About Our Limestone Tiles and Limestone Flooring:
Limestone tiles and limestone flooring come from large quarries and producers, and due to the massive amount of production of these quarries, there is no uniform grading system that is practiced by the majority of limestone producers. Limestone tiles from stonetiledepot.com are supplied by the world’s best limestone quarries.
What Should One Look for When Buying Limestone Tiles?
When buying limestone tiles, one should look for an even surface that is free of voids and cracks, fossilized matter, and unusual spots. All of the limestone tiles carried by stonetiledepot.com meet these quality standards, and all of our limestone tiles are properly graded and quality controlled. One should also look for uniformity in color and background color. Some importers box different qualities of limestone tiles into one export shipment, and this causes tiles to break in transit making them unfit for installation. Limestone tiles primarily come from the U.S., Israel, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, and Italy, and the most popular colors include Israeli limestone tiles and Portuguese limestone tiles such as Jerusalem limestone, mocha cream and Moleanos. Texas and Indiana limestone are very popular, but most U.S. limestone is soft and porous. Therefore, it is mostly used for exterior building applications and landscaping. We ship our limestone tiles to all major U.S. cities including Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Francisco, and Chicago.
Where Can One Use Limestone Tiles?
Limestone tiles can be used in a variety of residential and commercial applications such as on kitchen walls and flooring, bathroom walls and flooring, as well as for backsplashes, countertops, countertop edge trim, and entrance flooring. One can use limestone tiles with a trim piece such as a bull nose or edge piece to create an inexpensive and practical countertop (although such an application must be checked with your installer since limestone, in general, is not a suitable material for heavy duty countertops). Limestone countertops provide a very soft neutral look, and limestone is the preferred choice for commercial applications in areas where one wants to accomplish a soft uniform feel, such as for hotel flooring, hotel bathroom tiling, and hotel bathroom stone countertops. Certain hard limestone flooring can be used even in the most demanding applications as long as proper stone flooring material is selected and applied.
What Should One Look for in Quality Limestone Tiles?
Limestone tiles and limestone flooring should have the following characteristics:
- A good uniform color selection of limestone flooring material should be used. It is important to dry lay the whole shipment to achieve a uniform consistency and blend of colors throughout the entire floor prior to installation. This will prevent unattractive or unwanted pieces although less desirable pieces can also be used for cuts and in less visible areas of the application.
- Pieces should be free of visual defects such as pits (except in some stones where pitting is considered natural and must be properly filled), major cracks, and major open veins (i.e. a natural vein that is not filled).
- One should only use sound and strong tiles.
- Limestone tiles must have a uniform, even surface as a result of professional finishing. The most typical finish for limestone tiles is honing although some can be polished as well. All of the tiles must have the same thickness (generally 10mm or 3/8” thick) and size. All of the limestone tiles we carry are manufactured at first grade factories with proper processing machinery.
- Professional packing should be used so that pieces are stacked with polished face to polished face to prevent scratching. The pieces should not be laid flat. In general, all stone flooring shipments must be prepared so that the natural stone tile and the limestone flooring stand up on a pallet. The shipping pallet must be of good quality, and your Limestone flooring must be securely strapped to the pallet in a perpendicular fashion. All of the natural stone tile and countertop pieces sold by stonetiledepot.com meet these requirements.
Care and Maintenance for Limestone Tiles and Limestone Flooring:
It is extremely easy to care for and maintain limestone flooring, which is one of the most durable materials and requires very little maintenance. We recommend taking the following simple precautions:
1. Be sure to select the right type of natural stone for your home.
2. Be sure to follow instructions by your stone care provider. We recommend Miracle Sealants, which provides excellent help and support through its web site: www.miraclesealants.com.
3. We recommend all natural stone to be sealed immediately after installation and initial cleaning.
4. For everyday residential use, basic cleaning with warm water and cloth should be more than enough to maintain limestone tiles and limestone flooring. Spills should be wiped off quickly, and heavy staining can be treated by using professional cleaning products available from Miracle Sealants.
5. We recommend that a minimal grout joint is left when the limestone floor is installed. Although some people prefer a very tight joint, a minimum grout joint of 1/8” is recommended so that the floor has room for expansion and contraction due to conditions related to your subfloor. This is especially valid for new constructions. In more rustic finishes, such as for chiseled stones, a bigger grout joint can be used.
6. Enjoy the investment in your limestone flooring for many years to come!
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