You can be allergic to your floor. Irritants can either be gathered and held by the floor, or they can be a part of its very make up. In this mini-episode I hope to help you make the best choice of flooring, specifically with allergy prevention in mind.

My sources:
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA)
The American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI)
UK based group The Healthy Flooring Network (HFN)
The Mayo Clinic 

If you'd rather see and/or read the piece:  

https://floorstoyourhome.com/resource-center/20-best-floor/31/best-floors-for-allergy-sufferers/

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Created, Hosted & Edited by W. David Lichty

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Having a pet can bring challenges to the household environment. Dogs chew. Cats scratch. Birds are ... you know, they do everything inside. Accidents happen.

For a new floor in a home with a pet, several things come into play:

• where the floor is going to go
• how much traffic it will encounter
• how much wear and tear it can be expected to endure
• the pet’s size

... and more.

So, what are our options?

You can also read the post here: Choosing The Best Floor For Your Pets

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Created, Hosted & Edited by W. David Lichty

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When this question is posed, usually we're talking about a household that is more active than other households, likely one with older kids and/or pets. We're also talking about the common living areas, because in kitchens, bathrooms and similar rooms, the household makeup is less of a factor than are the room's uses and moisture issues.

Here's the written, illustrated piece I'm reading in this mini-episode:  What Type of Floor is Best for a Family?

Produced by https://FloorsToYourHome.com/
Created, Hosted & Edited by W. David Lichty

Reach the show at https://MakingFlooringEasy.com/

Our YouTube channel:
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Just where can a hardwood floor go? Or more important, where shouldn't you use solid hardwood?

Each kind of flooring has strengths that the others don't, and today Dan and I go over those so that if your salesperson says, "Solid hardwood? In your basement? Sure!" you'll already know better.

After this full episode, where we talk floor-by-floor, I'm releasing a LOT of little episodes going room-by-room, each covering a specific room or home situation (like does anyone have allergies), so you can find the ones you need and rule out the ones you don't want.  

I would just pick the ones that matter, so you don't have to hear me say "Solid hardwood isn't great with moisture" five or six times.  How many rooms are you re-doing anyway?  So we get it if you don't play all 13 of the follow-ups.

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Created, Hosted & Edited by W. David Lichty

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Basically, yes! Most will, to some degree, and you should plan on it, on the final color.  But how much do they change, how long will it take, and how can you tell what you'll end up with? I look into that here.

Here's a link to the illustrated piece I'm reading: Must Hardwood Floors Change Color

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Created, Hosted & Edited by W. David Lichty

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Deciding which hardwood you want to look at is a decision you'll make with your eyes, so here I talk about the various hardwood species sorted by hardness. Not all wood is the same; some are denser and more rugged than others, so in case that's a factor you want to consider, I go through some common candidates from softest to hardest.

The written & Illustrated post on Hardwood Flooring Species is there (at that underlined link a few words back).

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Created, Hosted & Edited by W. David Lichty

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Here we talk about things like color & tone, grain, the look of the finish, textures and edges, so seeing the pictures could be a good help.

The piece I'm reading here was initially written to focus on laminate flooring, but the basics apply across the board with all hard surface flooring (so, also waterproof vinyl, hardwoods and so on).

Produced by https://FloorsToYourHome.com/
Created, Hosted & Edited by W. David Lichty

Reach the show at https://MakingFlooringEasy.com/

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How much will a new floor cost?  How much should it cost?  How is it even priced, by the carton?  Dan and I do our best to give you some starting guidelines on how to navigate floor pricing as well as how different floors can look.  

Produced by https://FloorsToYourHome.com/
Created, Hosted & Edited by W. David Lichty

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When accidents or natural disasters happen, replacing damaged flooring can be a costly endeavor which could involve your homeowners insurance.  If you can properly file a claim, you might better cover the financial burden, but how is this best done?

A colleague of ours used to assist an insurance claims adjuster, the people who investigate your insurance claims on behalf of the insurance companies, so we asked if she would share any advice with our shoppers.  

These six tips should help you work toward as smooth and successful an insurance claim process as possible.

The written piece is here:
https://floorstoyourhome.com/resource-center/10-basics/03/top-6-things-to-keep-in-mind-with-insurance-claims-for-replacing-damaged-floors/

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I just did a show on terminology, and this may be the biggest one people toss around: 'subfloor'.   It's a must to understand, so it gets its own article (linked below)/episode.  Definitely listen to this one if the word subfloor makes you scratch your head, and I even recommend looking at the written piece.  I put a lot of helpful pictures there:

https://floorstoyourhome.com/resource-center/10-basics/50/what-is-a-subfloor

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