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Month: August 2016

Mold: A Monster Problem for Your Home and Health

Posted on by torlys

Mold, a fungus that grows in the form of multicellular filaments called hyphae, is made of simple microscopic cells organisms and can grow virtually anywhere — especially in warm, damp areas.

While it’s fine for a fungus to grow on the floors of a forest, it can be a major problem when it starts growing in your home because it can cause serious damage and affect your health.

Learn how to spot the fungus, its symptoms, and how to prevent it from occurring and spreading in this guide on mold.

How to Spot Mold

The key to stopping mold is spotting it. The tricky part is that mold comes in various colours, shapes, and sizes. Whether it’s black, white, orange, green, or purple, you need to be careful and know what it is you’re dealing with. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious in order to repair it before it spreads further and causes costly damages.

Mold thrives in wet or damp areas, making bathrooms and kitchens a popular spot for it. Take a look at these 100 Pictures of Mold to get a good idea of what mold can look like to ensure you don’t miss any signs. If you suspect mold, get your home checked by a trained mold tester. The longer you wait to handle the problem, the bigger and more expensive it will be.

Where to Find Mold:

  • Carpets
  • Wood products
  • Fabric products
  • Ceiling tiles
  • Drywall
  • Wall paper
  • Insulation
  • Cardboard
  • Food and plants

Quick Examples of Mold:

  • Slimy black spots on your shower curtain
  • Fuzzy white patches (sometimes found on basement floors)
  • Slick orange film on a kitchen sink

What to do If You Suspect Mold

You should always be on the lookout for mold and know what to steps to take if you suspect it. Start off by doing a visual inspection of your home and looking for signs of mould or excessive moisture, such as stains or discolouration on floors, walls, window panes, ceiling tiles, fabrics and carpets. Obvious signs like leaks, condensation, flooding, or a musty odour will be an easy giveaway. If you find mould, it’s important to contact professional assistance right away as it will grow within 48 hours.

Mold Symptoms

Contact with mold causes people to become sick, and  For some, symptoms can occur almost immediately, especially if someone has a sensitivity or allergy. For others, it can take time for a reaction to occur.

Symptoms include:

  • Headaches
  • Sneezing and coughing
  • Wheezing and trouble breathing
  • Rashes
  • Itchy eyes
  • Runny/stuffy nose
  • Nausea
  • Joint pain
  • Asthma attacks

Keep a close eye on infants, elders, people whose immune systems are compromised due to HIV infection, cancer, liver disease or chemotherapy, and people with chronic lung disease. They are typically more sensitive to mold and may react faster and severely.

How to Prevent Mold

Since mold grows in wet areas, you need to take control in monitoring the moisture in your home.

You can do this by:

  • Installing proper ventilation throughout your home
  • Drying wet areas as soon as possible
  • Using mold-resistant products
  • Keeping an eye on your home’s humidity levels
  • Directing water away from your home

Mold Could Be Lurking In Your Flooring

Just because you can’t see mold doesn’t mean it’s not there. Mould can grow anywhere as long as there is a food source, moisture, warmth and time. It can breed under your floor or between floorboards, and it reproduces quickly. In fact, once mold starts to grow, it can multiply a million times in half a day.

Since you are in constant contact with your floor, walking on it, lying on it, sitting on it, mold in flooring is especially concerning. Keeping your home clean, dry and at a lower humidity level will help stop mold and mildew from growing. However, the best way you can prevent fungus from breeding is to choose a floor that inhibits its growth.

TORLYS floors are one of the only floors on the market with Microban antimicrobial product protection. With built-in protection from microbes, TORLYS flooring is designed to defend against the spread of mold and mildew. Microban product protection is embedded into the CorkPlus™ BLUE underlay of several TORLYS floors—when bacteria make contact with the Microban surface, it is neutralized. Plus, cork is naturally hypoallergenic.

If you want to protect your home and your health from mold, think prevention—think TORLYS with Microban® antimicrobial product protection.

Four Musts for Flooring Your Establishment

Posted on by torlys

If you’re like most business owners, you want your establishment to impress your guests to keep them coming back. Nowadays, aesthetics are important to guests, especially savvy millennials. Everything from paint colour to decor to lighting to art on the walls helps you create the atmosphere and look you’re going for because as everyone knows, little touches make a big difference.

But what about the floors? They cover a large area of your establishment. Choosing the right colour can help make your space look bigger or cosier, more modern or traditional. Choosing the right surface can help your floors resist any wear and tear resulting from high-traffic or the moving of furniture.

The point is, choosing the right floors for your establishment is a big decision, and we’re here to help you make the right one. Here are four things to consider when choosing the floors for your establishment:

Beauty

When guests visit your establishment, they want a little bit of luxury—nice linens, amazing drinks, impeccable food and trendy décor. After all, it’s their getaway or night out. Deciding on a floor is just as important as selecting a picture. The right floor can make your establishment look stunning, stylish and in some cases, more spacious.

Today, hotels, restaurants and bars are featuring more hardwood because of its impressive good looks. While hardwood is beautiful, it does have some downfalls (e.g., it can scratch and dent easily). However, TORLYS EverWood and EverTile takes hard surface flooring to a whole new level. Available in a variety of the latest colors and styles, this hybrid floor is gorgeous and then some.

Durability

The amount of traffic a hotel, bar or restaurant sees—and we hope your establishment sees a lot—can cause substandard floors to crumble under the pressure. Dropped plates and glasses, wheels from luggage, high heel shoes and daily wear and tear caused by constant foot traffic can leave a floor scratched, stained, dented and dull. Even if your floor can stand up to your patrons, humidity from a kitchen or pool can cause certain floors to cup or warp.

Hard surface flooring typically last longer than soft surface flooring. You also want to select a floor with a strong core that will stand up to dents and a finish that is scratch resistant. TORLYS EverWood flooring has both and is repairable plank-by-plank thanks to TORLYS’ unique patented Bulldog™ Easy Plank Replacer. Plus, it’s waterproof and incredibly quiet.

Cleanliness

Guests can be messy. Waiters can drop drinks. Chefs can spill dishes too. Your floor needs to be durable and easy-to-clean to prevent health hazards. Again, hard flooring is the best choice. Simply swipe-mop a TORLYS EverWood or EverTile floor and it’s clean. TORLYS floors also feature Uniclic joints that eliminate dirty grout lines as well.

Floors that are easier to clean have less dirt and grime, which means less mold and mildew growth. Guests with allergies will be more comfortable, the air will be cleaner, and “musty” carpet smells will no longer be a problem. All TORLYS floors are anti-microbial.

Affordability

Solid hardwood flooring can be expensive, but who says you need SOLID hardwood flooring to achieve a trendy and stylish look? EverWood flooring looks just like solid hardwood, but outperforms it. And it costs less. Plus, all TORLYS floors feature Uniclic joints that allow you to replace one plank at a time. If only a few planks are damaged, then that’s all you need to replace—not the entire floor.

Whether you’re remodelling a space or creating a brand new one, don’t forget about the flooring. They make a major impact on your establishment’s design and atmosphere while affecting your expenses. That’s why we recommend luxury vinyl flooring.

The right floors for your establishment will impress your guests and create a welcoming space for your employees. When looking for the perfect floors, look for something that look good, will hold up against daily wear and tear, is easy to clean and is within budget.

Luxury vinyl floors, like TORLYS EverWood and EverTile are the perfect combination of beauty, durability, cleanliness and affordability for your establishment. Take a look at how other businesses have incorporated our floors in their establishments, and explore our flooring options to find the right design for you.

TORLYS