We have written about flooring materials before. At that time though, we covered only those materials that were widely used in the Indian construction industry like Vitrified tiles, ceramic tiles, mosaic, marble etc. Today we are covering a flooring material that is not yet heavily used in India, but it will surely become more popular as people become aware of all its inherent benefits.

Moreover, the fact that it is now available for use in India through several importing agencies should drive its adoption in the country a bit faster. We got these details from one such agency – Halcyon in Chennai – when we happened to speak to them. The material we are talking about is Vinyl sheets.

Vinyl is an artificially created flooring material. It invariably has several layers within it; consisting of protective wear layer, printed design layer, glass fiber, etc. The exact arrangement in which the various components in the sheet are put together and their thickness can differ from case to case. And with these varying compositions, the properties of the concerned sheets can change.

 The key properties of vinyl are:

1. It provides protection against germs because of its anti microbial nature.
2. UV coating on the wear layer ensures that only a minimum of dust accumulates on the sheet and that it is easy to clean.
3. Glass fiber reinforced cell with foam backing maintains the dimensions of the material. This means that the flooring does not shrink or expand due to climatic variations like hot & humid conditions.
4. Good noise reduction. Vinyl sheets absorb footfall sounds much better than the other flooring options.
5. In some Vinyl sheets, a thick clear transparent layer at the top makes it resistant to abrasion. Thus, it is low on maintenance after installation.
6. Vinyl does not react to reagents used in hospitals and clinics. Thus it should be used in places where the floor would otherwise get stained easily.
7. Bright, colorful patterns can be created – like natural wood finishes, marble /carpet /slate finishes.
8.  It is very easy to install, almost a do-it-yourself project. As little as a single night is required to lay the flooring for an entire house. Vinyl can even be laid on top of most existing floors without having to dig up the old layout. It can be removed quite easily in case you want another change later on. 

In our opinion, Vinyl floor is a candidate that should be considered when you select flooring for your new/renovated home. The fact that PVC floors are stain free, easy to clean, low maintenance, reduces noise, germ free and easy to install; makes them quite suitable for domestic residences

The price usually hovers at around Rs. 30 – 200 per sq. ft (LG Chem Floor). GerFlor starts from 70 per sq. ft. It can vary a bit depending upon the type of Vinyl sheet you choose. This price compares with the other high end options for the homemakers like foreign marbles (Rs. 250 per sq. ft.), vitrified tiles (Rs. 50 per sq. ft. onwards), granite flooring, hardwood floors (above Rs. 150 per sq. ft.), wooden laminates (Rs. 80 – 400 per sq. ft) etc. Kerosene cut and water cut in mosaic tiles – 50 per sq. ft.

The write up will not be complete without mentioning the drawbacks of the flooring. You should be careful to mop up water that forms on top of a vinyl quickly. This is because water can loosen the adhesive used to attach the tile to the floor below. This is less important if you use a vinyl sheet (instead of vinyl tiles) since the seams between the tiles are not present there. The durability of the tile is from 5 to 20 years, depending upon whether it has a urethane wear layer and also the overall thickness of the tile. Good care will extend the life of the tile. Another point to note is that this flooring is not advisable for staircases; it is meant for flat level surfaces.

In case you want to know more about this innovative option, please feel free to drop us a line contact@aavaas.com or alternatively, you can contact murali@halcyoninteriors.in. Murali gave most of the information for this introduction into vinyl flooring.

We will be covering more of these lesser known home making options in the coming days. Surely, there are many more of these items out there and in case you know of some yourself, don’t hesitate to let us know.

We briefly covered vitrified tiles here on House to Home on 6th September. Today we would just touch upon the various other types of flooring material that is available in the market today for your consideration.

Image Courtesy : Nitco India

Broadly categorizing we have the following types of floors:

Ceramic Tiles

The word ‘ceramic’ comes from the greek word ‘keramos’ meaning pottery, it is related to an old sanskrit root meaning ‘to burn’ but was primarily used to mean ‘burnt stuff’. These are made from clay or a mixture of organic materials, ceramic tile is finished by kiln firing. They are available in many shapes and sizes and are sold in  glazed or unglazed fashion. For floors, tiles are set in a cement or mortar type mixture.

Vitrified Tiles

Vitrified tile is a tile which has been processed in such a way that it has very low porosity (and water absorption) which make it stain resistant and very strong. You can read more about this article here.

Mosaic Floor

This type of flooring involves embedding small pieces of colored glass, stone, or ceramic tile called tessera in a background material such as plaster or mortar. The resulting finish is unique and a variety of designs can be created.

