Category Archives: Furniture

Average Prices For The Floor Stripping And Waxing Services

A lot of customers and service providers ask what are the average prices for floor stripping and waxing services. Nationally prices average between 30 to 60 cents per sq.ft.

But in order to estimate the price a lot of additional factors have to be considered:

1) Size of the job. Usually, the bigger the job, the smaller is the price per sq ft. If you need a cleaning company so strip/wax the floor in the large building, you can expect lower prices per sq. ft. However if you are looking to strip and wax relatively small area, the prices are usually higher. Also cleaning companies have minimum prices which are in the range of $ 150 – $ 200. So even if you need to have a floor cleaned only in one small restroom, you may be charged $ 150 – $ 200 for that. Make sure to find out what is the minimum charge before hiring commercial cleaning company.

2) Travel distance. It’s preferred to hire local companies if you want to save on stripping/waxing services. The companies that are further away may count the travel time and fuel expenses into the final price.

3) Preparation time. Preparation for the job takes a lot of time and when estimating the price cleaning companies consider how much time they need in order to prepare for the job. If the floor that needs to be cleaned is on the first floor it takes less time to bring the equipment there than bringing the equipment to the 10th or 15th floor. Also if the cleaners have to strip/wax the hallway that has carpet on the sides, they need to tape off the carpeted area to make sure that no solution ends up on the carpet. This requires additional time and brings the price of floor cleaning services up.

4) Stripping and waxing or scrubbing and recoating? You may receive a lower price from a cleaning contractor, but is he actually going to strip the floor or scrub it? There a big difference between these too. When stripping you take all the wax off from the floor to the bare floor and then you have to apply 4-5 coats of wax to it. When scrubbing, you remove only the top 1-2 coats of wax from the floor and apply 1-2 coats of floor finish to the floor. Stripping and waxing usually takes at least twice as much time as scrubbing and recoating, so when you receive a much lower price make sure to find out if this price is for stripping/waxing or just scrubbing and recoating.

5) Moving furniture. If the cleaning company has to move the furniture (tables, chairs, mats etc) before/after the job, the price is usually higher up to 20 %. So in order to save money, do all the moving inhouse.

6) Wax buildup. When there is a lot of old wax on the floor cleaners may have to strip it a few times, therefore additional products and labor have to be used.

7) Stripping and waxing baseboards. Do you want a cleaning company to strip and wax baseboards? If yes, you should know that it is a very time consuming job to do and it’s also reflected in the price which becomes higher.

8) Edge work. The more edges in the room, the more time the cleaning company has to spend using doodlebugs and scrapers in order to remove wax edges and corners and prices go up.

9) Number of finish coats. The more coats are put on the floor, the higher the price.

10) Type of floor. Is the floor new or old? It’s usually easy to strip the new floor therefore the prices are lower for stripping new floor. Older floor may have been neglected or may have a lot of wax buildup on it and stripping it will require additional time. The price for stripping older floor may be higher.

11) Staining of the floor. If there are a lot of stains on the floor like rust, pain or if there are a lot of deep scratches or gum additional time is needed to scrape them off with scrapers. Additional detail cleaning will bring the price up.

12) Fixtures to work around. If there are a lot of fixtures that are staying in the room (refrigerators, furniture, equipment) during stripping/waxing, cleaning company will have to spend additional time working around them or moving them and the price may be higher.

13) Type of products used during stripping/waxing. Some cleaning companies may charge you less for floor stripping/waxing services, but it may be only because they use cheap products. But cheap products have a lot of downsides, cheap floor finishes tend to become yellow and wear off much faster. Another company may charge you a little more, but they may be using better products that maintain the appearance of your floor and last longer. So for example, you can pay one company $ 500 for the job, but because of their cheap products you will have to re-wax in 4 months. Another company may charge you $ 550, but because of good products you may not have to re-wax for 6 month instead of 4. Using the second company will be more cost efficient for you in the long run. Always find out what floor finishes are used for the job. Hillyard and Johnson floor finishes are the best floor finishes on the market these days.

14) Location of janitor closet. During the stripping/waxing job cleaning companies need to travel from their working area to the janitor closet very often in order to get water, empty wet vacuum etc. Where is the janitor closet located? If it’s far from the working area cleaners will spend a lot of time just moving back and forth and the prices may be higher.

15) Number of electric outlets in the floor. If there are a lot of electric outlets in the floor cleaners will need to tape them so the stripping solution/water doesn’t get there. It requires additional time and brings the prices up.

