Swimming Pool Coping Tiles

Pool coping is the part of your swimming pool that surrounds the edge and gives the pool that "finished" look. A pool without
pool coping looks very much unfinished and with it adds style and class. Pool coping also adds a safety feature providing a non slip and smooth edge to your pool. Normally the around the swimming pool there is some attractive paving layed. Pool coping can make your pool stand out if it has a contrasting colour to your surrounds..
Pool coping tiles come in lots of styles, colors and materials ranging from natural quarried stone to poured and stamped concrete. Bullnose coping allows concrete decking to be poured abutting the pool's lip, while cantilever coping extends over the lip of the pool wall and is used with stone, cast concrete and brick.
Natural stone pool coping is available in sandstone, marble, granite, limestone, travertine and bluestone. They general come as tiles but can be cut to fit round bends and corners. Use honed stone pool coping for a satin-smooth finish or use standard pool coping for a rougher textured state. Natural stone pool coping can be sealed or left untreated. This will cause it to weather naturally.
Concrete coping can be poured wet into formers or come precast. You can pattern or color or even distress in order to make it look like more costly stone coping. Concrete is much easier to work with and goes down more quickly than natural stone during installation. But personally I think there is nothing better and more beautiful than natural stone pool coping.
Porcelain tiles can also be used for pool coping and is available in lots more textures as well as patterns and colors.
Natural clay bricks and molded concrete bricks that look like clay are often used for pool coping. Brick coping comes in a wide array of hues, from terracotta red to blue-grey and black. The use of a different grout color gives that extra style.
So look at your pool and ascertain how much adding pool coping will enhance it and also ad value to your home.

Swimming Pool landscaping

You are going to install a swimming pool in your backyard. Have you thought how it will really look, is it just a hole in the ground filled with water, or have you thought about swimming pool landscaping?

A swimming pool only looks good if it has the right setting. A swimming pool is part of your home and without the correct pool landcsaping can get tiring to look at after a while.

There are many ways to make your swimming pool look attractive. A wooden deck although these are better used for above ground pools. I have an affinity for swimming pool landscaping to use natural stone tiles as they are close to nature. After all your pool is in your backyard in which I assume you have a garden, so stone goes naturally there.

For swimming pool landscaping, stone tiles used in a formal way or as crazy paving is a natural choice as there are so many varieties to choose from. Sandstone tiles, bluestone tiles, granite tiles or even travertine or marble tiles (if you can afford the expense) look so well as a pool surround.

Some people prefer concrete (Ugh!) others prefer pebblecrete (Ugh! again) or even just grass. If grass is used you would still need to have some sort of pool edging (normally called coping tiles) These can either be square edged or bullnose. Bullnose coping tiles are preferable because they give a soft edge to your swimming pool.

Your swimming pool landscaping should compliment your house, leading from your patio or outdoor room and then surrounding your swimming pool.

Your pool uses a pump to pump water from your pool through a filter and then back into your pool. Why waste this, as pool landscaping feature why not build a wall at one end of the pool and use the water to create a waterfall or similar effect. Falling water can have such a relaxing effect as you lay by the side of your pool.

In all, treat your swimming pool landscaping as if you were setting the décor on the inside of your house after all the house and the outside of your house are all your home.

Marble Tiles

Do you know how marble is formed, which produces probably the best tiles you can find unsurpassed in their beauty when used as marble tiles? Believe it or not but marble started life as limestone.

Limestone, given enough heat and pressure will crystallise resulting in marble for which the technical term is metamorphic limestone. (Just thought you would like to know). Unlike limestone, the crystal structure of marble allows it to take a polish that accentuates the beautiful colours and veining for which is it so famous for. Because of the character of stone, each marble tile will vary slightly in colour, shade and texture which adds to its charm.

