Stone flooring - A Look both Classic and Modern

Stone flooring brings a natural feel to any space it's installed in. Whether it be marble, travertine, or granite, polished stone evokes a unique sensation of the intersection between the natural world and the modern home.

Being a natural product, much like hardwood flooring, stone tile flooring brings to bear some of the benefits and drawbacks of a natural product. Particularly, you may not get the complete symmetry and color consistency of a more man-made product. Stone floors can also be particularly slippery when wet. Some are sandblasted in order to promote more traction across their surface.

There are many different stone types to choose from. Granite is a particular favorite for countertops, with it's lustrous black appearance and white flecks. It also makes for great accents in other stone floors, such as travertine. Some stone is harder and more durable than others, so this should be taken into consideration when choosing a stone type for a given area of the home or other installation location.

A stone floor also has the benefit of concealment: natural stone, due to its non-uniform appearance, can conceal stains and scratches more easily than consistent, man-made floors such as porcelain and ceramic.

For these reasons and more, stone is a versatile classic that can easily be used in a variety of modern applications.

Tile - A Timeless Surface for Any Style of Home

In the world of surfaces, tile flooring is quite the golden-ager. From counter tops to roofing to flooring, there are many materials that have only made their way into homes in the last few centuries. Engineered hardwood flooring, laminates, and carpet are all neophytes to the scene in comparison to time-tested building materials like tile flooring. Even solid hardwood flooring, particularly as we now know it now with tongue and groove construction and relief channels, is only a recent development due to modern milling techniques in contrast to veteran building materials of human history like tile.

Tile has its first traces in history as early as 4th century BC in Greece in the form of tile roofing. The Greeks depended on tile to keep rain out and to repel the elements. While the Greeks' tiles were mainly comprised of terracotta at this point, modern homeowners have a variety of other tile flooring materials to choose from, including stone, porcelain, ceramics, and glass to name a few.

There are some divisions in the type of tiles that provide different benefits and disadvantages for homeowners: Some natural stone is slightly softer than ceramics, and is there fore probably not a great bet for areas of the home with a lot of foot traffic. However, if scratches occur on ceramic tile floors, these will make the floor look worn, whereas scratches on a natural stone blend in more naturally. Like any flooring material, homeowners should research the mechanical qualities of their tile flooring options to find the format that best suits their living situation as well as their decorative vision.

Tile has already been around for nearly three millennia, and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. When it comes to a floors and countertops, particularly in moist environments such as bathrooms and kitchens, tile is an excellent choice to consider.