Before choosing a flooring material for your conservatory you must consider the use you will be putting your conservatory too. Here are different types of flooring that you can stylishly pull off:
Cork Conservatory Floors
Cork floors are tough, water-resistant, warm to the touch and natural insulators against cold and sound. They have a natural springiness that makes it pleasant to walk on and together these properties make it an ideal flooring for children to play on.
Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring mimics the look of a traditional wood floor and is much easier to install than a real wood floor. The best laminate floors are difficult to distinguish from real hardwood floors and less expensive.
Natural Stone Floors
There is a good choice of natural stone flooring products to choose for your conservatory in a variety of colours and natural markings:
1. Granite Tiles – are immensely hard making them highly resistant to liquids. They can be polished to a beautiful high gloss finish.
2. Limestone Tiles – are usually pale in colour and can have interesting surface markings; you will need to ensure that they are sealed before use.
3. Marble Tiles – are available in a variety of colours, but because they are susceptible to damage by acids, even mild ones such as found in lemons or spilt orange juice; they should not be used if your conservatory is part of a kitchen area.
4. Slate Tiles – come in different colours and textures and will need sealing. In the first few weeks of use small flakes can be dislodged from them and they will need resealing to protect the flaked areas.
5. Ceramic Floor Tiles
Ceramic floor tiles are available unglazed and glazed. There are four basic types of ceramic flooring tile:
a. Glazed Ceramic – tiles are very durable and easy to maintain. They are water-resistant, making them ideal if part of your conservatory is a kitchen area.
b. Porcelain Tiles – are made by compacting clay and other materials at very high pressure, making them the hardest man-made tile and virtually water-resistant. They need no sealer or on-going waxing.
c. Quarry Tiles – were originally made from quarried stone, but for many years they have been manufactured from clay and are thus natural earth shades of grey, red and brown depending on the source.
d. Terracotta Tiles – are softer and thus more prone to scratching than ceramic tiles and due to the nature of the material have to be made thicker to avoid breakage.
Ceramic tiles are cold so are ideal in a south-facing conservatory, but they are not nice to walk on in bare feet in cold weather. So you should consider either electric or hot water underfloor heating if you use ceramic tiles in your conservatory and plan to use it in winter.
Natural Hardwood
Natural hardwoods are good, especially for wooden perfect fit blinds. Until recently hardwood floors were not recommended for use in a conservatory, especially in a wet area where moisture could make the planks shrinkage, warp or split. Using natural hardwood flooring in a south-facing conservatory was also not recommended due to the excessive heat and danger from shrinking, warping and splitting.
Wood flooring in a conservatory is not only a highly practical option, it can look really stylish too, but it’s important that you choose the right type of wood flooring.