floors have forty million cells per cubic centimetre that are filled with air. These cells allow the floor to reduce the conduction of temperature and sound. Your cork floors will stay warm and comfortable underfoot and reduce noise.

2. Healthy
If you love the warmth of carpet but suffer from allergies, cork floors are a great solution as they are safe for asthma/allergy sufferers. It’s anti microbial and resists mold and mildew. One of the substances cork is composed of, suberin, is a natural insect repeller that keeps bugs and termites away.

3. Easy to install
While most cork floors are known to be easy to install, the patented Uniclic system of Cork Art floors makes it even simpler.

4. Resistant and durable
Cork is known for being very resistant to wear. Its flexible nature means cork is less affected by impact and friction than other similar surfaces are.

5. Sustainable
When cork is harvested, the trees are not cut down. Instead they are stripped. This process doesn’t harm the tree and allows it to continue renewing itself naturally. Cork oak forests will continue to flourish even as the popularity of this amazing floor continues to grow.