Limestone is an Old World building material, with an extraordinary range of colors and looks. It’s actually a biologically made stone, usually of marine origin, with an average 50% containing the calcium carbonate of microscopic creatures. Small fossils are often found in limestone. The rest of the stone is sedimentary, often including clays which produce the fabulous colors of limestone. Limestonetiles are extremely popular in home design, and are featured in some of the world’s most famous homes, including the White House.

Design with Limestone

Limestone tiles and pavers are as “natural” as it’s possible to get, and as versatile. The stone is so easy to work that it’s been a favorite of builders since
prehistory. Even some of the Pyramids contain limestone. Design options are literally limitless. If you’ve got a good designer, just mention the word “limestone” and you’ll get a lot of interest from a real stone enthusiast.

Limestone is on a par with sandstone as a building material. It can even be used as a structural material, as in coastal Croatia, insulation and cladding. Just when you think you’ve seen it all in terms of what stone can do, limestone comes along with a few thousand more options. Some forms of limestone even include visible fossils. This stone is so highly respected by suppliers it even comes with a Users Guide!

Consistency and color- working with a great stone medium

Limestone is a great practical medium for working with color and design, and it has no trouble proving it. The limestone color range, if you please, includes subtle lemon, quiet blues and warm reds as well as the famous white limestone. All the primary colors, in any mix you’d like. (If the Americans had thought a bit more about it and shopped around, they could have had a Red, White and Blue House.)

Note: There’s only one real design issue, in that limestone is acid-sensitive. Acid can cause pitting in the surface. (This problem hasn’t stopped limestone buildings in Eastern Europe from lasting for hundreds of years despite severe acid rain, by the way.) In areas where spilled food or wines might be an issue, you might want to consider your options.

Just plain elegant- Limestone feature floor designs

Limestone flooring is pretty special, by any standards. It actually improves lighting with an even but muted reflection of natural light, much appreciated in glaring Australian summers and frosty winters alike.

You can plan big areas, feature floors, tile and color mixes to your tastes. Limestone is the stonemason’s joy, and you’ll soon see why as you work with your designs. Each tile is special. The “organic” nature of limestone gives the tiles real individuality, with subtle differences and nuances.

Limestone goes with everything

Limestone flooring is perfect match for any setting. You can hold kids parties, formal dinners, or have a nice night at home with a fabulous mix of colors and textures at your feet. Add some comfortable furniture, some tasteful rugs or so, and remember: It’s all yours.

World Class Elegance With Limestone Tiles is a post from: Bellstone

Natural stone tiles and pavers are the most beautiful, and most reliable of their classes of home feature materials. Getting the best requires a strong knowledge base, and an understanding of the points of quality in stone. You’ll find that shopping for stone can be a lot of fun, too. Whether it’s sandstone tiles in a kitchen or stackstone cladding in the garden, stone says “home”, as part of your life.

The beautiful world of natural stone

There’s absolutely nothing like the natural stone look. Whether you want the rugged natural look or the stylish polished, honed, flamed or bush hammered looks, the sheer fun of browsing for stone is a real pleasure. Real stone lovers swear by their stonework, and in terms of value for money, homeowners don’t seem to mind much, either.
Shopping for stone
It’s important to match the stone you want with the area in which it’s used. Each stone type is physically & chemically different. That makes a big difference in your choices. For example, a light limestone is not the best choice to use in an outdoor BBQ setting, because grease stains and the acid sensitivity of this type of stone make it unsuitable. A different type of stone like hard wearing granite, however, would be perfect.

Quality shows- Guide for picking good stone

Designer stone quality is defined by market reputation. You’ll find that your tradesmen have definite opinions about stone quality. The top of the line stone tiles, not coincidentally, also happen to be the most reliable. They don’t have structural faults, they don’t fracture like potato chips, and they’re consistent to work with.

