New technology lets homeowners choose patterns, colors, textures
If the slate floors of San Marcos in Venice, Italy, can sustain 1,500 years of high traffic, the floors of your foyer should be able to, too. Over the centuries slate has never lost its aesthetic appeal. The metamorphic rock, typically found along continental coasts, is ideal for floors that must endure constant wear and tear. That’s why home-improvement experts Dean Marsico and Derek Stearns say it’s ideal for kitchens, bathrooms and entryways. Slate ages very naturally,” says Stearns. “Actually, the more wear and tear it gets, the better it looks.”Dean and Derek — cousins, stonemasons and hosts of the new DIY program, “Rock Solid,” recently went on a mission to create a one-of-a-kind foyer for an episode of the show’s first season. The location: a colonial-style home on the outskirts of Washington, D.C.

“Usually, this is a pretty straight pattern, but we’re kicking it up a notch,” explains Marsico, of the approach normally involved in setting slate tile. “We’re taking an old product and creating a new design with it…we’re going to set it on a diagonal and put borders of slate around with pieces of glass.” Soccer mom Maria Nogay is no stranger to high-traffic floors. When she and her husband Claude bought the home three years ago, they knew the floors needed upgrading. So, they explored their options.

“When the (former) owners moved out, they had this sort of tile,” Maria Nogay says, pointing to her basic white vinyl kitchen floor. “It was fine for them, but when we moved in, we thought of keeping up with the colonial style, and keeping it consistent with its outdoor theme. We wanted something rustic, which is why we went with the slate.” Slate used to be boring, says Marsico. In the 1970s, you’d find the same slate set in the same pattern in the entryway in any neighborhood you explored.

But now, thanks to the modern marvels of slate-cutting technology, anyone can experiment with a myriad of patterns and shapes, and mix and match other materials into the project.

“The world is getting smaller too,” adds Stearns. “These days, you walk into a slate supplier or countertop supplier, and you can look at hundreds of samples from all around the world.” Instead of standard North American slate, a homeowner can opt for a mottled Spanish slate, an exotic African variety, or perhaps even an Italian brick-red.

But one thing to consider, says Marlon Roberts, of Kemar Creations Tiling Inc., in Marlboro, Md., is that no two tiles are the same. That’s the nature of slate. When your shipment arrives, it’s a good idea, he says, to pull each tile from the box and begin arranging a pattern with the different shades you’ll be working with.

“The thing about working with slate in a foyer, especially with do-it-yourself projects,” cautions Stearns, “is the mathematics of it all. It’s a systematic procedure. You have to find the center point, you need to make measurements before even getting started.” For this foyer project, Dean and Derek settled on an imported China slate — one that comes in different shades of organic greens. This gives the entryway a simple Zen-Eastern look, and still manages to complement the colonial theme.

“We just love the feel of it, the roughness of it,” said Maria Nogay.

The result — a rock tapestry of olive, spinach and sage greens — is set in a diagonal arrangement, ready to greet anyone who enters the Nogay residence.

“The glass accents just add to the rustic feel,” says Nogay.