Slate kitchen flooing

D1zzy

Now you are all being so kind as to help me with induction hob advice- I thought I'd push my luck and ask about flooring.

I was thinking about green slate - UK sourced if possible though I have seen there is quite a bit of Brazilian green slate around.

Any thoughts on that?
Any thoughts on types of flooring in general?

thanks all for any input

Atelier

We had black slate and right from the start is showed up too much dirt etc. Green is obviously different but I would suggest that you get a piece that is sealed correctly and drop food etc on it to see how much it shows and how easy it is to clean.

If I was to look at slate again then I would problably have the peacock at the top of my list because of the looking dirty problem.

Hope this helps.

D1zzy wrote: »

Now you are all being so kind as to help me with induction hob advice- I thought I'd push my luck and ask about flooring.

I was thinking about green slate - UK sourced if possible though I have seen there is quite a bit of Brazilian green slate around.

Any thoughts on that?
Any thoughts on types of flooring in general?

thanks all for any input

Bean_Counter

We used to have a slate floor in the kitchen. The two problems we had were firstly drop anything remotely breakable and it will smash and secondly it was difficult to clean because crumbs etc got stuck in the ridges and grooves.

We eventually ripped it up and replaced it with tiles.

Meepster

Slate is prefect for a kitchen, as long as it is a) laid correctly and b) looked after.

If you do go for slate, ensure whoever is fitting it, boards out the floor with plywood and then uses a good sand and cement mix to lay the tiles on (preferably 25mm thick if you have the depth for it) DON'T use the slate tile adhesives you can buy, they cannot be applied as thick and as a result the floor isn't as strong. If laid properly, a slate floor can easily withstand dropped pans etc. However, they can chip, scratch which is why they need maintaining.

When the floor has been down a week or so, you need to use a slate sealer. The first time this is done, I would use three coats and then apply a new coat every year. Don't clean the floor with soapy water or normal detergents, use a specialist slate floor cleaner, which wont rip up the sealer.

I have seen a lot of problems with slate floors in my time (ex-DIY retail manager) and nearly every problem has been due to insufficient bedding of the tiles, or poor maintenance. I have also seen some beautiful floors which have been in situ for over 10 years and look brand new. Slate is like any other stone, such as granite or limestone, if you look after it, it will look good for you...