Thought I'd give those of you who want a "special" floor something to think about. My partner and I wanted something extra for the floor in our kitchen. I had an inner vision, slate. We've all seen it here and there, indoors and outdoors. We started looking for indoor slate, it was going to be expensive so we contacted a stone cutting business that sells various types of stone. Mostly countertops, very expensive but very nice! We ordered 15 square meters of outdoor slate from him. The delivery was supposed to take 5 weeks, so imagine my surprise when he called after just 2 weeks to say we could pick up 800kg of stone! 800kg! We picked it up and started laying it. It turned out it would be quite difficult to get the large irregular stone pieces to lay somewhat flat because they varied greatly in thickness! What to do? We had to start breaking the approximately 1 square meter pieces into what would turn out to be a 15 square meter puzzle. It was easy to split the slabs into desired sizes and we quickly learned how to strike them to make them crack in the right place. Then we smoothed the edges of each stone piece, using a hammer to knock off sharp chips. Then it was just a matter of laying... well, not quite. It was a real puzzle! Knock a few pieces and then try to fit part of the floor together, then mix mortar and set one part at a time with the help of a spirit level. A lot of work, but it turned out well! Very well! We grouted the floor with dark gray grout and when everything was cleaned and dry, we treated the stone with paraffin oil. Now we have a very durable, stylish, and unusual floor. We are satisfied!
Of course the floor is cold, but it’s quickly remedied with underfloor heating. Additionally, in the summer, it’s wonderful to rest your tired feet on the slightly cool floor, better than any conceivable foot creams. We haven't really dared to calculate what we paid for the floor. The stone cost 5300 for 15 square meters. Something we hadn't counted on was that it requires about twice as much adhesive and grout as for a regular smooth floor. It takes some adhesive to adjust the height of the irregular stone pieces. It also takes a lot of grout since, in some places, it’s up to 4 cm wide.
A special adhesive is used because it needs to be strong, with a lot of cement. Maybe it would be possible to lay the tiles with pure cement? That would significantly reduce costs. Check with someone who doesn’t profit from selling expensive adhesive! We’ve been at this for a while now and have learned that there are almost always cheaper alternatives depending on who you talk to.
Another thing we did to avoid using too much grout and to fill any voids under the tiles was to pour glass fiber-reinforced leveling compound; we had two bags left over after the floor loops.
Where to find a stone dealer is not so easy to say. We live in Västerås and we bought our stone at Skiljebo stone saw.
Good luck! ;D
A special adhesive is used because it needs to be strong, with a lot of cement. Maybe it would be possible to lay the tiles with pure cement? That would significantly reduce costs. Check with someone who doesn’t profit from selling expensive adhesive! We’ve been at this for a while now and have learned that there are almost always cheaper alternatives depending on who you talk to.
Another thing we did to avoid using too much grout and to fill any voids under the tiles was to pour glass fiber-reinforced leveling compound; we had two bags left over after the floor loops.
Where to find a stone dealer is not so easy to say. We live in Västerås and we bought our stone at Skiljebo stone saw.
Good luck! ;D
Jureit!
If you want to get in touch with a company that extracts, cuts, and processes Öland limestone, you can call:
0485/26275
Reportedly, 12 mm processed stone should cost around 700kr/m2. You might want to discuss with them about scrap stone.
//Niax
If you want to get in touch with a company that extracts, cuts, and processes Öland limestone, you can call:
0485/26275
Reportedly, 12 mm processed stone should cost around 700kr/m2. You might want to discuss with them about scrap stone.
//Niax
on the threshold is still unclear because the adjacent floor is not yet finished.
From the floor chipboard, gypsum, underfloor heating loop, leveling compound, mortar, and stone, it's about 4.5cm.
It is quite a lot, but since we could plan for a thick floor when we installed the new joist, it was not a problem.
In hindsight, I think I could have managed a threshold of 4.5cm if we hadn't been able to plan it from the start. There are nice trims available to buy to conceal and level it.
Now that we have tried it out, I feel tempted to mix all sorts of materials. Imagine brick and oak! Or why not a mosaic floor of secondary (as mentioned above) stone in matching colors.
Let your imagination flow; you learn how to do it along the way!
From the floor chipboard, gypsum, underfloor heating loop, leveling compound, mortar, and stone, it's about 4.5cm.
It is quite a lot, but since we could plan for a thick floor when we installed the new joist, it was not a problem.
In hindsight, I think I could have managed a threshold of 4.5cm if we hadn't been able to plan it from the start. There are nice trims available to buy to conceal and level it.
Now that we have tried it out, I feel tempted to mix all sorts of materials. Imagine brick and oak! Or why not a mosaic floor of secondary (as mentioned above) stone in matching colors.
Let your imagination flow; you learn how to do it along the way!
If you find it difficult to break the tiles at exactly the right spot, you can easily cut them with an angle grinder. An angle grinder plus a diamond blade doesn't have to cost more than a thousand kronor. However, it does create a lot of dust...
We have also considered slate in the kitchen, but have been advised against it from several sources. The argument has been that slate is porous (though not as porous as sandstone) and therefore absorbs water, grease, etc. Not very practical in a kitchen. You can get around this by polishing the slate, but then you get a completely smooth surface, and it's that nice, rugged stone feel that's kind of the point. Does anyone have any opinions on this or experience with slate in the kitchen over several years?
The porous surface can be saturated with special wax for stone.
I have used it on the stone we have above the kitchen counter and splashes from the frying pan are easy to wipe off with a dishcloth.
I don't remember what the wax is called, but I bought it at K-rauta.
I have used it on the stone we have above the kitchen counter and splashes from the frying pan are easy to wipe off with a dishcloth.
I don't remember what the wax is called, but I bought it at K-rauta.