Fabulous Floors

Wall-to-wall carpets-the height of luxury in the mid-20th century-have shrunk from whole-house coverings to a room here and there. In their place, interior designers say, homeowners are choosing floors made of natural, or at least natural-looking, materials.

"It's all about hard surfaces," says Nancy Love, marketing manager of Woodsman Kitchens and Floors. "Florida has always been a strong tile market. But Jacksonville, possibly because we're so far north, is also a good market for wood floors."

Susie Alderman, vice-president of design and sales for Palmer Hall, agrees. "We're seeing a lot more wood, in part because it's becoming more affordable for more people," she says. "There are a lot of pre-finished, engineered wood products that are making it easier for homeowners to make the initial investment. Plus, it's beautiful and the colors are warm; it makes for a cozy space."

Relative affordability is also driving the stone tile market, says Roger Johnson, veteran sales representative at Bel Marmi in Neptune Beach. "Countries like Brazil and Turkey are starved for cash, and they're flooding the market with travertine, granite and marble," he says.

Personal tastes, traffic patterns and overall decorating schemes figure into the choice between wood and tile floors. But flooring purveyors say both appeal to consumers for some very practical reasons.

"In a word, maintenance," says Johnson. "Even the best vacuum cleaner can't get under a carpet backing. If you have allergies, that can be a big problem. People would rather have a surface they can clean-and know that it is clean."

Cleaning tile of all kinds is as easy as wet-mopping the floor, although natural surfaces can scratch. Polyurethane-coated wood can be dry or damp-mopped, although Alderman warns against using too much water. "You sweep or vacuum, then spritz a little water and mop," she says. "You don't want to swab the deck because the more water you put on the floor, the more opportunity there is for the wood to swell."

Oak remains the most popular choice for wood flooring, says Alderman, because it's reasonably priced and can be stained in a variety of shades. Some homeowners, however, are opting for more refined looks. "There are many hardwoods that don't have the busy grain that oak does," she explains. "And the color comes not from a stain, but from the wood itself. That includes teak, American or Brazilian cherry and maple. It's more expensive, but can be quite beautiful."

Other trendy wood flooring options include bamboo, which is technically a grass but produces floor planks as hard as maple. Bamboo can be stained in a range of colors from light to dark, but all have the unique horizontal markings that distinguish it from other materials.

Since bamboo is fast growing, it's considered an environmentally friendly building material, as is cork. Cork floors-made from material pulled from the barks of trees without harvesting the tree-are sealed with layers of polyurethane. Still, cork offers a little more give than most wood floors.

Woodsman's Love says exotic choices such as bamboo and cork get a lot of attention, but so far at least, relatively few takers. Instead, she's seeing a trend toward wider, more rustic looking floor planks. "Wood flooring used to be mostly two-and-a-quarter inches wide," she says. "Now we're seeing products that are four, five, even six-and-a-half inches wide." Love says one of her company's top-selling flooring options is a light-colored, five-inch-wide hickory plank. Hand-scraped or distressed wood planks are another popular choice for homeowners seeking a warm, casual look.

On the tile front, it also seems bigger is regarded as better. Although interior designers report increasing interest in mesh-mounted mosaic tile floor accents, shower walls and back splashes, it seems that the hottest sellers are what once would have once been considered oversized tiles-16-, 18- or 24-inches square. Many of these larger tiles can be set closer together for minimal grout lines, which means less cleaning is required.

Natural stone floors, once available only to those with deep pockets, are now within reach of more moderately affluent homeowners. A wide range of stone tile products-travertine being the most abundant and affordable-are being installed locally.

"We're seeing a lot of interest in natural stone for hardscaping," says Kevin Adams, president of Design Materials in Jacksonville. "A lot of people are using travertine pavers around their pools. It's got a very unique look, with different markings from tile to tile. It makes for a beautiful pool area or deck-very different from concrete."

Tumbled marble, processed to create rough edges and an antique finish, is currently popular, particularly for large bathrooms, foyers and dens. Shiny marble or highly polished granite-both relatively expensive options-are still being used for large entryways, living rooms and some bathrooms, occasionally with inset medallions or borders.

Although the beauty of those substances almost always turns heads in showrooms, natural stone is porous and requires special care and maintenance, says Bel Marmi's Johnson. "Stone also has to be placed by a stone setter, not a tile setter," she notes. "It's got to be mud-set and properly cleaned and sealed at the end. It's a different process."

Largely because of maintenance issues, flooring specialists say they're starting to see homeowners turn back toward porcelain tiles, particularly some of the newer porcelains made to look like stone. "Porcelain is more durable and the newest technologies allow for tiles that look more like stone," says Adams. "That's what people want-a natural look with little maintenance. The technology has really gotten better and better and it's all happening very fast."

