Consider another of the most major efforts in our lives – building a new home. The effort at attempting to design your own home is an activity best left to the pros!

When you consider how much time, money and personal exertion will go into the design of your new home, some of those efforts need to be minimized. Find assistance from those who truly know what they are doing… save yourself financial fear, mental frustration and physical debilitation.

Pre-designed contemporary home plans are one method of obtaining professionals’ expertise in building your new residence. When you examine such plans, you need to be able to screen a broad selection of designs. Based on your own criteria, such as total square footage for your home, how many floors, rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms your home should possess, pre-designed plans can guide your eye and your heart in the most suitable direction. No matter what you may request of an architect or a designer, only you and your family truly know what you wish to comprise your new home.

Pre-designed home plans are also a great method to help you eliminate ideas that simply will not work, whether due to a design impediment or the cost structure itself. And think how grand it would be if, once you have selected a suitable design, you could then determine an approximate cost structure based on the selected locale for your new home, thanks to “cost-to-build” features built into the plan’s service. Through examination of hundreds of professionally designed plans, your new home will offer features that make the most sense for you, your family… and your life.

Written by Hartley G. Lesser for Archway Press Home Plans

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Everything we sell comes with a satisfaction guarantee. All our flooring (unless specified otherwise) is first-quality, graded to industry specifications and standard flooring lengths.

Visit us online at lumberliquidators.com. We ship anywhere in the world. Samples are also available.

Price Guarantee: Lumber Liquidators is committed to having great low prices everyday and we guarantee it. So if you find the same grade flooring, warranty and shipping costs from another dealer, at a lower price, upon verification Lumber Liquidators will beat the price.

Measurement and Quantity: Flooring is sold by the box/bundle. The actual square footage may differ when rounded to the nearest box/bundle size. You will be charged for the actual footage shipped. Lumber Liquidators assumes no responsibility for measurement errors.

Delivery and Lead Times: All delivery dates are estimates. We recommend that you do not book installation until you receive your product. All deliveries are curbside deliveries. Customer is responsible for unloading. Freight Driver can hand boxes/bundles from the truck, but customer is responsible for moving delivery into the home.

Inspection: Claims for damage or shortages must be made upon receipt of product. Do not install defective product, use constitutes acceptance.

Acclimation: Allow flooring to acclimate in the installation area for 3-7 days. It is the installer’s responsibility to determine acceptability of the moisture level.

Exchanges: Exchanges will be permitted for credit towards products of equal or greater value, within 30 days of receipt, without a restocking fee. Close-out items excluded. Product must be in the original condition and have been properly stored. Defective product may be exchanged, prior to installation at any time. Installed flooring is considered the property of the owner/installer and cannot be exchanged or returned for any reason. Any shipping costs are the sole responsibility of the customer.

Returns: Returns must be made within 30 days of receipt. Approved returns are subject to a 20% restocking fee. No returns on open bundles, close-outs, odd-lots, laminates or items no longer in stock. Special orders are non-cancelable and may not be returned for any reason, other than defect. Any shipping costs are the sole responsibility of the customer. Shipping and delivery charges are non-refundable. We accept cash, checks and credit cards. There is a $25 returned check fee.

Questions, comments or complaints – please call our Customer Care Team at 1-800-366-4204.

* Free Shipping not included for local “store only” inventory. Shipping not included for store-to-store transfers of local “store-only” inventory.

Delivery of flooring products is “curbside” or first floor only. If you require special shipping arrangements (up stairs, rooftop etc.) we recommend that you select the “Special Shipping Arrangements” option on the Shipping Method page in checkout and complete the purchase of items in your order without specifying a specific shipping method.

Upon receipt of your order, our Customer Service representative will call you to discuss the special shipping arrangements you might require.

Facility Flooring Solutions

My first step was to find the right size for our needs. We are in the process of remodeling our house – - on the 5-or-so-year plan. So, we would use the wet/dry vacuum for cleaning up remodeling debris when we knock down walls, drywall dust, nails, and such. I am clumsy as well as being a bit of a neat freak and could use it to vacuum my garage and clean up spills and maybe I could even attach it to my Miter saw? Then, there’s the car and the truck to clean. But we live in a 1100 Square feet, not-so-sprawling ranch home, so we don’t have much storage for a large unit.