Important: Quality service means quality materials. In a case in Sydney some years ago, homeowners bought a large quantity of tiles. What was delivered was basically a pile of gravel, utterly useless. It didn’t even survive transportation. You’ll find the best professional stone suppliers know their materials and their business, and know how to ensure quality.

Tiles and pavers

The main difference between tiles and pavers is thickness, not quality. Tiles are usually 15mm in depth, whereas pavers are usually double that thickness. Tiles are designed to be fixed to a hard substrate, like concrete. Pavers are designed for softer substrates like packed earth or a road base topped with sand. Pavers are made much thicker to provide structural strength in these diverse environments.

Getting the best for your home

This is a representative sample of what’s available in stone tiles:

• Limestone
• Granite
• Slate
• Quartzite
• Travertine
• Sandstone
• Mosaic tiles

This is where the fun really starts, and you can have a ball picking colors and choosing design ideas. You can work with multiple ultra-elegant design concepts using stone. Don’t be too surprised if your designer has quite a few ideas to show you, because designers love stone for its versatility and ability to achieve truly spectacular aesthetic results in any setting.

Top 5 Tips For Getting The Best Natural Stone Tiles And Pavers is a post from: Bellstone

Let’s face it: natural stone floor tiles do not come cheaply, so if your idea of an exotic entertaining area includes beautifully laid polished sandstone floor tiles, then you’d better do your homework so you get it right first go.

While that rich travertine kitchen floor that reminds you of cream brulee looks positively magnificent in the latest home magazine, it may not be the most appropriate choice for you and your messy family.

Whether you are building a new home or renovating an existing one, the flooring you choose can make or break a room, or worse still, the entire house. Therefore it is imperative that you thoughtfully plan your flooring; how it will be used, how much traffic flow it will get and how the surrounding furnishings will look (including the soft furnishings).

So let’s look in more detail at the points you need to consider before choosing your floor tiles.

Lifestyle Factors

First, look at your family and lifestyle. Do you have children who traipse through the house in dirty school shoes, or play ‘chasies’ throughout the rooms?

Do you lead very active lives which leave little time (or energy) for repetitive household chores? Or are the two of you relishing the ‘empty nester’ lifestyle and the downsized modern townhouse you’ve just purchased?

Floor tiles differ enormously in density, porosity, strength, durability, slip resistance and abrasion resistance. All of these factors need to be considered when choosing the right type of natural stone for your floor tiles.

Most tiles are rated on a scale of one to five for durability, with one being at the bottom of the scale and five at the top. So, if the room you are tiling is a heavy traffic zone, you will need to consider a tile with a rating of between four and five. Likewise, if the area to be tiled is a play area, you will need to consider durability as well as identifying floor tiles that are easy to maintain and keep clean.

You will also need to consider other factors like the room’s location. As an example, if you are tiling the entrance hallway, is it going to be subject to wet boots and umbrellas when it rains? Or will guests entering from across the gravel driveway be scratching the floor with the bits of leftover gravel?

Alternatively, if you are planning floor tiles for the large entertaining/family room at the back of the house that leads directly to the pool area, will chlorinated or salt water be dripped on the tiles? Although most natural stone floor tiles are water resistant, you may need to consider a specially formulated sealant to protect your new tile floor from salt attack.

Weather Factors

Most natural stone floor tiles adapt well to extreme changes in temperature, but some adapt better than others. Talk to your tiling professional about which tiles provide ‘fitness for purpose’.

Another factor to consider is the amount of direct sunlight your tiled floor will get during all the seasonal changes. The amount of sunlight not only affects whether or not the tiles will fade, it also has an impact on how hot or cold the room will become at various times of the year. Some stone tiles retain heat well while others deflect the sun’s rays.

Decorative Factors

Think about the colours you will be using or are already using in the room you are going to tile. Take into account the furnishings, curtains, accessories and even the paintings in the room. The most important consideration is complementing cool colours with similar cool colours and warm colours with appropriate warm colours so the floor tiles don’t clash with the décor.

If you are totally clueless when it comes to the colour wheel, the Internet is full of information about complementary tones and how to choose the right shades for your décor.