Robbie Price, interior designer at Design Materials in Jacksonville, says another tile trend-one she considers most welcome-is toward using more color. "People are saying 'I'm beiged out,' and they're looking to warm up their houses by using tiles that have some personality," she says. "They want a look with character-something not so neutral. And if they do go neutral, then they're putting in color with accent tiles."

Accent tiles might be shiny colored porcelains or tiles boasting designs or even flashy metals. For the latest look, they can even be made of jewel-toned recycled glass. "Glass tiles are very strong and non-porous and they come in every color imaginable," says Price.

Accent tiles can be as expensive as tiny works of art-so homeowners on a budget either use them judiciously or add interest with a pattern of different size tiles or tiles laid diagonally. Of course, tile costs can vary widely, with marble tiles ranging from $5 to $15 per square foot, travertines from $3 to $7 per square foot and porcelain tiles from $6 to $8 per square foot. Pre-finished hardwood floors start at around $15 per square foot.

It doesn't take a mathematical genius to figure out that you can carpet a three-bedroom house for the cost of laying hardwood or tile in one large family room. Still, more and more people are making the initial investment in hard flooring, hoping for both endurance and beauty.

"The trend nationwide is toward more hard surfaces and Jacksonville is no exception," says Love. "Wood and tile are going all over the house."

COMING TO TERMS WITH FLOORING

Bamboo. A grass that grows in warm, moist climates. Bamboo flooring comes from these thick-stalked plants and is as hard as maple. Can be dyed in variety of colors.

Ceramic Tile. Tiles made from clay materials that have been hardened and fired at high temperatures. Can be glazed with a shiny finish or left with a matte finish.

Concrete. A mixture of sand, gravel, cement and water that forms the basis for many Florida slab-built homes as well as driveways, walkways and patios. Very hard when dried and can be colored or embossed with a variety of decorative finishes.

Cork. Grainy, spongy substance pulled from inside the bark of living trees. Used for bulletin boards and sound baffling. Has many layers of sealants and hardening agents.

Granite. A hard, natural stone with a distinctive crystalline pattern. Polished granite is often used for countertops as well as for floor tiles.

Hardwood. Made from oak, cherry, hickory, maple and other trees that can withstand heavy pressure. (Pine, although used in many Victorian-era homes, is considered a softwood.) May reflect the natural shade of the wood or may be stained a different shade. Engineered or pre-finished wood flooring is a product made from fused layers of material including a top layer of sealed hardwood.

Laminate. Any layered, fused product is technically a laminate, although the term is usually used to refer to faux wood flooring with a clear topcoat. Easy to install and popular with do-it-yourselfers, but cannot be refinished when the original finish becomes worn or damaged.

Limestone. A porous, sedimentary rock usually formed from the remains of marine animals. Finishes can range from rough (which is naturally non-slip) to polished. Small fossil imprints may be evident.

Marble. A prized type of limestone with distinctive, vein-like patterns. Can be polished to a very high gloss and ranges in color from snowy white to black.

Mosaic. Tiny tiles of ceramic, stone or glass that can be laid randomly or in a pattern. Most are factory-mounted onto mesh backing so they can be laid in large sections.

Parquet. A patterned wood floor. Usually refers to floors covered with wood tiles made from strips of wood fused together or placed together on some type of backing.

Porcelain Tile. A type of ceramic tile made from refined clay fired at very high temperatures. Has a very low moisture absorption level.

Saturnia. Travertine cut against the grain for a different appearance. Also see Travertine.

Slate. Fine-grained, layered rock formed from shale and clay. Can be cut into thin sheets. Slate floors usually use tiles of different sizes for an interesting, random-looking pattern. Sealed slate is stain-resistant.

Travertine. A limestone cousin that comes in a wide range of colors. Gas bubbles that rise as the rock is formed. Often leave interesting textures and pitting on the surface. Sealants can leave surfaces smooth while allowing the textured appearance to show through.

Terrazzo. Chips of stone-usually marble-mixed with cement and applied to floors. Popular in the 1950s and 1960s, it is said to be making a comeback.

Vinyl. Synthetic, flexible floor covering that can be applied in sheets or tiles.

BEYOND BERBER

Wood and tile may have taken over the public areas in many homes, but carpet will never disappear completely. Interior designers say bedrooms and other areas where homeowners want comfort and sound baffling will likely continue to sport carpeted floors.

As a result, since consumers are buying less carpet, they're splurging on upgraded material in areas of the home where carpeting is desirable.

The hottest looks in carpet today are friezes-rugs featuring a mix of thick and thin yarns-often dyed in colors that give it a tweedy appearance. Textured carpet, with loops of different heights forming designs or patterns, has also become popular.

And, berber-the low-pile, oatmeal-toned darling of the past decade-is still with us. The new berbers, however, are made from improved fibers and can be dyed in a wide range of colors.

Although no one's advocating a return to whole-house mauve plush carpets, designers say muted colors are the new neutrals as smoky blues and greens slowly push beige aside.