Marble tiles are one of the most popular tiles around the world. Marble tiles have become popular because of its various rewarding benefits. Marble has been used from the time of the Romans. Emperors built their palaces and historical monuments using this beautiful stone. These exotic marble tiles come in various shapes and sizes fulfilling needs and desires of people from all sections of society. They come polished in different colours such as beige, black, brown, cream, ivory and red all streaked with the beautiful marble vein.

Many commercial and residential projects prefer marble tiles for the flooring as they add that touch of grandeur to the interiors. Black marble tiles have become quite popular a favourite of many people as it adds a touch of class and elegance in a cost-effective manner. When used with a combination of colors such as black and white marble tiles or combination of any other coloured marble tiles. Mixing the colours has become a favourite combination in many modern day homes. Marble tiles are commonly used in bathroom, kitchens and floors but are also used for walls anywhere in the home.

Marble tiles have contrasting texture, shape, colour, style and pattern. Usually single coloured marble tiles are used for drawing rooms, bathroom and kitchen, but one can decide from a variety of designs how one would like them. If a house or a room is installed with a beautiful pattern of marble tiles then it will surely provide a charm that is spellbinding.

In all, in using marble tiles you cannot go wrong as their elegance and beauty outshines any other type of tile.

Sandstone Tiles

Sandstone, from which sandstone tiles are made is a sedimentary rock composed of small grains bonded by a binding material such as such as quartz, calcite, or iron oxide. Sandstone is often formed in layers and has varied applications as building stones. This coarse grained sedimentary rock is formed by consolidation and aggregation.

Sandstone has been used for thousands of years because of its reliability and it's workability. Sandstone tiles come in a range of colours and textures that has made them extremely popular in housing design. Sandstone was one of the most prominent stones used by builders during Australian colonial times.

Sandstone tiles are gaining increased popularity for use in homes because of their range of textures, colours, and tones. Sandstone tiles used for flooring in all levels of homes. They are found in million dollar mansions, Federation houses, fibro-zone houses and even beach bungalows, where its durability has replaced lino and hardwood floors.

Sandstone tiles work as all-purpose type of flooring, anywhere. The design features are the big bonus to go with the basic fact that sandstone tiles is guaranteed to survive any home environment. Sandstone tiles work well in the Australian climate, able to take the heat and the cold equally well.

The most basic sandstone tiles come in a mix of surface tones and textures. Sandstone tiles, local and imported, come with a huge range of styles and textures. You can live with sandstone tiles creating your own personal style. Sandstone tiles allow you to work with colour schemes, designs, and have as much fun as you like with your home colours.

Their quartz content of Sandstone tiles creates a delicate clear sheen that enhances their natural beauty. Sandstone tiles are perfect for areas where you'd like muted, elegant stone on the floor or walls. Tumbled sandstone tiles are ideal for conservatories, public lavatories, and other areas that would benefit from a gentle texture and muted brown tonal shade.
Sandstone tiles can be put almost anywhere that would have tiles, including fire surrounds, conservatory walls, and other areas that you'd like to use a natural stone in order to enhance the beauty of a room.

Sandstone tiles being non slip are ideal for floors in wet areas but because of their porosity should be sealed if used in bathrooms or kitchens.

The Beauty of Slate Tiles

Slate tiles are one of the most versatile coverings and can be used for floor and wall and in almost every aspect of the home. A whole room can be lined with natural slate tiles. You can even cover furniture with it. It looks just beautiful on bars, tables, and countertops. Even home decor products such as slate wall clocks, coasters, trivets, and chess boards can be made with slate. But why use natural slate tiles?

Most other natural stone tiles are expensive due to the difficult quarrying processes and also the cost of importing. Slate however, is one of the most economical materials used for slate tiles. Even imported slate tiles can usually be purchased for less then orders of quartzite or marble

There are a wide variety of slate tiles from around the world where you can find it in almost any color, size, and shape you could want. It is available in a variety of finishes including a rough clefted surface, a smooth polished look, or a soft honed finish.

