Vancouver Renovation Tip: Using Stone to Enhance Your Home

Natural and engineered stone in the home considered a luxury a few years ago has become an affordable and accessible building material for Vancouver homeowners.

There are very few other building materials that can offer the same permanence and elegance of stone. This premium building material has durability, strength, originality, natural beauty and sophistication. These qualities can essentially give your home a modern, clean look and provide added value and years of use and enjoyment. If you’re considering using stone in your Vancouver home renovation project, here are a few tips on how to enhance your home with it.

Kitchen

As the kitchen is the most prominent space in your home, you can unquestionably use this material to bring durability and a gorgeous appearance to your kitchen. Natural and engineered stone can be used in several applications including tile on the walls for a backsplash, flooring and countertops. Using natural stone in your kitchen, especially for counters is ideal as it can withstand heat, resist staining, is extremely durable and cleans up beautifully.

Bathrooms

Your bathroom, which is usually the second most important area at your home. There are endless opportunities for stone to enhance the beauty of your bathroom. Counters, accents, shower seats and inlays are the most common elements where the stone can be used in your renovated and new bathrooms. Since the bathroom is a place of comfort and relaxation, integrating natural or engineered stone as the decorating material can create a spa-inspired appearance. With so many types of stone on the market, you will be sure to find one that fits the look, feel and budget you are after.  Marble, Onyx, and Belgian Bluestone are some of the finest materials and Sandstone, Slate, Quartz and Travertine Limestone are some inexpensive options available.

Flooring

Another ideal place to use stone is flooring. Stone floors look beautiful, are easy to care for and do not harbour dust or allergens.  The type of stone you select for floors should be determined by the amount of foot traffic there will be.  Depending on the size and amount of pores in a stone, will affect its’ strength and resistance to staining. For high-traffic areas such as a kitchen and main bathrooms, you will want to select a stone that is dense and non-porous. This will help with durability and stains.  Softer, porous stones can be used however they require a bit more care and frequent cleaning and sealing to keep them looking as good as new.

When considering incorporating stone into your house, there are many options available in terms of composite materials, look and feel.  Natural stone highlights the prettiness of nature with the outstanding variations of natural colours, giving every piece of stone a unique look. Engineered stone is a composite material made of crushed stone bound together by an adhesive.  With engineered stone, the colour throughout is typically more uniform and the stone requires less care than natural stone.  With so much selection available you should be able to easily select a colour scheme and look that you love and matches your home perfectly.

If you are considering a home renovation and would like to incorporate stone into your home, feel free to ask the Vancouver home renovation experts your questions.  We’d be happy to answer them and provide you with pricing for your project.