Few stone flooring materials are as natural a choice for Florida as limestone. Most limestone forms in shallow warm ocean or spring water. It hardens from calcium carbonate-rich sediment composed of marine animal shells and skeletons. Pressure on the sediment creates the soft, neutrally tinted stone perfect for contemporary, classic or rustic surroundings. Any stone containing between 50 percent and 95 percent calcium carbonate is limestone.
Limestone Characteristics
Their different mineral components account for the differences among limestone types. The stone's neutral colors include cool and warm whites, soothing grays and golden beige. Limestone types also vary in texture and density. Chalk is a white or gray soft limestone with a very fine texture. Lithographic limestone, an extremely dense rock, has a fine uniform grain and exceptionally smooth surface.
Tufa limestone appears where calcium carbonate from spring waters builds up on surrounding rocks. Tufa has a spongelike appearance. It formed the exterior facings on many ancient Roman buildings. Because tufa carves easily when wet and dries to become strong and light, it also found wide use in Europe's medieval cathedral ceilings.
Tufa exposed to long periods of high pressure hardens into travertine limestone, often called travertine marble. This white, beige, gray or coral-red limestone forms in hot mineral springs and limestone caves. Processors sometimes fill travertine's deeply pitted and rough surface with grout.
Limestone Flooring
Buy Limestone in FloridaHard, dense limestone floors offer tremendous durability. Softer limestone floors compensate for their susceptibility to wear and tear with their lower prices. Limiting soft limestone to low-traffic areas like bathrooms maximizes their life. Installing harder varieties in high-use kitchens, great rooms and foyers guarantees them the admiration they deserve.
Limestone tiles are available with rounded, polished bull edges for classic styling or polished straight edges best in contemporary settings.
Limestone Finishes
Surface finish dictates a limestone floor's final appearance. Polishing uses a series of increasingly fine polishing heads to heighten limestone's natural reflectance to a mirrorlike gloss.
Honing is modified polishing technique that stops before the limestone reaches a high-gloss finish. Honing is appropriate for lower-maintenance, scratch-concealing flat, matte or satin floor surfaces.
Acid washing leaves limestone shiny and slightly pitted. This finish hides scratches even better than honing. It works best with rustic decor.
Machine-tumbled 3/8-inch-thick limestone tiles have lightly pitted to smooth surfaces and rounded or broken edges. An alternative process is to tumble 1-inch-thick tiles and cut them into two 1/2-inch-thick tiles, each with a single smooth or pitted surface.
Buy Natural Stone in Florida
Stoneline Group LLC understands that choosing your stone flooring is one of the most important decisions you face. As Miami's premier natural stone importer, we can provide the tiles with the color, finish and durability ideal for your needs. Our family of companies also has more than 30 years of experience in stone flooring installation.
For the answers to all your questions, contact us. Our representatives are waiting to guide you through the process of finding the natural stone flooring that's a natural fit for your Florida home.
Buy Limestone in Florida
Few stone flooring materials are as natural a choice for Florida as limestone. Most limestone forms in shallow warm ocean or spring water. It hardens from calcium carbonate-rich sediment composed of marine animal shells and skeletons. Pressure on the sediment creates the soft, neutrally tinted stone perfect for contemporary, classic or rustic surroundings. Any stone containing between 50 percent and 95 percent calcium carbonate is limestone.
Limestone CharacteristicsTufa limestone appears where calcium carbonate from spring waters builds up on surrounding rocks. Tufa has a spongelike appearance. It formed the exterior facings on many ancient Roman buildings. Because tufa carves easily when wet and dries to become strong and light, it also found wide use in Europe's medieval cathedral ceilings.
Tufa exposed to long periods of high pressure hardens into travertine limestone, often called travertine marble. This white, beige, gray or coral-red limestone forms in hot mineral springs and limestone caves. Processors sometimes fill travertine's deeply pitted and rough surface with grout.
Limestone FlooringLimestone tiles are available with rounded, polished bull edges for classic styling or polished straight edges best in contemporary settings.
Limestone FinishesSurface finish dictates a limestone floor's final appearance. Polishing uses a series of increasingly fine polishing heads to heighten limestone's natural reflectance to a mirrorlike gloss.
Honing is modified polishing technique that stops before the limestone reaches a high-gloss finish. Honing is appropriate for lower-maintenance, scratch-concealing flat, matte or satin floor surfaces.
Acid washing leaves limestone shiny and slightly pitted. This finish hides scratches even better than honing. It works best with rustic decor.
Machine-tumbled 3/8-inch-thick limestone tiles have lightly pitted to smooth surfaces and rounded or broken edges. An alternative process is to tumble 1-inch-thick tiles and cut them into two 1/2-inch-thick tiles, each with a single smooth or pitted surface.
Buy Natural Stone in FloridaStoneline Group LLC understands that choosing your stone flooring is one of the most important decisions you face. As Miami's premier natural stone importer, we can provide the tiles with the color, finish and durability ideal for your needs. Our family of companies also has more than 30 years of experience in stone flooring installation.
For the answers to all your questions, contact us. Our representatives are waiting to guide you through the process of finding the natural stone flooring that's a natural fit for your Florida home.
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