Slate floors - yes or no??????????

[kinkipinki]

I really want a slate floor in my new kitchen but have been really recommended against, anyone got an alternative??

Friend has a slate floor, can be a little slippy when wet, shows footprints, no upkeep but no bounce!
We have sandstone thro downstairs, has to be very dirty to show, needs to be varnished every 2nd year but looks great.
Oak floors thro upstairs, danish oil every 2nd year, looks great, gets better with age, easy to live with, more forgiving to 'drops' than sandstone.
If doing house again would consider wood thro whole house except kitchen where sandstone is the only way to go!

What reasons have you been given against slate? What about ceramic tile?

goodnight Kate from the only one left awake in the UK,apart from dd!

Have a black/grey ceramic floor throughout downstairs and I love it!Looks great easy to clean and indestructible as all stains simply wipe off.

I have a slate floor from Fired Earth, to be honest it is a total pain to keep nice. It needs a regular treatment with a stone finish product.
Also, it is slippy when wet and when newly treated.

Have part stripped floorboards and part slate tiles (where there are no floorboards just concrete floor on an extension. No hassle and no maintenance so far. They are a bit chilly on cold mornings, but no other downside for us.

We have spent a year without a kitchen trying to choose the floor! Two weeks ago we found some fantastic looking Indian multi coloured slate tiles which were sort of pinky tones with grey and they came at 8.00 am today and we were so disappointed they sent tiles which were just dreary grey and we've had to send them back.

We were told that there are "maintenance issues" and when laying have to make sure thickest tile goes first, seal before grouting and again after and then wash with water and reseal as necessary.

We thought we'd found the ideal tile with lots of character to replace the thick original quarry tiles which we reclaimed from the floor and after keeping them in the back garden for two years were stolen by the * builders who are puttting up two houses on our boundary.

Waiting to see what the tile place is going to offer now. No kitchen at Christmas methinks.

I will be interested to know what others say. We were told that the slate was good for not being slippy but then it was not honed or polished.

Thanks for starting this thread, we were about to buy slate for the kitchen but I'm going to think again now.

I used a green slate for a kitchen from Stonell which still looks fabulous and has been easy to keep clean on a property that we sold. I would highly recommend it if you go to Stonell. Don't know about other companies' quality of slate. Re: cold floors, you could put in underfloor heating which works on a thermostat to warm the floor/take the chill away depending on what you prefer.
I used limestone in our kitchen which I would NEVER recommend!!!!!!