Putting It All Together

Once you have factored in all the necessary considerations, the final factor is that deadly one – the price. Your final decision will ultimately be made by the size of the area you intend tiling and the cost of the floor tiles you would like to use.
You may need to either alter your budget or the floor tiles you had your heart set on. Although natural stone tiling is not the cheapest option, it is certainly the best value for money because your tiles will still look as beautiful in 20 years as they do now.

Floor Tiles – Trends and Trials is a post from: Bellstone

While your favourite type of flooring is a matter of personal choice, slate tiles would have to be near the top of the list, right?

Slate is a beautiful and hard wearing natural stone product, which makes it ideal for flooring anywhere from a small entrance to a hotel foyer. Slate is a metamorphic rock consisting primarily of quartz, chlorite, mica and calcite.

Because it is quarried direct from the source and then merely cut to size, slate retains its unique characteristics, colour variations and texture. All of these special qualities and more are what make slate such an appealing choice for designers and architects.

In addition to its aesthetic qualities, slate tiles are naturally slip resistant, non-combustible, and impermeable to water, the colours won’t fade over time, slate isn’t affected by extremes of temperature and it is impervious to chemicals.

With so many qualities going for it, it’s hardly surprising that slate is increasing in popularity as more homeowners discover these distinct properties and the latest extensive array of colour variations.

But it is the very qualities that make slate tiles so unique that also lead to problems if left in the hands of amateurs.

So let’s look at the points you have to take into consideration when laying slate tiles so you can have a floor you’ll be proud to display.

• Slate floor tiles need to be laid on a solid surface that is clean and rigid. Slate is a very inflexible material, so damage can occur if there is any movement.

  For more information about how to lay the correct substrate, consult a professional.

  Once your substrate is constructed, clean the surface thoroughly. Remove all dirt particles, old adhesive, sealers, grease or paint.

• If the floor you want to tile has more than a 3mm fall, thickset adhesives need to be used.
• Slate tiles naturally vary in thickness by up to 5mm, so you will need to make allowances in the amount of adhesive and grout applied to obtain a flat surface. Your installer can give you advice on how thick the adhesive needs to be and the correct type of adhesive to use.
• Because of the variations in thickness and also the variety of colours in each tile, it makes good sense to remove all slate tiles from the pallets and complete a ‘dry run’.
• Depending on the look you want to achieve, move the tiles around during the ‘dry run’ until the tonal variations suit you. Aim to lay the thickest tiles towards the centre of the area you are tiling with the thinner tiles towards the edges. The thickest tiles will dictate the overall height, while the thinner tiles will need to be built up with extra adhesive.
• If the slate needs to be cut, select the thinnest tiles and use an angle grinder or electric saw with a masonry disc.
• Slate tiles often have flaky or loose layers which need to be removed with a paint scraper prior to laying. Ensure you remove excess layers before you begin your ‘dry run’ as the thickness may alter.
• Because slate floor tiles vary in size, a space of between 6mm and 10mm is required between tiles. Although a spacer is generally recommended to create a uniform look, this can be difficult with slate.
• Once the grouting has been allowed to set and harden for at least 24 hours, the tiles need to be thoroughly cleaned with a high pressure water jet. Allow the tiles to dry and inspect the total look before proceeding to the final stage.
• To preserve the natural look and appeal of slate floor tiles, a penetrating sealant is recommended. This type of sealant forms an invisible barrier beneath the surface of the tile, which repels contaminants and enables internal moisture to escape. A penetrating sealant preserves the natural colour and sheen of slate tiles and makes them a breeze to keep clean.

Alternatively, to enhance the natural colour of the slate, a water based surface sealer is an option in either a low sheen or gloss finish.

As long as you take care with the preparation and installation of slate tiles, you will have a beautiful floor that will continue to surprise and delight you 20 years from now.

Slate Tiles – Floor Friend Or Foe? is a post from: Bellstone