Art of Clean has been endorsed by Anthea Turner's of the BBC programme "Perfect Housewife". Our cleaning service is second to none. We are committed to meeting all our client's needs.
Art of Clean has been endorsed by Anthea Turner's of the BBC programme "Perfect Housewife". Our cleaning service is second to none. We are committed to meeting all our client's needs.
Parquet is the laying of small blocks of wood in a geometric pattern for the purpose of decoratively covering a floor.
The
word is of old French origin, thought to be a derivative of Parchet -
meaning Park, ie. a small enclosed space. Parquet differs from the
generic term of wood floor due to its artistic design and use of small
pieces of wood to create a pattern.
There are a number
of styles of Parquet that range in artistic design and difficulty. To
lay a parquet floor takes craftsmanship and skill which is why even the
most simple
of designs prove to be quite a challenge to a DIY floor layer.
The
most notable designs are the Herringbone arrangement and the basket
design, however there is a huge spectrum of possibilities that people
explore that yield absolutely stunning results.
Here are the basic parquet designs
This is an example of herringbone parquet
Here you can see a creative take on herringbone parquet
Below
is a beautiful and seemingly simple miss-match of wood blocks of
different size and colour, making a truly stunning take on the
herringbone design
Another fantastic take on the herringbone style of parquet
A geometric parquet design
This geometric parquet has cleaverly used different colored wood to create a 3D effect
Below is a feat of true parquet artistry
Art
of Clean are proud of their team of highly skilled technicians who
often perform parquet restoration in beautiful old homes throughout
Cambridgeshire.
The appearance of all flooring in your commercial office or work place says so much about your company. This message goes out to visitors, clients, and staff. If your company prides itself on quality service does it reflect it in the way you look after your flooring? As part of running a business you also have a duty of care to make sure that your flooring is safe for staff and visitors.
At Art of Clean we pride ourselves in Vinyl floor cleaning in and around Cambridge, we have several years experience in stripping cleaning, sealing and polishing vinyl floor. Most of our clients are in towns and villages around Cambridge.
We clean vinyl floors within a 25 miles radius of Cambridge including:
Royston, Cambourne, Ely, Newmarket, Bar Hill, Saffron Walden, Haverhill as well as many more places where we clean seal and polish vinyl floors.
What is vinyl flooring, and how can it be protected?
There are many brands of vinyl flooring and these include : Amtico, Karndean, Altro, Polyflor as well as several other brands.
Vinyl flooring is made of layers of special plastics, as it is softer than some other hard flooring it does have a tendency to scratch easily, therefore we would advise that an acrylic sealer is applied on top of a newly laid vinyl floor. This application is known as a sacrificial coating, and will withstand heavy through traffic for several months, after this time the coating will need to be stripped back again and a new fresh coast of sealer or polish will need to be applied to the vinyl flooring.
Regular maintenance to a vinyl floor is essential to keep it looking at it’s best.
It is important to have the correct floor cleaning tool and solutions for your vinyl flooring. The floor will need to be completely cleaned and dried before polish using a medium high speed red rotary brushes can be applied. This will help to maintain the high sheen of the vinyl floor, if you do not complete this process of burnishing the vinyl floor it will loose its high gloss sheen.
When does your vinyl flooring need stripping back and what to look out for?
After some time, depending on the wear to your vinyl floor, you will need to completely remove the polish or sealer and have it stripped back, a new coast of sealer will then need to be applied and then polished.
If you need help to restore your vinyl flooring in Cambridge why not give our commercial floor cleaning team a call on 01223 863632
This is a great fear of many people - you get your carpets cleaned only to find they have shrunk!
It can happen, however it is not very likely as long as you have a reputable carpet cleaning company clean your carpets and you don't hire a DIY carpet cleaner.
Why do carpets shrink?
Most carpets these days are now made of synthetic fibers which will not be affected by water in the same way, so these carpets will not shrink.
