Flooring—It's Only Natural - Page 2

"Certain materials can fade if they're [consistently] exposed to direct sunlight," she added, including darker cork and linoleum in this category. Likewise, some believe that radiant heating can discolor cork, although the designer is undecided on the issue, commenting, "I have done radiant with lots of types of flooring, from linoleum to stone to concrete.

Barry Brisco, a San Mateo Highlands Eichler owner, decided on black slate after considering concrete.

"When my wife and I were planning our interior remodel, we researched this floor approach and decided against it," Brisco remarked about concrete several years ago on the Chatterbox. "It would have required grinding and polishing the existing slab, sealing all the cracks [of which there are many in every 50-year-old house!], and then coloring the surface.

"You really cannot color old concrete, you would have to pour a new layer of colored self-leveling concrete, such as Ardex. I've seen it done, and the results can be good, or not so good. In one instance, the new concrete layer was so soft that the pressure from furniture, like a typical sofa, actually dented it!

"Another disadvantage," Brisco added, "would be that when the inevitable radiant-heat pipe leak had to be repaired, it is essentially impossible to fill the hole in the slab you need to make to repair the leak, and make it match the existing floor in a seamless manner. With a flooring surface like slate tile, it's relatively easy."

If you agree with Padgett's insistence on natural flooring material, she recommends stone or hardwood as the most durable for high-traffic areas of your home, especially what she calls "good old oak."

"It's a very hard wood, it's classic, and it'll never go out of style," she promised of oak flooring.

But what about synthetic flooring options, such as laminates or vinyl composite tile? Some Eichler owners swear by such materials, and we will address their strengths and weaknesses in an upcoming 'Fridays on the Homefront'—coming soon.