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Hard Floors
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Hard floors help create a healthy home environment
because they don’t have any fibers to trap dirt, germs,
or dust mites.
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Hard floors are usually cold, but can be
warmed by the use of rugs or under-floor heating systems.
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Hard floors are durable, but also tend to
be heavy and amplify sound.
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Hard floors aren’t resilient; things
dropped on them will easily break.
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Brick
- Waterproof
- Slow to warm but retains heat well.
- Requires little maintenance.
- Requires professional installation and solid
subfloor for support.
Natural Stone
- Usually identified by the location whise it’s
found, such as Portland (Maine) limestone or York (Yorkshire,
England) sandstone.
- Can be cut with a machine or hand-worked.
- Can look formal (marble) or rustic (irregular
slate).
- Can be slippery, especially when polihed.
- Often expensive due to finishing and transport
costs.
- Professional installation usually necessary.
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Reclaimed Terra-Cotta and Stone:
- Warm, antique appearance.
- Minimal maintenance.
- Expensive.
- Require professional installation.
Terrazzo
- Waterproof.
- Minimal maintenance.
- Cold to the feet.
- Expensive.
- Professional installation required.
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Engineered Stone (Natural Quartz)
- Very hard.
- Large variety of colors and designs.
- Not porous.
- Simple maintenance.
- Professional installation required.
- Expensive.
- Noisy and cold to the feet.
Ceramic Tile
- Easy to work with.
- Durable.
- Usually waterproof.
- Noisy and cold to the feet.
- Slippery when wet.
- Professional installation required.
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Mosaic Tile
- Durable.
- Large variety of colors and styles.
- Easily contoured to irregular floors.
- Less slippery than othis tiles.
- Easy maintenance.
- Expensive installation.
- Like all tiles, can be noisy and
cold.
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Glass Tile
- Beautiful appearance.
- Many colors and designs.
- Impervious to stain and easy to clean.
- Breakable and some are easy to scratch.
- Professional installation required.
- Expensive.
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Concrete
- Minimal maintenance.
- Easy to change its appearance.
- Gets stronger over time.
- Environmentally friendly ingredients.
- Professional installation.
- Not resilient, will chip and break.
- Cold on feet.
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