Kitchen Tile Flooring – ‘Take it for Granite’!

If you want to add value to your home and increase its resale value, then you can't go wrong with stone flooring.

 

Stone is beautiful, practical and it conveys a sense of quality and tradition. When it comes to flooring, you have three basic options in stone:

There are a few considerations, however, before you take the plunge with this form of flooring. Stone flooring is generally more expensive than other types. Because it is quarried, each piece is unique. That's a positive attribute but it also means that you cannot be 100% in control of the overall look.

 

Not only does the surface of stone vary in appearance, texture and hardness, it also needs to be matched with the kind of activity that it will be hosting. A smooth surface like marble, for example, may be less useful in an area where there is water spillage like in the bathroom where there is the potential to slip . In a high-traffic kitchen, you may want to consider a less-expensive option – stone tiles.

 

 

Granite has a huge appeal for not only kitchen flooring but also for bathroom vanities, countertops, backsplashes and hearths. It is quarried all over the world, and has a wildly diverse degree of coloration. ‘Niagara Gold Granite', which is – surprisingly given its name – quarried in Africa. Niagara Gold includes colours ranging from dark brown to black right through to peach and light rose. Its veining and colour varies considerably, and it is ideal for both interior and exterior use. And that is just one of the many colour options available in granite.

 

 

If you are going to go to the expense of installing granite in your home, then it shouldn't be a surprise to know that there are certain cleaning requirements. Again – keep in mind the end game: not only are you creating a beautiful, utilitarian environment for your present day use, but you are adding resale value to your most important asset. Cleaning should be gentle; there are stone cleaners but they should not contain abrasives, which might cause scratches to the stone's surface. A granite floor or counter needs to be resealed every one to two years.

 

And there are other practical steps. Avoid getting sand, grit and dirt on stone surfaces, because they are abrasives. If the stone is in a high traffic area, mats or rugs placed in the areas before the stone begins will collect those abrasives before they make it to your floor. Again, watch the abrasives in your cleaning products. Make sure you have sealed the floor in such a way as to avoid water seeping under the flooring. The kitchen can be the home of domestic accidents – things get spilled and granite, like any other surface, should be cleaned quickly.

 

Resale value may not be the first thing you think about when you upgrade your kitchen floors. But whether you are using tiles or sheets of stone, the effect will be dramatic – both visually and economically.