Home Improvement and Real Estate

Stones appearance results from millions of years of geological changes. Depending on their location, moisture and gas content, and mineral composition, wide variances in color, veining, shade, finish, texture, strength, hardness and density will be found in stone. In manufacturing natural stone tile, these stone properties come through on the finished product. This makes tile selection and maintenance a very important subject.

Travertine tiles began as Limestone. Water evaporation down through the ages has left layers of dissolved limestone and minerals which gives a layered or banded appearance to the travertine stone.

Gas bubbles, formed when the stone cooled over the millennium, evaporated and are seen as the divots and cavities in the stone that gives it a rustic & antique look when used as decorative stone floor tiles. Some manufacturers fill these divots with colour tinted epoxy to produce a smooth version of travertine tile. Divots left unfilled must be treated or it will lead to the floor tiles wearing down prematurely. This treatment is done after the tiles have been installed.

Marble is basically another form of Limestone that has been super heated by the earth’s core that has changed it into a solid crystalline mass. It is some of the most colour rich and beautiful stone due to it’s unique veining that runs from the darkest black to the lightest pink. It is a most solid form of limestone rock and when made into marble tiles for flooring provides the best solution for beauty and longevity. While marble tiles are the hardest of the limestone derived family, they are still somewhat porous and should be properly sealed at time of installation as well. It is a much more tedious and labor intensive sealing job than say, travertine tiles, and should only be handled by experienced marble floor installers.

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1. Planning a home improvement