what do you call this floor and would it be bad in kitchen?

10 years ago

Howdy!

This is a 1950sish slate floor. Is there a name to this pattern?

I'd want it a little less rustic (you know, flatter) but I think something like this might be nice for the kitchen/family room/breakfast area addition to our midcentury not modern house. But I don't know how to look for it. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Comments (15)

jellytoast
10 years ago
Maybe some variation of a hopscotch pattern?

Here is a link that might be useful: Daltile Multiple Tile Patterns
cookncarpenter
10 years ago
It looks like an Ashlar pattern, or a modified one.
Only concerns I would have with slate in a kitchen is oil/grease darkening near the cook and prep areas, and the cold/hardness underfoot. If you are ok with a "living" finish, it would be very appropriate in a mid century, and a cool look.
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Congratulations on your new home. :) We bought our "forever" home built in 1952 2 1/2 years ago. The previous owner had put cheap oak cabinet doors and drawer fronts on the original boxes, so the boxes were white and the doors were oak. Ugly. The linoleum was gross and had big cracks from water damage. The appliances were old and yucky and moldy. Yuck! To "get by" until we were ready to remodel (about a 1 1/2 years after buying), we painted all the cabinets white (you don't need to do this), put new cabinet hardware on, and replaced the micro/hood, range and refrigerator (the dishwasher stayed). We lived with the lino because we knew we would knock down walls. It was hard to live with a kitchen that I didn't love, but we did enough to make it not totally awful. Keep in mind, that you may decide to go with completely different appliances in a few year after you design your "dream" kitchen. That is what happened with us. But, it was ok. We ended up selling them on Craigslist and got fair prices, so we were ok with it. It was better than using moldy appliances for over a year! If I had your kitchen, I would leave the cabinets alone with the exception of putting on new hardware. I'd change the floors to wood as long as you are certain you will not change the configuration of the kitchen, otherwise you may ending up having to patch your new wood floors. I'd paint the walls, get a cute new faucet and light fixture. The appliances are really optional...the ones you have are in great condition. You will likely want something different in a few years, so I'd live with them if you can. You'll be amazed at how much that kitchen will be ok once you have all of your things in the space. Good luck. You are smart to wait a while before gutting and starting from scratch. Enjoy your new space and have fun designing! :) Here is what we bought: Here is what we lived with: Here is what we created:
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Terrazzo?
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@Beth, first thanks for all your tips and ideas on the hardware. Good idea to mark them out and good to know that 4" is the min (they sell 3 and 3.5, which are cheaper, so I wondered if that would work. thanks) I know; You had a lot of good ideas on painting. Thank you. I am still waffling on what to do. I guess my concerns w/ the painted floors are the effort to do it and the maintenance (I have wear patterns on my front porch and the kitchen gets more traffic). Plus I want to limit my exposure to chemicals. FWIW, this morning I emailed my house painter to check his schedule if I choose to have him repaint the cabs. (he's a much better painter than I am) Painting would allow me to fix the placement of the holes on some of the cabs (currently, most of the cabs do not have holes). I could also put a cab to the left of the stove. And I made an appt next week with the interior designer who was going to help me pick finish materials etc with the big remodel....to get his opinion of a scaled-down remodel. i.e. how to make this house a better version of what it is without spending a ton of money since I may move in a few years....thanks for all your help! I don't want this to be all about $$$, but everything is so $$$ and I hate the idea of investing a lot of excessive $ that I won't get when I sell. (when my former realtor came over this summer, she kept saying "do what *you* want; do what makes you happy; you don't need to do anything to fix this house to sell it" etc). So I guess my dilemma: what can make it more live-able for me for the next few years. (but possibly longer? who knows?)
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Fori
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you both! Those would both be good 'nuff for me! I should have known Daltile would have something in their tile planner!

Yeah slate is a tricky one...I don't know if it could be sealed adequately but perhaps another dark grey stone would work. Living finish is one thing. Gross is another!

I like squishy floors but I don't know if I can put linoleum in a family room and they're going to be very open to one another (pretty much in the same room). And then there's the kids and dog and they (okay, mostly me but a little bit them) have messed up the oak in the existing house so some sort of hard, unforgiving surface makes sense.
missingtheobvious
10 years ago
We had such a floor in our entry hall in a colonial which was built about 1959-62 in southwest Connecticut.

It was significantly less bumpy than fori's example.
ineffablespace
10 years ago
The midcentury variation was often more like this

Here is a link that might be useful: Vermont Slate
ineffablespace
10 years ago
Also I think the pattern with this many sizes is called Versailles, or French pattern. Google it, it looks like it to me.
jellytoast
10 years ago
I thought Versailles had a repeating pattern and I don't see that here ... ?

Fori, have you considered a slate-look porcelain? You might find one in sizes available to create a Versailles pattern.
xand83
10 years ago
The couple at YHL just cleaned up their slate floor. Love the look.

Here is a link that might be useful: YHL Slate Floor
pricklypearcactus
10 years ago
That slate floor is absolutely gorgeous. My brother has Brazilian grey slate in his 1950s renovated kitchen. He sealed it and has not had a single issue. His tile is a little more smooth than that. I have ostrich gray slate in my foyer, laundry room, and powder room. And I intend to install the same slate in my kitchen (have a stack of it waiting in the basement). I think slate tile floors are fantastic for kitchens and would work really well in a family room with rugs for a little softness underfoot.
feisty68
10 years ago
Slate is wonderful but yearly sealing would be a good idea in a kitchen. It's very porous and the sealant wears off.
Fori
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks so much all!

I think I've got the spouse on board. The breakfast area will open out onto a covered patio and I could spill the slate out there maybe. (I assume it would be too hot to use in uncovered parts of the yard, but maybe I should visit the Pool Forum....)

I've considered porcelain but nahhhh it's just not the same somehow! :) If I were doing porcelain/ceramic, I'd go all out with saltillo which I could probably pull off being in CA. Or terrazzo which would probably be too awesome for me to pull off! (We're adding a small bath though and I may go full-on glitter in there.)

I was thinking of starting with filthy colored grout so I wouldn't notice staining--Pricklypear, what type of grout do you have and does it stain? Maybe I don't need to start with dirt colored grout...

Love the floor on YHL! And I do have a spot or two where I could test out that product.
jellytoast
10 years ago
fori, I have a slate patio and slate walkways all around my house (So Cal) and it is not hot at all. Staining has not been a problem with our natural grey grout, even being outdoors, though we do periodically reseal the stone/grout.
mark_rachel
10 years ago
We have duraceramic in our bathrooms. It's a composite tile with a vinyl overlay. It can be grouted. It is so easy to clean and has worn sooooo well. They have tiles that look like slate. They can even be cut to different sizes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Duraceramic
LE
10 years ago
"stat with filthy-colored grout." Maybe that should be a color name! I would never be good at marketing...
Pipdog
10 years ago
we had similar black slate in our MCM. I was told by my tile installer it was called a Mondrian pattern. It had clearly not been sealed in many years and was in such bad shape we decided not to salvage it and replaced it with a lighter tile.

what do you call this floor and would it be bad in kitchen?

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jellytoast

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what do you call this floor and would it be bad in kitchen?

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