16) One time cleaning or service contract. If you are using the cleaning company for just a one-time job, you may expect higher prices. However, if you have a maintenance contract (like buffing the floor once per month of scrubbing/recoating services once a quarter) with a cleaning company you can ask for a discount. Also you can expect a discount if you are using a company that already provides commercial cleaning services to your building (example – regular janitorial services 3/5 days per week).

Your One Stop Furniture Shop – Get All the Furniture You Need in One Place

Your home is your sanctuary. It is the one place on earth that you are completely comfortable and can be yourself. It is an extension of you. Your dcor therefore is a reflection of you. It is thus important to ensure that you get exactly what you want for your home.

Ensuring that you get the right furniture for your home is for more than just vain glory. It is about making your home comfortable. You will not be comfortable or satisfied in a space that doesn’t suit your preferences.

Now that you have decided to get the right furniture for your home, you have to face the challenge of finding it. The good news is that you don’t have to leave your home to do so. There are many websites that can provide you with information or even allow you to make purchases online. However, few provide a wide range of furniture selections. You end up having to look in and purchasing from various websites.

Whether you are looking for traditional or London contemporary furniture, it is important to ensure that you can purchase them from the same website. The online store should offer a wide range of furniture to suit various needs and preferences in style.

Many online furniture stores have furniture ranging from beds to tables. You can even purchase mattresses London on some websites. You simply have to browse through the different categories to find what you need. If you already know what you want, then use the search tools available on these websites that make finding furniture much easier. You can narrow down your search by price, color, style and many other options.

Buying furniture online has never been so easy and affordable. You won’t find dining tables Londonas affordable as on online furniture stores. These stores have some of the best rates on furniture you will find in the UK. And no, there is no catch. They have simply learned that cutting out all the middle men would help cut down on costs and in turn allow them to give you jaw dropping prices on furniture.

If you haven’t placed an order for a piece of furniture, you are missing out on an opportunity to own a great piece of furniture without draining your pocket or wasting your time and energy walking and driving from store to store.

For more information about mattresses London and dining tables London please visit our website:www.beddy-buyz.co.uk

The Fascinating History Of Sofas And Couches

The fascinating history of sofas and couches through the centuries and millennia show that these highly versatile and very commonplace items of furniture are far more ancient than we might think. In fact, some version of a sofa has been in existence going back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. In these times, there is almost no household that doesn’t have at least one of these items within it.

As far as were the word ‘sofa’ originated from, it can be traced back to the Arab language. It also is used to describe a piece of furniture in the Arab regions that is very similar to what eventually became our own version of a sofa. The Arab word is ‘suffah, ‘ and it’s easy to see how travelers in the 17th century — who brought the word back — eventually transformed it into an English word.

As a matter of interchangeability, ‘sofa’ and ‘couch’ are pretty much one and the same today. The French word ‘coucher, ‘ which refers to laying down or reclining, soon enough came to be changed in the English language to what we know today as ‘couch.’ It is historically amusing to note, however, that the French called their own version of a sofa a ‘canape.’

For anyone familiar with the English language, most people refer to small items of food — commonly known as finger food — as canapes. Still in all, it was mainly English builders and craftsmen in the middle 1400s that took the French word for ‘lie down’ and applied it to the version of a sofa that they were building. Soon enough, the English shortened that French word and it became ‘couch.’

These days, most people would mostly be unaware that the word for sofa comes from Arabic while the word for couch has its origins with the French, who have loaned many words to the English language. It is still even more surprising, though, that versions of sofas and couches go back a lot further back into human history than the middle 1400s, when the French and English began to develop their own couches.

It was the ancient Greek and Roman cultures that actually had a sofa of their own. Men would recline on these benches and eat their dinners or just spend some leisure time. And it was only men who were allowed to make use of these pieces of furniture. Women had to accommodate themselves to the idea of sitting or eating on chairs and at tables. It’s easy to see how this could be unfair today.

From pretty much the late 16th century, all of the most impressive sofa development has been done by craftsmen from Germany and England. It was they who figured out a way to construct a wooden frame and then pad that frame with substances that were on hand that were soft, such as feathers or items from the sea such as dried moss. These frames and padded materials were then wrapped and covered.

It is this era — the late 16th century — that most scholars attribute as the true start of the development of modern-day sofas. By the 1800s and 1900s the sofa was fairly ubiquitous in just about every lower or middle-class home, and has increasingly been looked at as part of regular family furniture. In fact, they rank just below the bed in household furniture importance, it seems.

