Exploiting natural stone as a flooring material is not a novel idea. Prehistoric buildings are all found with carefully laid stone slabs that have continued to provide stable floors for innumerable number of years. Of course, we have a wider choice these days because of technically developed stone tiles.
You get many textures and colors for stone flooring. It comes with its built-in durability and is found suitable for many different conditions. While considering a flooring material you should bear in mind that the only flooring material that really improves with passing time is stone. It lasts forever. Floors of prehistoric buildings that still look beautiful testify that.
There are not many options of flooring materials that can beat hardwearing characteristics of natural stone. Its continued use gives it a very distinctive finish that can’t be acquired by any technical process. It is easy to clean and maintain. It looks stylish and surpasses the looks of any modern man-made stone developed for flooring.
Primarily there are three types of rocks from which stone can be derived for the purpose of flooring. These are sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. The examples of sedimentary rock are Travertine and limestone. Granite is igneous rock, whereas slate and marble are examples of metamorphic rock.
Technology has facilitated to make replicas of natural stones. Reconstituting stones makes tiles. Since long manufactures have been trying to make tiles that would look like beautiful natural stones. Though their efforts have not failed completely with some of the products being very good, they continue to be replicas and are not real stones.
It’s not difficult to know the difference between the two. Machine made tiles as a result of a recent technological developments are new, whereas real stones, in certain cases might have taken 300 million years for its making. Formation of natural rocks is a slow phenomenon that takes its own time but the resultant material that we derive from rocks is of immense beauty. There is none denying the fact that natural stone flooring can’t be duplicated and thus has no competitor.
The roughness that is naturally associated with natural stones used for flooring can be treated to get an even and smooth finish by polishing it. As a result, you get shining pieces of natural stones for flooring. Well, if you don’t like it to shine, it can be treated to have matt finish, enabling its texture to stand out. It may be dark or black or even light colored, or in fact anything in between.
Floors made from natural stone are almost maintenance-free. Once it has been sealed properly, the cleaning is easy. A good sealant is one that doesn’t cause any change in its color, and prevents its staining, ultimately prolonging its life.
To the delight of its patrons, natural stone flooring lasts for many generations. You should be aware that the oldest stone floor in Britain is made of limestone that is estimated to be 7000 years old and continues to maintain its good looks. We couldn’t ask for a better proof of sustainability of natural stones!