Flooring

Tiling

Your flooring may be exposed to a lot of traffic leading to wear and tear over its lifetime. It is important that you take the time to understand how to maintain your particular flooring to ensure it remains to be an attractive feature of your new home.

Your Handover Pack contains important and useful information from Beaumont Tiles regarding tile care and maintenance. Advice specifically on porcelain tiles has (if applicable) also been included in your Handover Pack.

Vinyl plank flooring

Properly caring for your vinyl floor can help extend its life and preserve its appearance. Vinyl is an extremely durable floor and there is little cause for concern when it comes to spills, spots, or scuffs from shoes. It is recommended to wait at least three days after installation before cleaning your vinyl floor for the first time to make sure the adhesive under the floor is completely dry. Sweep your vinyl floor at least once per week. Wipe up any spills promptly. Mop with a manufacturer approved household cleaner. Support furniture with wide-bearing, non-staining floor protectors.

REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

— Contract specifications — beaumont-tiles.com.au — deltafw.com.au — Technical Bulletin TB130, Ardex Australia ardexaustralia.com

Flooring

CarpetCare

— The most important step in caring for your carpet is vacuuming. Carpets should be vacuumed regularly, once or twice a week depending on the amount of traffic.

A thorough vacuuming should include under beds, behind curtains, inside wardrobes, along skirtings and beneath furniture to discourage possible attack by insects. — Treat spills immediately – most spills will not stain permanently if you act quickly. — Do not scrub – scoop up or blot as much of the spill as possible. — Cold water – apply cold water to the stained area with a clean white cloth to flush out as much of the stain as possible, then blot. — Carpet cleaner – apply a good quality carpet cleaner and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. — Professional cleaning may be required for a more heavily soiled carpet.

Ceramic Tiles

— Clean and sweep your tiles regularly. — Use just a few drops of soapless detergent.

Don’t use abrasive cleaners. — Vinegar mixed with warm water is a proven and natural cleaning agent. — Vacuuming is a great way to clean tiles. — To remove a stubborn spot, scrub with a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water. — Use good mats at doorways to keep out sand and dirt which may scratch tiles. — Use gliders under any furniture, to avoid damaging the surface of the tile. — Avoid dropping heavy objects on to tiles, as they are not indestructible. — If you have high gloss floor tiling or timber flooring surface avoid wearing spiked shoes.

Grout

Shower bases usually have a line of caulking around the bottom of the tiles. This can sometimes fall out due to the building movement and or shrinkage is a normal occurrence. If you notice any sealant missing, you can obtain some flexible sealant in a matching colour from a tile shop or hardware store and fill the gap with new sealant. Using harsh/abrasive cleaning products can cause caulking & grout to be compromised.

Porcelain Tiles

Our tile suppliers have recommended that all porcelain tiles be sealed. The following 3 step process from products supplied by OTA Australia can provide full protection:

— Initial wash with Deterdek, an acid reaction cleaner which removes building site residue and grout haze. — Stain proofing with MP/90, a special impregnating blend of silicon compounds. — Routine cleaning with Fila cleaner, a general cleaner for all tiled floors which will not harm the MP/90.

For spot cleaning PS/87 is a degreasing cleaner which will remove stains left by coffee, wine, soft drinks, ink and marker pens. SR/95 is specially designed to remove coloured organic stains (wine, coffee, soft drink, sauces etc.)

The above-mentioned products are available from any tile merchant that stocks OTA Australia products.

Alternative proprietary products may also be used and suitability of these products.

Timber Flooring

Pre-Finished Timber and Laminate floors are considered to be easy to maintain but like all floor surfaces they do require cleaning and a few precautionary practices to maintain their appearances and preserve their service life. On a regular basis floors should be dry mopped with a static mop. Ensure with such cleaning that nothing hard rubs in the floor as it may mark it. The above practices not only pick up any lint and dust but also grit that can be damaging to the floor surface. Similarly, if pets are to be inside it is necessary to ensure that nails are trimmed and paws clean thereby not introducing excessive grit. Any spill needs to be wiped up as soon as it occurs. Failure to do so can dull or discolour the finish and if left for any period can damage the flooring.

In addition to the above there are a number of practices not appropriate for Pre-Finished Timber and Laminate floors and these are as follows:

— Do not use cleaning methods or products not designed for timber floors such as scouring pads or cleaners that may contain abrasives, soaps, waxes, ammonia or silicon. Specific timber floor cleaning products are available and should be used. — Do not use steam or saturated mops (irrespective of what the product sales people may say) or any form of scrubbing machine.