Furniture Trend Book For 2014

As you approach towards the finishing of your new home, things become more critical. Decorating the interiors and selecting furniture is indeed a very significant part of the whole process. The interiors of a house are a way to communicate your personality, good taste and values with others. Here are some of the latest trends for Lifestyle Furniture to be observed in 2014:

-Outdoor furniture in the interiors
Garden furniture looks equally trendy when placed inside. Homeowners prefer wooden worn out furniture for their garden area. This type of furniture when placed in the inner area renders a chic raw look to the area. You may opt for material such as unpainted natural wood, metal, glass or rattan. n.

-Custom tailored furniture
It’s great to have decor that is only one of its kind. Customized furniture may be more expensive than the average furniture available at Homemaker Centres but it can be worth the cost. It gives a unique appearance to your home leaving the onlookers awestruck. Moreover, if the furniture is designed according to the room or hall, it will ensure the best use of the area. Also, it leaves the homeowner with more options to choose from whether it is about the shape, size or the color.

-Culture inspired furniture
It is the most rapidly growing trend among the homeowners to bring foreign culture to their home. It changes the overall feel of the area inducing a vibe of a far-off place into your personal space. To have such a culture based theme in your home, you may try experimenting with the different pieces of interior decoration such as the table and chairs, wall decor, art pieces, Accent Blinds, the flooring, recliners, etc.

-Multi-purpose furniture
As homeowners often face the issue of lack of space or planning glitches in their interior design, the best solution for such problems is to have multi-purpose furniture from the Homemaker Stores. Unlike earlier, when this category had only one option which was a sofa-cum-bed, these days you will find extraordinarily designed furnishings to work your way out. It may be something that is a shelf as well as a closet; a chair cum table cum storage shelf; a sofa cum playing area cum study table for kids or any combination of these. Such smartly designed furniture is a very practical option for today’s minimalistic designed homes.

-For the kids…
Children’s room always has to be lively. So say goodbye to the matching colors this time. Colors don’t have to match; try inducing contrasting shades, different patterns and textures into your kid’s space. For Baby Nursery Furniture, you may try statement furniture such as cribs or beds embellished with moldings. These may be expensive and yes kids need them for a very short period of time, but remember, this time will never come back and you will always feel proud to offer something unique and comfy to your kid.

How To Look After & Maintain You Oak Or Hardwood Flooring Once Down

Lacquered floors

Prevention:

Place doormats inside and outside the front door to stop dirt and grit being walked in, which can cause
considerable wear.
Put protective pads on furniture (not metal feet, which mark wood floors) to avoid unnecessary marks and scratches on the floor.
If you have a pre-lacquered floor in rooms where you know water is frequently spilled, we recommend that you lacquer the floor again after laying. This helps to seal the joints between the boards and gives better protection against water.

Cleaning:

For daily cleaning, use dry methods such as vacuuming. When necessary, damp-clean the floor with a well wrung-out mop/floor cloth, the floor must only become slightly damp. The film of water formed in this way must dry within one minute.

For the best cleaning results ensure that your floor cleaner is pH-neutral (maximum pH 8). Do not allow spilt water to be left on the floor, particularly on Beech and Hard Maple floors, which are particularly susceptible to moisture. The frequency of damp-cleaning depends on how much the floor is used and how soiled it gets.

Eventually over time (possibly as long as 30+ years) your floor will show signs of wear and will start to look lifeless. It is at this stage that a lacquered floor will need to be sanded and re-finished, please consult an expert regarding this.

Wax Oiled Floors:

Prevention:

Place doormats inside and outside the front door to stop dirt and grit being walked in, which can cause considerable wear.

Put protective pads on furniture (not metal feet, which mark wood floors) to avoid unnecessary marks and scratches on the floor.

If you have a pre-oiled floor in rooms where you know water is frequently spilled we recommend that the floor be treated with an extra coat of Osmo Polyx Oil after laying. This helps to seal the joints between the boards and gives better protection against water.

Cleaning:

For daily cleaning, use dry methods such as vacuuming. To remove stains the floor can also be mopped with a well wrung-out mop/floor cloth, the floor must only become slightly damp. If done regularly adding Osmo Wash and Care to the water will help to clean and maintain your floor.

Stubborn stains can be removed using Osmo Liquid Wax Cleaner, just apply to the floor using a cloth.
If the floor starts to look a bit lifeless after a while revitalise it using Osmo Liquid Wax Cleaner. This can also be applied to specific areas (i.e. near doorways and in the main thoroughfares) without the need to do the whole floor. Apply the Osmo Liquid Wax Cleaner neat but very thinly to the clean floor
with a lint-free cloth and then polish.

For particularly defined wear marks the floor should be given a new treatment of Osmo Polyx Oil, again this can be applied to only specific areas if
necessary.