Slate is a natural rock that can be cut down into tiles for flooring. Slate is naturally created in many different colors and tones such as green, grey, sienna, and black. A flooring design can incorporate all of these different tones to create a multi colored pattern, or just one color can be used for a monochromatic floor. In addition to the various tones and colors of slate there are also different textures of slate tile. Slate tile flooring can be left raw preserving the natural ridges or can be filed down flat and highly polished. Both the colors of the tiles and the textures of tiles that are used will determine the way the finished floor will look.
Slate can be finished in several ways to create different surface textures. There are several types of slate tile including clefted slate tile, honed slate tile, polished slate tile and brushed slate tile. Each type of slate tile has a different look and feel to the surface texture.
Cleft slate tile is a type of slate tile which is in a raw form. The natural cleft in the slate is left untouched which creates a dimensional texture with ridges. This type of slate tile preserves the natural texture of the slate.
Brushed slate tile is similar to clefted slate tile, but the ridges are smoothed down slightly so the dimensionality is less pronounced and the surface of the tile is not as rugged.
Honed slate tile is filed down so the finished tile is completely flat and smooth. Honed slate tile can also be polished which adds an extra sheen over the top of the flattened slate. The high shine and smooth surface of polished slate has a very different quality than clefted slate.
A slate tile floor can be designed using slate tiles which are all of the same size or the tiles can be cut to a customized size. When designing the slate tile floor, different sized tiles and different color tiles can be used to create interest. Slate tile flooring designs can be made using graph paper which is scaled to the size of the floor. The perimeter of the room or area to be tiled should be measured and scaled down so that each four box square on the graph paper represents one square foot. Acetate or tracing paper can be used over the graph paper to create different design ideas. Use a pencil to draw in the perimeter of the tiles on the graph paper and letter each square with the first letter of the tile color. To get a better idea of how the floor will look, the tiles can be colored in with marker.