However, many high quality, luxury woven carpets, such as Axminster and Wilton carpets, are made using wool, or a high wool content blend, with a jute backing. Excessive moisture of the jute backing creates a risk of shrinkage if the carpet cleaner does not take due care. How to prevent carpet shrinking?
Firstly - avoid using a DIY machine such as a Rug Doctor. They are not very powerful and will leave a good deal of moisture in the carpet after cleaning.
Secondly - hire a reputable professional carpet cleaner with a powerful machine (preferably a truck-mounted hot water extraction system). Check their certification (anyone can say they are certified! However only a reputable tradesman will have full training and certification with a reputable organisation.). Only a trained tradesman will thoroughly inspect the carpet pile and the backing to ensure they know what type of carpet they are working with, so do observe that they do a full inspection. Upon recognising the carpets construction the carpet cleaner will ensure they do not over pre-spray the carpet or use too much water when rinsing.
It would also be advisable to check they are fully insured.
If you have a woven wool carpet it will look like this on the reverse:
This is the most advanced carpet cleaning technology in the industry today. It is a very powerful machine that will provide the deepest clean, in the shortest time, with superior water extraction capabilities. This means your carpets will have a shorter drying time and will greatly reduce any chance of carpet shrinkage. Many reputable carpet cleaners will also have carpet driers that will reduce the carpet drying time again.
***If you are not satisfied with the moisture in your carpet after the carpet clean do bring it up with your technician****
We recently had a call-out to help a client save a floor in a listed building.
It raised the question – When can a floor be saved and when is it best to rather cover it over or replace it? Renovating a stone floor is obviously preferable, but there are limitations....
Because the floor we looked at was in a listed building and there are limitations on what can be done, all the actions the home owner wants to take has to be approved.
Here are some basic guidelines – please note if the home or building is listed you will require consent to carry out works:
Background:
The old carpets are lifted from the floor and a beautiful clay tile floor is exposed. Here are a few things to consider....
How old is the home? – if it was build prior to 1875 it will not have a damp proof membrane and the floor will require to be open and beatable to allow for the moisture to evaporate. In some cases homes built up to 1980 and later can have damp problems due to incorrectly installed Damp proof membranes or DPC’s.
In a case where moisture is a problem (many time the smell in the room will give this away) the following should be considered: Lift the floor and install a good quality DPM / DPC – get a builder with experience in the field.
Or the floor can be cleaned and a impregnating sealer can be applied to allow for moisture movement through the floor. Avoid waxes and topical sealers – this will mean the floor will not have a shine finish.
Do Not place rubber matting over the floor as this can cause moisture to get trapped under the rubber and it can turn into a very smelly room – remember that carpet underlays will in most cases act as a barrier and this can cause the same problem. It is sometimes better to do what is required to fix the problem than to simply cover it over.
If you choose to lift the floor and install a DPM – you can opt to keep the original floor tiles and re-lay then after the DPM is installed – ensure your builder is aware of this so he lift the tiles with care.
If you would like some more information and advice about our professional wood and stone floor services please contact our friendly team on 01223 863632 or visit www.artofclean.co.uk.
Can you help me make sure Royal Mail is doing what they say they will?
Please see my very short video for a full explination
If you have received the flyer please send a short email to pierre@artofclean.co.uk and let me know where and when you have seen the flyer - I will then confirm it is due to go out where you live. I truly appreciate your help We
have a batch of flyers that will be delivered this week by Royal Mail.
We have used this method many times in the past. Sadly we found Royal
Mail was not always reliable enough to do the deliveries. We have
recently been offer a chance to try it one more time. To ensure it gets
delivered I would like to ask if you would kindly let me know if you
whave received one through your door some time this week.
This means I can be sure it has been sent out by Royal Mail.
You know what these big corporates can be like.
To reward you for the effort I would apply a £10 voucher to your record here with us to use for any future work.
I thank you in advance for your help and support to grow Art of Clean.
Here is a short video I made to explain it all. Forgive the fact that it is only shot in my office on my iPhone.
