Natural stone, man-made tile

This is the 10th in a series of 12 articles featuring the great information usually shared at Kahala Pacific Floors’ monthly Great Flooring 101 seminars. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced them to cancel the wonderful sessions, but company president Shirley Pai Hilton (pictured at inset) has developed a new hourlong webinar version of Great Flooring 101 and shares some of the information right here.

Thus far, we have talked about solid and engineered wood flooring and its particular characteristics. We have also talked about bamboo, laminate and luxury vinyl flooring. We have also covered some basic installation information and learned about moldings — both tran sitional and perimeter moldings, such as quarter rounds and baseboards. And, most recently, we have discussed how wonderful wood and vinyl is on a staircase and also how to keep our floors looking great.

This week, we will talk about natural stone and tile, another very beautiful floor covering that is in some room or area of nearly every home. We know that stone and tile are very necessary or practical for areas with moisture or where we might need something more durable. However, there is a very wide range of cost for the materials, its installation and also the level of effort needed to maintain the floor.

First, natural stone is something that comes straight out of the earth, which is then sliced and cut into flooring and honed or polished to varying degrees. Ceramic or porcelain tile, on the other hand, is a man-made product. Tiles are fashioned from clay and baked in a kiln to harden into its final form. Depending on how porous a particular tile is, it will be labeled as ceramic or porcelain. Porcelain tile will not absorb more than 0.5 percent of its own weight when soaked in water. It’s as simple as that.

Natural stone is totally porous and needs to be sealed and resealed so that soils do not seep past the surface and dirty or stain the flooring. Porcelain and ceramic, meanwhile, have a totally sealed surface. The leading maintenance item with these would be the grout line. And these days, you have options for epoxy and urethane grout to cut down on headaches and maintenance with grout.

Want to learn more and get a special discount on your flooring? Please register for one of our upcoming Saturday or evening sessions of Great Flooring 101. Upcoming webinars are at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, or 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25. Registration is required so please sign up by calling 847-7711 or emailing sales@piiwood.com. See you online!

KAHALA PACIFIC FLOORS
CONTACT 847-7711