If you’re looking to build your dream home, it’s essential to start from the ground up. Whether you walk, run, or glide across it, you’ll want a floor that’s optimised for your lifestyle. Criteria like design, durability, and distance are some of the factors to consider when choosing the material . This article walks you through some of the commonly used materials to help you make your final choices.
Granite
The advantages of granite is that each tile is unique in its hue, patterning and shading. This durable product can resist heat, scratch, stain and water. The darker tones are recommended to prevent watermarks and stains. However, there are so many options available depending on what colour and patterns that you like and prices vary for different types of granite. If you choose some of the more exotic slabs, it can be expensive, and installation costs may also be high.
Marble
The mere mention of marble conjures elegant hotels with grand chandeliers. A luxurious material, marble has many patterns and colours to choose from to match your interior design. Even white is not boring and comes in several patterns. Living in a warm country? The surface still feels cool to touch on hot days. Unlike most natural stones, marble can be polished, getting silky smooth and shimmering when treated properly. Tiles can be cut to rectangles, and triangles of varying sizes, in order to create unique and beautiful mosaic piece installations. Perhaps the only disadvantage of marble is that if not taken care of, you’ll find that marble scratches easily, as it is softer and more porous compared to granite. Therefore, using the right chemicals/sealers is important when treating marble floors.
Porcelain
Porcelain floor tile wears well, provides good traction, is water and stain proof. It is also long lasting, which makes it suitable for kitchens and bathrooms. Tiles can be printed in different patterns and accents, stained with glass, or mixed with other quartz minerals, in order to reproduce different looks The upside of tiles is that this material does not hold on to heat very well.
Hardwood floors
Hardwood flooring refers to flooring in natural woods such as oak, cherry, and walnut. It can be beautifully sanded to display naturally occurring patterns, and conveys a cosy, warm feel. However, wood floors can be expensive to install and to maintain. The softer the wood, the easier it will scratch and blemish. Hardwood floors in high traffic areas, especially with pets or children, will be prone to showing damage.
Quartz
Quartz is a common mineral found in nature, but quartz tiles are engineered rather than being quarried from a mine. Pure quartz is white or colorless, and adding polyester resins gives it the rainbow of pigments, patterns and veining you’re used to seeing in quartz slabs and tiles. The resins also make the quartz material scratch resistant, stain resistant and nonporous. In this way, the manufactured material has all the durability of expert engineering and all the beauty of a natural stone.
Quartz has a hardness rating of 7. Diamonds are rated at 10, so it’s pretty clear how hardy and scratch resistant quartz is. For this reason, quartz is commonly used for flooring, countertops, shower walls and other high-use surfaces in both residential and commercial applications. The material isn’t easily etched by acidic solutions the way other stones are.
If you are looking for more advice, consider paying a visit to KCPC’s showroom for a quotation. A company that specialises in marble and granite flooring, they’ll be able to take you through the design, selection of tiles, and finally, the installation of your floors. Happy building your dream home!
