Working in the business that we do, The RW Steel team puts a huge priority on the importance of the structure of your home, like your walls, ceiling, and floors, and what they mean for the foundational success of your home. That began with the most basic of elements – literally looking at the nuts and bolts. It quickly evolved into the best ways to maintain the above and the materials and processes that have been on the scene more and more. Even more quickly, that grew to envelop how much we appreciate the design enhancements and advancements that we’ve seen as trends over the past number of years.
Floors is the name of the game in today’s post, and more specifically, the different tiles that have seen a rise to fame and also where they make the most sense throughout your home (both internally and externally).
Of note, to kick things off, we know that there are an abundance of different types of flooring options that you can explore, but the RW Steel team is more and more impressed with the popularity of tiles in general, but also the different styles that we gravitate towards when we’re looking at the best ways to reinforce the structure of your home. Here are some thoughts:
Kitchen – you want to weigh the aesthetic appeal with what is functionally possible for the space. Are you someone that cooks on a regular basis? Are you someone who only visits the kitchen to set up hospitality events – probably with the support of another expert? It’s also important to think through factors like pets and children, who respectively, can contribute hair and dirt on floors and surfaces, so you want to ensure anything you choose is easy to clean.
Bathroom – The same advice above goes for bathrooms, but an additional level of detail here is the caulking work in between the different tiles. For some reason, it can be even more difficult to maintain in bathroom spaces, so just add it to the chore’s column for the household on a regular cadence – we recommend monthly, to ensure there aren’t any warning signs like structure damage (easily seen with signs like grime and standing water).
Other rooms inside – While not necessary, having tile in rooms like your closets and your bedrooms can actually cut down on cleaning time and costs because you’re not using these rooms for the same reasons. Our recommendations are to think through the simplest of options, decide if and how you’re going to invest (curb appeal and re-sale value are the things you want to think about here) and keep the above kitchen and bathroom considerations in mind.
Finally, for today, let’s think about outside. There are more and more options for you to explore, like poured concrete or stone paver products. The difference between indoor and outdoor is that you’re going to have to deal with the temperature as the materials will expand and shrink, based on the heat or cold.