We need a wet/dry vacuum that will be small and portable, yet powerful and durable. Wet/dry vacuums come in a variety of sizes, from 1/2 gallon capacity to 15 gallon, 3-stage motor capacities. One feature I was looking for was something that could suck up small bits, wood chips and other sharp debris without putting holes in the hose or filter. I also want a wet/dry vac that will attach to my sander, miter saw and other power tools. Maybe the vacuum could even sweep my new bamboo floors. I’m looking for something that has a durable hose that won’t kink and also accessory attachments for corners and upholstery. I don’t need an enormous tank but I want a vacuum with powerful suction.

First, I looked into the DeWalt DC515 Heavy Duty 18v 1/2 gallon cordless/corded wet/dry vacuum. One very cool feature of this vac is that it has a cordless option. The 12v or 18v battery NiCad or Nano from your DeWalt power tool will power the DC515 vacuum. This feature makes it convenient for use in attics and areas where there is no power, and also useful for cleaning your vehicle. Plus, it small enough to store on your truck. The downside with this vacuum is the low Suction pressure rating, how far up a glass tube a vacuum motor will lift a column of water. For the DeWalt CD515, the suction pressure is rated at about 40-inches. Priced at around $140, the DeWalt DC515 is like an expensive dust buster. DeWalt also makes a 2 gallon cordless/corded wet/dry vacuum, the DC500. A Factory Reconditioned version can be purchased for around $80. The DC500 has a Gore wet/dry filter that traps 99.7% of drywall dust. I couldn’t find a suction pressure rating on this one which probably = not good. The DC500 is cordless however and can run off either a 12v or 18v DeWalt Nicad or NANO battery.

I decided to explore the omnipresent Shop-Vac. Shop-Vac’s have been around for over 40 years and are sold in pretty much every hardware store imaginable. There must be something to their popularity. The Shop-Vac 971-03-00 is a 3HP/2gallon wet/dry vacuum. Horsepower rating is the maximum output horsepower of a motor determined from a laboratory dynamometer test. But peak horsepower is outside the normal operating range of a vacuum cleaner, so it is not really a factor that determines how much air a vacuum can suction. The Shop-Vac 971-03-00 has a 60-inch suction pressure rating. That’s pretty good for a $60 wet/dry vacuum. Shop-Vac’s range in sizes from small, cordless dustbuster type wet/dry vacuums to 55-gallon, commercial versions.

These options are fine but can I also attach the wet/dry vacuum to my sander and other power tools as I’m working in the garage? Standard hose diameter’s seem to be 1.25″. I searched and found the Fein 9-11-55 TurboI wet/dry vacuum. The Fein vac features a cloth filter that will screen dust particles up to 5-microns (perfect for the workshop). It also has an onboard panel mounted outlet. You can plug your sander into the vacuum and when you turn your sander on, the vac starts automatically. Nice! When you shut your sander off, the vacuum continues to run for 3 seconds to clean the hose.The filter is removable for wet applications and with 16 feet of flexible hose and a sturdy rubber adapter, it can easily attach to power tools for dust collection. Compared to the others, the Fein 9-11-55 Turbo I has a suction pressure rating of 90-inches, quite a bit more suction than the DeWalt DC515 or the Shop-Vac. And this baby is QUIET! (aka: you could use it as your household vacuum) The Fein 9-11-55 TurboI comes with an upholstery and a crevice tool but the floor brush attachment has to be purchased separately (the floor brush has wheels but not a beater brush for carpeting). With a standard hose diameter at 1.25 inches though, I wonder if you couldn’t use a floor brush from an old vacuum? I have a Fein Multimaster and I know that Fein manufactures tools of exceptional quality. I’m sure for $240, the Fein 9-11-55 TurboI wet/dry vacuum wouldn’t disappoint.