 Most conventional apartments use grey or white mosaic.  These are relatively inexpensive. More affluent variety of mosaic is also available in the market for the deserving people.

You can read more about Mosaic Tiles in the wiki article.

Marble Floor

Marble is metamorphosed limestone, composed of fairly pure calcite . It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material, and in many other applications which includes flooring.

Marble has a relatively lower abrasion resistance compared to artificial floors. It is calcium carbonate which is strongly attached by Hydrochloric acid which is commonly used in toilet & floor cleaning. It yellows over extended time duration whereas man made tiles tend to retain their colour for decades.

You can read more about marbles in the wiki article.

Granite Floor

A common igneous rock composed of quartz, orthoclase, and hornblende, often accompanied by pyroxene or mica. It is called granite because of the granular surface. Granite is frequently used for buildings and monuments. It is a popular choice for not only flooring but also for countertops in kitchen and shelves.

Compared to marble, it is relatively inexpensive.

You can read more about granites in the wiki article.

Concrete/Cement Floor 

The title should make it pretty straightforward. Sudarsan covered some points in his article related to pathway flooring on 30th August.  Today you can purchase ready made blocks which are ready to be laid in your home or the exteriors.

Some additional and interesting information on tiles can be found here

Hope you found this post informative….

I am sure, most of us would have heard this term a lot these days. Vitrified tiles. So what doed this exactly convey to people who wish to have them in their homes?

This post hopes to convey some details on “Vitrified tiles”

Conventional flooring is done with either grey or white mosaic. People who could afford it went in for granite or even marble. Today the buzz word seems to be vitrified tiles.

Image Courtesy: www.dreamdesignstrading.com

A dictionary would define the word “Vitrify” as:

Lets see what all this means:

What is vitrified tile

Vitrified tile is a tile which has been processed in such a way that it has very very low porosity (and water absorption) which make it stain resistant and very strong.

Is vitrified tile better than marble or granite?

Vitrified Tiles have far superior properties compared to marble or natural granite because being a manufactured product their quality is controlled whereas in naturally occurring marble and granite good quality is just a coincidence. Vitrified tiles posses much better mechanical strength, scratch resistance, resistance to acids, alkalies and chemicals, resistance to staining etc compared to marble or natural granite.

Marble has a relatively lower abrasion resistance compared to vitrified tiles. It is calcium carbonate which is strongly attached by Hydrochloric acid which is commonly used in toilet & floor cleaning. It yellows over extended time duration whereas vitrified tiles retain their colour for decades.

Polished natural granite shows several surface defects and a good quality is just a matter of chance whereas vitrified tiles are guaranteed for consistent good quality. Marble laying is very cumberrsom and time consuming whereas vitrified tiles may be laid in a matter of hours and put to use after 48 hours.

Excerpts for this article were taken from www.asiangranito.com

What needs to be studied here is the cost factor. Apparently the Vitrified tiles seem to have an advantage and also durability to command a higher price.

But are we willing to shell that extra money for aesthetics and maintenance sake is the million dollar question.

Another point to consider is where people who would like to buy an apartment can actually tell the builder to use these tiles over conventional flooring techniques.

hope you enjoyed this informative post.

think ! (and comment please…..)

If your house is under construction, a very valuable tip for saving costs.    Interlocking tiles are better than Eurocon/Ultra kind of concrete designer tiles for the following reasons,

1. Interlocking tiles can be laid on bare earth (no need for preparation using PCC foundation or masonry, which are required for concrete designer tiles)

2. Interlocking tiles can be relaid

If your house is just finished, and not your pathways, you can occupy the house the very next day using interlocking tiles.   Later on when the fresh ground settles, you may notice some interlocking tiles caving-in.   You can remove the individual tile and lay sand underneath or fill sand across the pathway and relay the interlocking tiles.    Also if you want water to drain off the interlocking tiles, you can simply fill some cement plaster at the joints.   Of course I have used both for my home, as Concrete designer tiles has  a great aesthetics, especially near the entrance.   

Cost of Economics:

Interlocking tiles:

Tile: Rs.15 – Rs.25 /sq foot

Ground preparation: Sand at Rs.30 cu/feet, approx. Rs.5-10/sq foot of tile.

Labor: < Rs.3 / sq foot

Concrete tiles:

Tile: Rs.35 – Rs.45 /sq foot

Ground preparation: Sand Rs 5-1o /sq foot, PCC Rs.25-30/sq foot, Plaster Rs15-20/ sq foot

Labor: Rs.12/sq foot

So we are looking at 3-4x savings using interlocking tiles, which have the added convenience that it can be relaid.