Limestone flooring suppliers plse

never_enough

Looking for limestone or slate flooring suppliers & fitters in, or near the Cambs/Norfolk/Suffolk area. Anyone had a floor done recently?

I'm thinking of pale limestone but, apart from the jaw dropping price, I'm concerned it will look out of place in a traditional house with dark wood/colours. It's for the dining room, but we use it more as a living room in the Summer as it has doors onto the garden. Not that big a room, I think about 12'x12', so what size tiles are best? Any thoughts on maintaining the finish or potential probs?

Thanks

weekendwarrior

For Marble and Limestone you can't beat http://www.atstone.co.uk/

They ship all over the country and their tiling fitters cover most of the south of England and even abroad for large jobs.

Mr_Proctalgia

Have you considered Travertine Tiles? Have a look at these here

Alan_M_2

Very kind of weekendwarrior to recommend us.

Take a look at our site, we offer a low cost range of stone "Commercial stone" you'll find this surprisingly similar to what Topps Tiles and other wholesale outlets sell as top quality.

The size of the tile is a matter of personal taste as generally with limestone we try to find a grout as similar in colour to the stone as possible.

This gives an overall floor effect colour and takes your eye from the grid pattern of tiles.

For effeciency and low wastage a 400 x 400 tile would be perfect. The larger the tile the more the price increases (simply down to wastage during production) plus the wastage during fitting will increase. (except for our commercial products which we sell at a fixed price).

There are basic fitting instructions on the site and if you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

never_enough

Thanks for your replies.
Having looked through the atstone website I've now got a couple more questions.
1) I want a woodburning stove fitted in that room. Was planning on getting that fitted soon, then the flooring done once I'd saved a bit. Would it be better to do it the other way around? I thought having the stove in first made sense as the chimney breast is currently bricked up, so will be messy & gritty but maybe you know better?
2) I've recently taken out built in cupboards, put on top of carpet (!) to find scarey monsters growing under the bottom shelf. The moisture seems to be coming up from the concrete, through the chipboard but now there is air circulation it's much better. The concrete has something tarry or coal like painted on it, & from what I've seen looks pretty uneven(although I've only been able to get to a corner) Will this need to be dug out, or is it likely to be ok to put another layer of concrete on top? I'm guessing I'll need some kind of damp membrane put in.
Am a bit confused about the whole thing! I hate carpets, not keen on any laminate I've seen, so stone seems my only option.

Alan_M_2

1/ If the stove is sitting directly onto the stone floor, then the chimney etc needs to be organised, the flooring fitted then the stove fitted. If it has a purpose built hearth fit the stove first.

2/ Sounds like you have a floating floor, so everything comes up right back to the concrete slab. The black stuff is a damp proofing (sometimes referred to as a DPC). It's likely there's a little damp there where the chipboard and carpet is, if, after everything has been removed, it dries out with 24- 48 hrs there's nothing to worry about. If after 48 hrs it's still damp you need to find out why.

You'll need a sand/cement screed on the concrete block ready for the stone.

Is there any insulation under the chipboard currently? 30mm - 50mm polystyrene foam boards or similar?

windym_2

I have used http://www.rioazul.co.uk/ for both Travertine and French Limestone, I cannot beat the quality and price. They will send out small samples FOC.

never_enough

I was going to have a hearth built, with upstand (think that's what it's called~raised anyway!)

There's nothing underneath the chipboard. It's just concrete, then chipboard, underlay & carpet. Can the concrete screed be put on the black stuff, assuming it all dries out ok?

Alan_M_2

It would probably be a good idea to use a self levelling screed of somesort to smooth over the DPC first.

It's unusual to find the chipboard sat directly on the concrete pad, although once you've removed all the coverings if you screeded the floor and fitted a 20mm stone the levels should tie up nicely with all the surrounding areas, so bizarrely the strange construction you currently have could work in your favour.

never_enough

Alan_M wrote:

It would probably be a good idea to use a self levelling screed of somesort to smooth over the DPC first.

It's unusual to find the chipboard sat directly on the concrete pad, although once you've removed all the coverings if you screeded the floor and fitted a 20mm stone the levels should tie up nicely with all the surrounding areas, so bizarrely the strange construction you currently have could work in your favour.

That's good news, as one of my worries was that the floor would end up a diff level to the others.

Thanks for all your help. Just need to save up a bit now.

Debt_Free_Chick

Alan_M wrote:

Very kind of weekendwarrior to recommend us.

As a result of his link, I'm looking at you for limestone for a new en-suite bathroom - I want the whole thing tiled floor to ceiling. Yes, I'm looking at the commercial stone which would seem to fit my requirements.

Woo-hoo!!!