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Natural Stone

Nothing creates a presence in your home quite like the regal look of natural stone flooring. For thousands of years, natural stone has been used for architecture and design. Popular for its beautiful surface and rich aesthetic, natural stone flooring is durable, elegant and valuable.

The Earth's process for creating stone started millions of years ago. "Quarries" of stone deposits were formed by heat and pressure pushing up minerals from beneath the surface of the Earth's crust. If you're considering natural stone flooring as a choice in your home, read on to learn more about the natural choice for floors.

Types of Stone

There are many types of natural stone available in a variety of natural colors and finishes. From dense and hard, to soft and porous, there's a type of stone flooring that is perfect for any room in the home.

Granite Extremely hard and durable, granite is resistant to scuffs and scratches. Tough enough to work well
for high traffic and food prep areas, granite is a popular choice for kitchens.
 
Marble Marble is a sedimentary stone that has been a popular choice for flooring throughout the ages.
Marble is available in a variety of colors from white and grey to dark green and black and is notable
for its swirls of contrasting color.
 
Slate Known for its textured, layered look, slate is a versatile flooring choice that is perfect for indoors and
outdoors. Made from clay and shale, slate flooring is durable and water resistant.
 
Travertine Soft and porous travertine is a member of the limestone family. With light, earthy colors, travertine
can be left unfilled for a textured look, or filled and polished to create a more refined appearance.
 
Limestone Limestone is another sedimentary stone that is formed from calcite and sediment. It is available in
a variety of colors.
 

How to Choose Natural Stone Flooring

With a wide variety to choose from, how do you decide what type of natural stone is right for your home? Before you decide on what kind of stone flooring you want, consider the following:

  1. Where in the Home? - Location is everything. So before you decide between travertine and granite, consider where your new stone flooring will go. If you want to put flooring down in a high traffic area such as an entryway or a kitchen, consider slate or granite. Both are durable enough to hold up to foot traffic and food spills. For formal areas, marble is a popular choice for its understated elegance and charm. Granite is popular for countertops because it is second only to diamonds in hardness and density.

  2. Stone Characteristics - Equally important are hardness and porosity. These characteristics should be carefully considered before selecting your stone floors. Hard stones such as marble and granite are tough enough to hold up to heavy traffic and spills. The porous, textured surface of travertine is not a good choice for food prep areas or bathrooms.