Flooring ‘N Tiles

Back to discussing tiles, today’s topic covers something that goes beyond tiles and into paving.

Brick paver tiles are a colorful and exciting cover for any driveway treatment. Placed on existing cement, they are grouted into place providing the same sort of sensibility as those brick veneers we see added to siding for the walls o houses and buildings everywhere. Durable, strong and colorful, brick paver tiles offer a fabulous look to the largest or even the smallest areas. They have a multitude of possible uses in a designer’s set of possibilities.

Many finished cement driveways may have these inset brick areas serving to break up the glaring color and the redundant monotony of large swaths of boring monolithic treatment. Breaking up the lines of a long and routine driveway can be a delightful use of brick paver tiles. As well, entire driveways of these warm, earth-toned tiles can produce an amazingly warm sense of welcome and of eye-pleasing complexity.

A variety of colors and styles of brick paver tiles are available, from the nearly “terracotta” simplicity of the clay-fired old fashioned Mediterranean stylings, to the adobe look so popular in the American Southwest, to the ultra modern new ceramics and hand painted and glazed brick tiles so easily adapted to paving, almost all things are possible in this marvelous application for a driveway, walkway or patio.

A rough floor tile is a result of design, not error. Modern homes are now able to incorporate rough floor tiles into a congruent and interesting mix of tiles, throughout the house. Informal-looking and yet mysterious in their naturalness, rough floor tiles can add an element of Nature into our ultra-civilized homes.

I have seen abundant cases of this which actually provide a warm sense of place, complete with an ambiance which welcomes visitors and the owners alike with this naturalistic and completely rewarding sensibility. Thick rugs, animal and manufactured, the welcome site of wooden furniture and fixtures all can combine in an extraordinary way to relax one and to please the eye.

Typically absorbent of light, these gorgeous tiles can mute the glare from the outdoors and a glaring sun, thereby “cooling” the vista immeasurably. Not only that, but being absorbent of sun and its light also means these natural rough stones tiles can also store heat, providing a cozy and warm surface for hours after the sun has actually set.

Looking out onto nature or some nice landscape, the sense of being at least partly “natural” at one’s very toes is an appealing and dramatic sort of concept. The non reflective nature of rough floor tile further encapsulates the home owner in his “castle”, making everything somehow as if not more intimate than any other flooring substance.

Spring is almost here, so why not start this blog with an outdoors post? How about flooring for your patio?

Outdoor patio flooring is a wide and intriguing subsection of exterior patio design.  The “flooring” title essentially deals with an enormously and an often stunningly beautiful wide range of possibilities.  From poured concrete, to interlocking brick pavers, to sand-based natural stone slabs to stone tiles and slabs and even other products adhered to a concrete base, you can see the ample possibilities inherent in the concept itself.

Simply stated, when the purpose of the patio is the extension of the living area from inside out, this construction of the “new room” takes on an additional importance.  Since it is for livability and not necessarily simply for function, the importance of a beautiful finish is a “must”. So I will touch very briefly on how to go about selecting outdoor patio flooring. The fact is, it is a subject more fit for an entire article.

Poured concrete surfaces now come in color and different textures.  One step processes of this “stamped concrete” product mean a design is chosen, as well as a color, and is “stamped” using a template, onto the fresh concrete resulting in a pattern and color.  These can look as primitive or as finished as one wants.

Interlocking brick pavers require a bit more set up and are arguably the most expensive option.  As such, there is a reason for the expense and a resulting value in terms of beauty and durability. Now being used in many cities as a road surface, these brick pavers also now come in an absolute riot of colors. In the end, it is a value-enhancing item for a home.

Sand-based and slab-on-cement adherence patio surfaces offer these gorgeous and amazing wide open choices of color and texture.  Natural products, mined from real quarries, cut to almost any form or shape, these are one of the ultimately most natural and pleasing of surfaces for outdoor patio flooring. There is as well, another stone product worth mentioning, which is the installation of an epoxy-based surface of small gorgeous pebbles, piled atop one another in a packed little cluster universally adhered with a glossy epoxy.  It is a very colorful stone/epoxy combination used to cover existing cement.