How-To

-Ideas for Great Floors, Sunset

If you're feeling adventurous when it comes to your floor, specialty flooring offers interesting options. While these specialties may seem new to you, they've been used commercially for years. Think of your favorite boutique store or funky downtown restaurant. You're sure to see great examples of specialty flooring there. They come with some outstanding properties. So if your budget permits experimentation, don't hesitate to check out these alternatives.

ConcreteConcrete's not just for your ordinary gray driveway anymore. Because of its flexibility, it can take on color, texture, and shape, mimicking other, more costly flooring materials. And it offers long-term performance.

Concrete flooring comes precast, cast-in-place, or in the form of concrete floor tiles. It can be poured right over a concrete slab structure. Portland cement, water, sand, and coarse aggregate are proportioned and mixed to produce concrete flooring. Because its hardening process continues for years, concrete gets stronger as it gets older.

Concrete may be colored by adding pigments before or after it is in place, by using chemical stains, or by exposing aggregates, such as marble, granite chips, or pebbles, at the surface. Textured finishes can vary from rough to polished. Patterns can be scored, stamped, rolled, or inlaid into the concrete. Some designers have been known to use divider strips (most commonly redwood) to form panels of various sizes and shapes.

The best way to maintain a concrete floor is to have it sealed. Urethane, epoxy, or water-based sealers are your typical choices. Once the sealer is applied, cleaning is as simple as sweeping and damp-mopping.

Leather
Leather floor tile is made from the same material as leather-soled shoes. Just like its apparel counterpart, the leather for flooring is tanned and dyed with aniline dye. Well-made leather flooring features a waxed finish that is heated into the material. Available in numerous colors and sizes, leather flooring will develop a patina over time. It possesses great sound-insulating properties and is warm to the touch. It can be used throughout the home but is not recommended for high-moisture areas, including kitchens and baths, or high-traffic areas, such as entrances. You'll probably also want to install a leather floor in areas out of direct sunlight.

It's easier than you'd expect to keep a leather floor clean. You'll need to vacuum your leather floor with a soft brush attachment weekly. Once a month, you can damp-mop your floor. Annual waxing is recommended.

Metal
Metal flooring runs the gamut from sleek stainless steel tiles to industrial-type grated floors. Steel is frequently used for open staircases because of its structural superiority. In addition, metallic composite materials have evolved into tiles that look just like steel, bronze, and other metals. They are primarily used as accents to other flooring materials, such as wood, ceramic, or stone. Because metals typically contain recycled products, they are considered environmentally friendly.

Cleaning a metal floor calls for sweeping with a soft-bristled broom or dust-mopping to remove any loose particles, then damp-mopping with a nonabrasive pH-neutral cleaner.