Of course, these four vacuum options just touch the surface of what is available in a wet/dry vacuum. DeWalt makes larger versions and other manufacturers such as Festool and Porter Cable, to name a few, also make high quality wet/dry vacuums.

The basic features to look for in a wet/dry vacuum come down to:
1. suction pressure rating (be concerned if it doesn’t show a rating)
2. tank size (in gallons)
3. quality components (flexible rubber hoses that won’t bind or kink)
4. length of cords and hoses
5. what attachments are included (for upholstery and extensions for floors)
6. filtration system (the smallest particles that it has the capacity to filter)

Remember that a vacuum’s performance is rated by the amount of work performed by the vacuum cleaner and the size of the particulate matter that it has the capacity to filter. Air power is a combination of suction and air flow. Particulate size is determined by the filter rating. Air power will be reduced by dirty filters, leaks and poor quality attachments. A dirty filter system will reduce the suction and air flow. Vacuum filters need to be cleaned regularly and replaced as necessary to facilitate peak performance in your vacuum.

Written by Jude Herr
Toologics.com

Painting the floor is currently the status quo option for upgrading the garage. Epoxy coating and painting leaves an impressive look if the application is executed to near perfect standards, but that rarely ever occurs (ahem, sad personal experience). Done on a professional grade level epoxying and painting does provide a bang, but for a buck. Having to pay for the labor to paint the floor the right way if you aren’t the do it yourself type can be a budget buster. Epoxying is also time consuming, upwards of ten days in some cases, thus making it every sense of the word a project. To add insult to budget and time constraints peeling will diminish the value of the investment and the maintenance needed will again add to an already swelled budget. Bottom line the epoxy process is reliant on ultra skilled labor and even environmental conditions such as moisture. These factors make it too much of an installation wildcard with a high probability of dissatisfaction. Over all grade: C+

Tiling the old garage floor is a common solution in lieu of painting. You need glue, trowels, knee pads, and sometimes even patch to smooth out inconsistencies on the floor surface. Laying tile is labor intensive, not to mention expensive if contracted out. The risk of eventual cracked or peeled up tiles combined with the maintenance it takes to keep the tiles looking up to par make for a difficult sell to the busy home owner. Not a favorite with us. Overall grade: C-

A product that definitely takes the stress and expense out of beautifying your garage floor is Better Life Technology’s G-Floor roll out flooring. G-Floor is solid polyvinyl (no sub-par laminated compositions in this stuff) and its available in 10ft. widths, the perfect size for the garage. Installation is easy, consisting of only dropping G-Floor into place, cutting the edges if required, and better yet no messy glue is needed-further expense avoided. With G-Floor’s full coverage sheet installation, imperfections, cracks, and old stubborn grease stains that were constant eye sores are gone. Another benefit of G-Floor’s full coverage composition is it’s ability to prevent contaminants emitted from your car from reaching the concrete, soil, or water levels of your home. G-Floor actually possesses a natural vapor/moisture barrier making it easy to clean, reducing the tracking in of grease, grim, and the filth that leak out of our cars, eventually finding their way into our homes. Better Life Technology began producing garage flooring after co-owner, then obedient husband, Brett Sneed ruined his wife’s white carpet with slush dragged in from the garage. Ever since then cleanliness was the catalyst and still is the driving factor in product development at Better Life Technology. Cleaning your G-Floor is as easy as wiping away car secretions with an everyday vinyl cleaner. Another technique that can be employed to get your G-Floor spotless is simply dragging it out of the garage for a good old fashioned hose off.

G-Floor is designed in a variety colors and tread types that are functional as well as aesthetically appealing, blue raised radial being the darling here at FlooringNews.com. Besides looking good G-Floor is comfortable for feet which can really be beneficial for the ever more popular multi-use garage. Yet another attribute in G-Floor’s corner are its inherent insulating and noise reducing properties, a plus for any household.

For its overall practicality of installation, affordability, and slew of advantages G-Floor gets the FlooringNews.com stamp of approval. G-Floor is a premier flooring solution for the garage and is definitely highly recommended. Our overall grade: A