Natural stone flooring
“Nveni urbem roman lateres, revertor ad marmoris”.
“I found Rome built of brick and left her clothed in marble”: this, according to poet Horace, was the greatest pride of Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, the first Roman emperor. The greatest success Augustus attributed to himself was not the celebrated Pax Augustea, or the conquests of war, but precisely the construction of magnificent public works and the restoration of ancient temples, with marbles coming from each known place, inside and outside the borders of Roman Empire. Make sure that the monuments of the city of Rome were up to its fame and its domains, thanks to the exceptional use of natural stone, was the first and greatest concern of the great Augustus.
For thousands of years mankind has been using natural stone to create floors. Castle courtyards, frescoed rooms of noble residences, monastery cloisters, walkways of churches and cathedrals are always paved in natural stone. What nature has created during million of years – through the combined action of pressure and temperature – becomes, with the contribution of our craftsmen, an original and ductile material, suitable for any kind of environment, from rustic to the most refined design. A natural floor, in floor, makes the environment bright and elegant.
Natural stone floor: why it is convenient
Natural stone is an eco-friendly material, radon-free – an odorless natural gas, dangerous for health, that accumulates in different building materials, including fired ceramics. For this reason stone is used in green building and eco-architecture. Furthermore, it is an easy-to-clean material, resistant to time. Its high degree of thermal transmittance makes a possible underfloor heating (the so-called underfloor radiant system, that is panels containing serpentine coils where hot water circulates), thus optimizing energy performance and contributing to environmental sustainability.
Natural stone flooring for interiors
The many different possible processing of the marble (polishing, tumbling, sandblasting, brushing, bush hammering, among other) and the countless small and large variations in quality and color, make the choice of the product to be installed endless, and a result each floor will be original. Industrial materials are conceived in an attempt to simulate the naturalness of the stone, but what nature created in million years can never be copied.
Outdoor stone floor
Different typologies of natural stone for the floor are available, for indoor and outdoor, with different thicknesses and formats, and different costs. For a correct installation, two different typologies are suggested. First one is uniform floor, fitted with rectified edges and a minimal grouting, after that sander is passed in order to obtain the desired finishing, The second typology is the classic floor with grouting, with the possibility to choose the favorite length and match the color of grouting product.