So how much rain did you get when the drought broke?  With as much as 17 inches falling in some areas of Christian County, you may have been able to measure the inches on your basement wall.  Unfortunately flooring takes the brunt of the damage when rainwater enters a home, but there are things you can do to minimize the cost and inconvenience of clean-up.  The following is some helpful information we have gathered from the Flood Safety Education Project.

By now you’ve probably done the basic clean-up, which would include shoveling out any mud and scrubbing surfaces with hot water and a heavy-duty cleaner.  Since floodwaters introduce contaminants to your home, you should also disinfect with a solution of ¼ cup chlorine bleach per gallon of water or a product that is labeled as a disinfectant to kill germs. 

Hopefully your flooded area was on concrete but if the subflooring was wood then the flooring will have to be removed to allow the wood subflooring to dry thoroughly.  This process may take several months but is necessary to prevent warping and discourage mold growth.  Open windows and doors and use fans to move as much dry air as possible through the area. 

If your flooring was carpet you will probably find it best to discard both the pad and the carpet.  If you attempt to save it, first remove it and drape it over a large object outdoors and hose it down.  Then use a broom to scrub in a disinfecting carpet cleaner, following with a rinse of 2 tablespoons bleach to 1 gallon water (unless carpet is wool or nylon).  Dry the carpet and floor thoroughly before relaying.  Padding should be discarded as it is nearly impossible to save.  If you are unable to remove the carpet from the floor, you can try using a wet/dry vacuum, dehumidifiers, and fans.  If possible, at least lift the carpet for increased ventilation.  Be aware that mold grows quickly in damp carpet and your efforts may be vain.  Don’t risk your health by keeping a moldy carpet in your home. 

Wooden floors should be dried gradually as fast drying may further damage the wood. Remove a board every few feet to reduce swelling pressure, and allow the wood to dry completely before attempting repairs.  Minor warping may be planed or sanded after the wood has dried. Wide pine boards will recover with less long-term damage than other woods. 

Of course a restoration company is your best resource for recovering flooded floors but if neither their efforts or your DIY attempts save your floors, then look on the bright side—upgraded tile or hardwood is one of the best investments you can make in your home. 

Best of luck with your clean-up.  And may it never rain that much again!

What a blast we had earlier this month during our KTTS remote.  If you didn’t make it by, you missed some great pizza, great specials, and a peek at the updates we’ve been making to our showroom.  The walls are painted, new tile is down and we’re getting new product displays every week.  If you’ve seen the designers at HGTV using a cool new tile, we probably have it. 

Some of those who did make it by during the remote were winners.  Congratulations to Deborah K of Long Lane who won 150 square feet of ceramic tile, and to Mell J. of Shell Knob, Sandra C. of Bolivar, and Debbie H. of Springfield who each won an area rug.  Watch for more prize registrations to be coming soon.

But the specials didn’t end with the KTTS remote.  We just made a special buy on hardwood flooring and while it lasts you can update your home to durable hardwood for only $1.99 a square foot.  Right now you can choose from three beautiful colors but hurry before our builders snap up this budget-stretching buy.  And the frieze sale continues for a limited time, with family-friendly frieze and installation for only $1.54 a square foot. 

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our big remote and let us know what you think about our changes by adding a comment here or visiting us in the showroom.  We look forward to seeing you again!

We’re almost there. After months of climbing ladders and painting walls and moving pallets of tile, our showroom remodel is absolutely, positively almost done. And one of our favorite displays is our glass tile. Glass tile is one of the hottest trends in home décor and is showing up everywhere from tub enclosures to backsplashes and even as an inset in hardwood floors. When used alone it makes a dramatic statement but even accents of glass placed in ceramic or natural tile add sophistication on a budget.

If you’re looking for ideas on how to update your home with glass tile, come see our new displays full of the latest styles or sit down with one of our flooring professionals. And when it comes time to install your new look, you’ll be glad to know that while glass installation can require a bit more experience than ceramic tile does, our installation crew has been doing it for years. As with every Color Tile installation, your glass tile installation is guaranteed to be done right.

Need any more reasons to check out our new styles of glass tile? Stop by our showroom between now and August 14th to register to win 150 square feet of ceramic tile, including thinset and grout. We’ll be giving away other great prizes too and KTTS will be broadcasting on-site from noon to 1pm Friday the 13th with free pizza and cokes and a chance to win $1,000 in gas.

Pardon our mess, but Jeff and Cheryl have been working hard at improving the Color Tile and Carpet Showroom. There’s new paint, new displays, new flooring and, coming soon, an exciting new en suite bath, built right into a corner of our showroom. And the selection is better than ever, with contemporary tile displays already on the floor and more innovative product coming soon.

All these changes are thanks to a great team. Jeff’s been with us since 1992, working in the store and with our in-house installation team, guaranteeing that every floor Color Tile and Carpet installs is perfect from an accurate measurement to a flawless performance. But you may not have met Cheryl Lauxman yet. She joined us this spring after 28 years in the flooring design field, including 16 years at a competing flooring store. When that store relocated from Springfield to Marshfield, Cheryl chose to stay with her Springfield customers and we were lucky enough to get her. If you don’t remember the name, you may recognize the picture. That’s her smiling in front of one of our recently painted walls.

Everyone will be invited to a Big Open House when the renovations are done, but why wait? New displays and new products are arriving weekly, so stop in and see how it’s coming along. We promise to drop our paint brushes to help you choose and design your floors. That’s what we do best.