Wood, Stone and Tile are Timeless Flooring Options.
In these dynamic building and designing times, natural stone and tile seems to be timeless but there is an interesting history. It wasn't until the Barouque Era (1625-1714) that stone and wooden floors became elegant, starting with the French parquetry and marquetry patterns. Illusionistic 3D designs were made from hand cut and laid pieces of contrasting coloured hardwoods. They were then hand scraped of their overwood, scrubbed with sand, stained and polished. These were only found in the most affluent and royal homes of their time. Some of the merchant class would imitate this by painting a plank floor with designs, but few of these floors survive today.
The great abundance of wood in North America brought common use of the plank floor on the main floor during the Colonial Era (1607-1780). At last the new Americans could get off the earthen floors and enjoy the resiliency and warmth of wooden floors.
These floors were not sanded or finisished, but because they were made out of slow growth pine, they were simply polished smooth by the feet of generations of colonists.
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By the early 19 th century more parquet patterns were showing up, but only in the richest of rooms. Wooden plank floors remianed the norm and were treated with paint, and in the better homes laid in a tongue and grove configuration. More modest houses would have random width boards simply face nailed to the joists. The advent of the T. and G. meant the boards could be leveled before they were painted. The carpenter would affix a scraper to a 6 foot pole and using his foot as weight, pull ribbons of overwood off the edges of the boards. A final hand sanding, a good shellacking, and a team of servants to wax and buff the floor made these floors glow. All this was labour intensive but at the starvation wages paid to help those days why not if you had the bucks.
Wooden floors didn't get factory mass produced until the American Victorian Era (1840-1910) and then only late in this era. A 1903 E. L. Roberts catalog shows "wood carpeting" consisting of 1 1/2" by 5/16" strips glued to a heavy cotton canvas. These came in rolls about 3 feet wide and were installed by tacking down each board every foot or so.
They suggested many patterns of installation, most with fancy parquetry borders. Each of these small brads had to be set below the surface and filled. All these pieces were then scraped, sanded with the hand operated floor brush. This was a 25 pound block with natural bristles on it's bottom. A broom handle attached, you pushed it across the floor, with sandpaper strapped to it. Slow but effective. Varnishes were usually slow curing tung oils introduced from China. These were not durable in themselves so the floors were hot waxed and buffed to a shine with the floor brush.
The factory mills said in their ads "Any one familiar with the use of a saw, hammer
and varnish brush can lay and finish them. A servant of average intelligence can keep parquetry floors as if they were newly laid with but little effort" Sure and at 10 cents an hour why not ? These floors were touted as easy to install and yet as elegant as the time proven European parquetry. But few of these floors survive today. All that face nailing of small strips made for a sqeaky and split ridden floor. At the same time mass produced 3/8", 1/2", 3/4" strip hardwood flooring was cheaply available at 10, 15 and 20 cents per square foot respectivly. Why most folk in this city of Toronto chose the 3/8" strip (saving about 80 dollars in the average house) I have no idea. A poor choice of hardwood by one generation is then foisted on the next. Most of the 3/4" strip floor on the other hand is still around and is being carefully and happily restored by this generation.
By the Edwardian Era (1901-1914) wooden tongue and grove floor boards were the most popular domestic flooring. Parquetry patterns were found framing the edges of carpet (back then carpet was much more expensive than wood). Block hardwood floor could be laid on top of concrete using hot tar as an adhesive. Some block floors survive today and can be removed, cleaned of the tar and relaid in a modern mastic. Herringbone is a similar form of tongue and grove type floor popular in this era.
By the 1920's and 30's wooden floors came into competion with linoleum and cork floors, which offered a more basic geometry, and less maintenance. This modern movement continued to emphisize hard durable surfaces. Varnishes improved hardness and curing time with the addition of alkyd resin and in the 1930's polyurethane was the ideal no-wax finish for floors. Here's just one thought. . .When remodeling a kitchen or bathroom, it might be prudent to first chose the color for your walls, keeping in mind that you have the option of changing this color months or years down the road. Once you have that color selected, take a sample of both your cabinets and your countertop with you to the tile store. Samples can be placed on each tile you consider. When you narrow down your choices, you might want to borrowed the sample tiles from the store, and try each of them in your home, in your own lighting. You'll find it especially helpful to have the items on the floor instead of on a tabletop surface. You want to get a good idea of how it would look from your height. Flooring looks one way up close and completely different from another height.
Another tip is to check your grout color options side by side with the tile you choose. Beautiful. . .
This is refered to as the reverse method, you might want to give it a try. Best wishes on creating the kitchen or bathroom of your dreams! Check out part of our Home Library Series on Laser Countertop Design.
The latest technology in the trade.
Something different seems to be the trend. There are many new materials and variants come out each year. New engineered products, new textures and a new process to fabricate it just the way installers and builders need it. Whatever the materials are, your approach can make a big difference. This will take you from start to finish and give you an idea of what countertop materials you might want to work with. 
With CAD, Computer Aided Design, even the fraction of inches can be utilized and look Oh, so great when it comes to installation. There's lots of decisions to make: counter tops, backsplash ideas, tile design, bathroom counter top, outdoor kitchen, granite care, marble, travertine, limestone, Silestone, Corian . . . and much more.Grab a pencil and a note pad, take some notes and write down your questions. To view the segment, click on the TV to the above. Wood Flooring - Great Companions to any Room. There's nothing more inviting to a room than a wood floor. It brings character, depth and a design pallet that fills the imagination. There's lots of work behind that wood floor before it's laid down in the house your building. Host, Shane Secrist "The Wood Whisperer," asked some behind-the-scenes questions at the recent NWFA Expo. Make sure you tunee-in. And no matter if it is wood, marble, tile or other materials, almost any floor you install in homes these days can be an economical heated floor.. . Most systems last many decades and offer an economical way to heat a small area or an entire room.