Natural Stone Flooring- The Basics...

These are the more popular stones available:

Sandstone, Slate, Granite, Marble, Limestone, Quartzite and Travertine

Each has a different look and feel, are suited to different locations within or outside your home, and many have an impressive range of colours available e.g. Slate can be dynasty black, silver blue, Chinese or arctic green, classic grey, sanjani (pink) etc. (You may think that slate is ‘so 70’s’ - though seeing the slates available now will change your mind!)

Natural?
The term natural is used, as there are many man-made “stone look” ceramic tiles in the market place these days. Natural is the real thing, the authentic, beautiful earthy stone that adds warmth and depth to your floor and home. There’s a massive resurgence of stone flooring is Europe and the USA with more stone being laid in the 21st century than ever before, which is pretty amazing considering that stone was the original flooring (after dirt). The stone being quarried is also changing, never before have we have this amount of choice available to us. The range of colours and textures are very impressive and luckily there are great tile retailers all over the country that now stock an extensive range of natural stone flooring!

The Look:
With all of its perfection and imperfection, natural stone is often described as timeless- not only will it often last longer than your actual home, it’s look and feel being “of the earth” renders it eternal. Think museum, church, art space, heritage, comfortable, grand, unpretentious, contemporary, stylish!

A very important part of your decision making process when choosing natural stone in preference to ceramic tiles are your expectations! With natural stone you have to “give up” on expecting a “perfect” surface (except with stone like marble and granite which are often polished smooth). This is an important concept for stone buyers! Europeans don’t expect their stone floors to retain an always perfect, absolutely pristine look. They know that stone doesn’t work this way. If has a life, it looks better when worn- like a Turkish rug. If an absolutely faultless, clean look is your preferred style go for a marble or granite stone tile (if suitable for the area you will be having floored) or choose a ceramic tile (there’ll be no tears then!).

Warmth:
Any type of natural stone will always be warmer underfoot than ceramic (man-made) tiles. Natural stone absorbs heat, from direct sunlight or from internal home heating systems, then releases that heat slowly over time- a natural insulator! Underfloor heating can be installed prior to laying a stone floor (if you have the money and live in a cold climate) though mostly it is not necessary. Ceramic tile is virtually always chilly. Nine times out of ten a ceramic tile will actually deflect the sun. Natural stone wins hands down on being more comfortable underfoot!

Stone Care (It’s simple)
It is often said that ceramic tiles are much easier to care for compared to stone, as harsh detergents do not effect them, stains wash off easily and ceramic tiles don’t require sealants. All true, yet Natural Stone flooring is also easy to care for and simple to maintain. Stone can always be rejuvenated! (a limitation of ceramic tiles) Here are the basics:

• Ensure your floor is sealed properly on installation and before use! (read in next edition’s column our recommendations on naturally based sealants and cleaners that are truly family friendly)

• Don’t use harsh chemicals to clean your floor, instead use warm water, add a mild dishwashing detergent if you like or use a natural product.

• Wipe up spillage’s as soon as they occur

...Basically common sense prevails when looking after stone!

Tile Damage (chips, dents and scratches)
A natural stone tile, when chipped, dented or scratched will be very less noticeable (than a ceramic tile chip) as it will only reveal more of the same stone. And given that stone is textured and that each tile will be slightly different to the next, it is unlikely to cause you concern. Also, there are great naturally based products on the market which erase scratches.

A ceramic tile has a coloured “biscuit” beneath the surface glaze that will be visible when chipped and there’s nothing you can do about it! Chipping, denting or deep scratching basically ends the life of that tile so replacing it (hopefully you’ll be able to find the exact tile again), will be necessary.

“Stone look” ceramic tiles may have an uneven textured surface (mimicking the look of real stone). The peaks of the textured areas are prone to smoothing off, if laid in heavy traffic areas, revealing the biscuit layer below the glaze. This can look pretty shabby and can be enough for you to consider replacing those tiles effected. This said, top of the line ceramic tiles are very durable.

Stone look tiles are pretty popular at present. We are indeed strange creatures us humans. Time is spent perfecting a ceramic tile to look close to natural stone, yet ceramics can’t identically mimic natural stone! And those that are pretty close come at a price tag similar to the real thing. The beauty of natural stone is not only in its warmth and longevity; it’s also in the individual variations that present with each stone tile. With ceramic tiles there are often only 1- 4 moulds made which means you’ll have a pattern of four tiles repeating over and over and over again. Every piece of natural stone compliments yet is different to the next piece. No two floors are ever the same!

Torsten Fischer