Homeowners often want flooring upgrades as they realize that their once gorgeous, high-quality carpeting has become a grimy hideout for dog dander and other allergens, food particles, and other things that bacteria and insects find offer great nutrition. These families cannot wait to replace their flooring. Many, like the convenience and long-life of porcelain tile, but want something a bit more unique.
There are loads of materials to choose from and some are interesting and luxurious tile options that are also eco-friendly. Let’s see what some of these choices are.
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Cork tile is almost the opposite kind of flooring from porcelain tile. Cork flooring does not echo sounds as porcelain tiles do and it is not cold on bare feet. It is made from the bark of the Cork Oak tree. Stripping the bark from the tree does not harm the tree and its bark grows back. These trees can be harvested every nine years making it a great sustainable material for flooring. Also, cork is unabashedly gorgeous.
Manufactured from recycled beer and wine bottles makes glass tile another superlative tile material especially good for bathroom walls and floors as they are impervious to moisture. Recycled glass tiles will not support mold growth and comes in a number of colors and styles. Glass tiles also make small areas seem bigger and brighter as glass tiles reflect light. Glass is generally nout suitable for use on floors, but is great in showers and backsplashes.
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Concrete floor tiles are another way to make your home’s appearance stand out. If you love the loft-like industrial look, then plain gray concrete tiles are what you are looking for. Oh, you want something more elegant – no problem as concrete floors are easy to stain and can be made to look like entirely different material such as glazed tiles or wood flooring.
Tile flooring offers many unique and interesting materials that will serve as begets to set off your luxurious home just as diamond begets set off the main and most beautiful diamond in a woman’s engagement ring. Because of the durability of concrete floors – they never need replacing – they are considered a sustainable material. Also the ingredients used to create the concrete may be partly from recycled materials, further improving the green footprint.
There are other materials to use instead of porcelain such as stone tiles, but, they are quite common and found in all types of homes, including rental apartments. Try for something more unique.
Sources:
http://www.dwell.com/product-reviews/article/7-eco-friendly-tile-designs-spring
http://www.greenbuildingsupply.com/All-Products/Flooring-Cork
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