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Slate Flooring

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Clairitek

Ideal_Rock
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I''ve never lived in a home with slate floors but I am considering using 6" x 6" slate tiles on the floor in our bathroom renovation project. Any tips, advice, things to avoid with slate floor? Has anyone laid their own? Our bathroom reno is entirely DIY and we are almost done demolishing the room. I can''t wait to get on with the prettier parts of this project.
 

NakedFinger

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We have slate tile in our kitchen and I LOVVVEEE it. They're 12x12, california gold slate (obviously there are different colors out there). My fiance did the whole thing himself. Granted he is very handy, and did all the work in our house, but I dont think it would be too hard for someone who hasnt done tile before. The beauty with the slate tile is they can be cut with a regular band saw, and doesnt need any special equipment. I say go for it!
 

Steel

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Slate is a great choice and there are lots of colour choices to boot. Go for it.
 

upgrade

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Nov 13, 2008
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We have (12 x 12) slate in our kitchen and one of our bathrooms too. We did it ourselves (well... he did it. But I made lunch and passed him stuff and that counts!). It''s very forgiving and he said it was easy to do. The only tough thing was the grouting process. Grouting was fine but cleaning the tiles after was pretty labour intensive since they aren''t smooth (hey- I did that part too!). Because they''re rough and uneven grout gets stuck in the low spots so we had to sponge them down a bunch of times to get the grout haze off of them.

We have to reseal the kitchen floor fairly often (at least once a year, sometimes twice) because it''s such a high traffic area. The bathroom was done 3 or 4 years ago, though and that''s only been resealed once.
 

Clairitek

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Thanks so much for the information! I really love the natural look of slate. I think it will go with the peaceful, natural intended look of our bathroom. DH is on board too, which is great and I feel pretty confident about being able to install on our own after reading your comments.
 

Steel

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Date: 1/20/2010 2:01:37 PM
Author: upgrade
We have (12 x 12) slate in our kitchen and one of our bathrooms too. We did it ourselves (well... he did it. But I made lunch and passed him stuff and that counts!). It''s very forgiving and he said it was easy to do. The only tough thing was the grouting process. Grouting was fine but cleaning the tiles after was pretty labour intensive since they aren''t smooth (hey- I did that part too!). Because they''re rough and uneven grout gets stuck in the low spots so we had to sponge them down a bunch of times to get the grout haze off of them.

We have to reseal the kitchen floor fairly often (at least once a year, sometimes twice) because it''s such a high traffic area. The bathroom was done 3 or 4 years ago, though and that''s only been resealed once.
Grouting is my pet hate. My tip is to point the grout not to spread it over the tiles and sponge/scrape off. If you point you get very little on the tile and don''t have to wear your fingers down trying to get the damned stuff off.

Oh, seal twice. Once after you lay but before you grout and again after you grout and clean. And do your research; some tile shops wanted €70 per litre + vat for sealer (!) we got it for less than €20 incl. Still expensive but I ran out of time to bargain shop
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Hudson_Hawk

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Nov 2, 2006
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My one comment is to make sure you purchase high quality tiles that are all the same level. Some tile comes in different thicknesses and you have to float them differently to make them level. It''s a HUGE pain in the ace.
 

meresal

Ideal_Rock
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Nov 13, 2007
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5,720
We have a dark/earthen slate in our kitchen and haven''t had a problem in the 3 years that we have been there. Also, we have a dark grey grout which makes it really nice, in regards to, not having to worry about it getting dark as you spill things.
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ETA: We didn''t install it, so I have no idea about the labor.

 

radiantquest

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Jul 20, 2008
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My MIL just did slate in her kitchen. It looks very nice and she said that it is durable. My only concern with the bathroom is that it seems that it would be very cold. I may be wrong and it may not be any colder than ceramic tile, which is pretty cold. Just my opinion.
 

joflier

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Date: 1/21/2010 1:16:03 PM
Author: radiantquest
My MIL just did slate in her kitchen. It looks very nice and she said that it is durable. My only concern with the bathroom is that it seems that it would be very cold. I may be wrong and it may not be any colder than ceramic tile, which is pretty cold. Just my opinion.
I think it''s about the same for coolness. They both can be pretty chilly. (that''s where heated floors are the greatest invention since sliced bread imho)
 
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