Natural slate tiles are very durable and resistant. Looking after slate tiles is generally easy, only requiring different levels of treatment depending on its use. Floors made of slate tiles will obviously get the most physical abuse. The natural properties of slate make it highly resistant to the pressures of even the busiest of locations. Floors covered with slate tiles require an initial treatment of chemical penetrating sealer after installation usually about three coats. An optional chemical finish that will seal its pores can also be applied. Cleaning can then be as simple as using soap and water.

Countertops covered with slate tiles should be treated in the same way, with extra care given to areas which are used more often. Walls and backsplashes require even less care, and home furnishings don't need any at all, although some chemical treatments may be applied to bring out the natural colours in the stone.

Being highly durable, slate tiles can be used in basements, kitchens, walkways, indoors, outdoors, and almost anywhere without much physical harm coming to it. While it can be chipped or cracked, it is a tough material that can stand against most abuse. As long as it is installed properly with the necessary chemical treatments, there is no reason for you to ever have to replace it.

Slate forms within the earth in giant veins that run dimensionally through the ground. It is extracted in the form of enormous slabs, which contain random colours tones and hues whose properties depend on the various chemicals which were present during its formation. These markings create an enormous natural landscape within the stone.

This also make slate tiles come in almost any colour range, and slate tiles can be found imported from countries around the world. The nature of any lot of slate tiles is seasonal, bearing a distinct look which makes it slightly different from the stones quarried at any other time. This means that this natural stone is unique across a variety of characteristics, making your use completely custom to you.

Travertine Tiles Add Style to Your Home

Travertine tiles are known for their strength and fantastic appearance. Travertine is probably one of the oldest stones and has been used throughout history. Visiting Italy one can see many examples of travertine being used on monuments, buildings and floors. Travertine is produced by nature featuring high density and hardness.

Travertine belongs to the limestone family also known as Calcium Carbonate. Marble is also a type of limestone that has had additional heat and pressure applied to it by the earth's crust. Travertine is formed by minerals dissolving in ground water and then being deposited on the earth's surface by rivers, natural springs, or geysers.

Travertine has one advantage over other natural stones, it hardens with age and exposure. Due to its origins and structure', it can be processed in many ways, leading to different visual effects. Prior to polishing, the 'cracks' can be filled either in a matching colour or with clear poly-resin, or even in a contrasting colour, that can change the appearance quite remarkably.

This is why home owners are attracted to travertine tiles as well as architects for construction of commercial buildings. Not only are they hard wearing but are attractive for their beauty. Travertine tiles are proving an ideal option for both indoor and outdoor use. In fact, they are widely used for backsplashes and wall cladding. Apart from that they complement kitchen and living rooms very well.

Travertine tiles come in many colours. Ivory, beige, reddish brown, and gold are but few of the colours that are the most chosen. Travertine tiles contain iron in various amounts, this gives the tile completely different colours in each lot purchased.

Travertine tiles can have four major finishes, polished (shiny), honed (matte), brushed and tumbled. The type of finish given to the travertine tile will determine how shiny the surface will be. Polished and honed surfaces are flat and smooth, the brushed and tumbled surfaces are flat and textured. The polished surface is the shiniest, while the tumbled surface reflects the least amount of light. The most favoured finish for travertine tiles is honed

Another feature that makes Travertine tiles favoured by homeowners is its resistance to dust. Maintenance is easy, as it is naturally a clean material that is impervious to dirt. All that is needed to keep them sparkling is to mop the tile with a damp cloth after sweeping the dirt away.

Travertine is certainly a nice choice for people who seek a unique appearance in their room as none of the tile lots are the same. This gives them uniqueness to your home. They are easy to cut to shape, and is top of the list of building material preferred by builders. Travertine tiles are seen as one of the very strong and functional tiles as well as one that give beauty to your home.

You too can bring an antique and exciting look to your home with Travertine tiles.