Choosing the right flooring for your home or business can be daunting as it’s often a big-ticket item in a renovation project and is one you’ll use every day for years or decades to come. As modern technologies make luxury stones, like granite or marble floors, more affordable, stone floors have seen a surge in popularity, with interior designers across the UK stripping back carpet and installing stone.
Advantages of stone floors
- Durable – Surrey marble floors have lasted decades or even centuries
- Hard wearing – scratch and chip resistant
- Easy to clean – simply wipe down to remove most dirt
- Hard to stain – properly sealed, most stones don’t absorb water and are stain resistant
- No smell – unlike carpets, stone does not trap smells
- Not pet hair or allergens – unlike carpets, stone floors don’t trap pet hair or dust, or release fibres, making them better for allergy sufferers
Colours and styles of stone flooring
Natural stones come in range of subtle hues from black granite to white marble. Processed stones add vibrant colours to stone floors while maintaining the practical benefits of stone flooring. For most people, it’s hard to picture a stone floor from a sample online – that’s why we always recommend our customers start by visiting our workshop, where you can get a real feel for the different stones available.
Choosing a stone floor starts with your personal taste and style – you want a stone which suits your property and your décor. Marble floors have a classic elegance, while limestone floors add to a country kitchen look and granite can be either starkly modern or fit seamlessly into a historic building.
Tile pattern is another way to stamp your unique style on a stone floor. Tiles come in all shapes and sizes, and may work with the natural variations in the stone to create a uniform look or transform your stone floor into a land of contrasts, creating a statement piece or a decorative stone floor, perhaps for an entranceway.
Practical stone floor considerations
Practical and aesthetic considerations are both important when choosing a stone floor. However, modern sealing techniques mean that even porous stones like limestone can be treated to make them stain resistant, increasing the durability of the finish. Issues to consider include:
- Maintenance – some stones, like granite floors, require very little maintenance beyond standard cleaning while highly polished marble will require more work to keep its shine
- Slipperiness – highly polished finished are usually slippery, which can be a problem for those unsteady on their feet, particularly in the bathroom
- Wear – certain finishes mellow well while others simply lose their shine. Our experts can advise on the best finish for your stone floor
- Marking – modern sealing techniques mean that even porous stones like limestone can be treated to make them stain resistant, but for busy, dirty areas like mudrooms and bars a more resistant stone floor may be better
