June 18, 2008

I love my tile floors!

I won’t have carpet in my home. Maybe if I lived in a place that gets cold I would consider it, at least for the bedrooms, but I really don’t care for carpeted floors. They’re hard to keep clean, especially when you share your home with a dog. I’m not talking about piddling - though that does happen from time to time. The thing I really hate is the way that hair clings to carpets. The world’s best vacuum cannot get all of the hair up, never mind the regular dirt that filters into it. Being a termite inspector, I’ve pulled up the edges of carpets many times. Have you ever seen the crud that collects down there? If you had, you’d never have carpets in your home either, especially if you have allergies or someone in your home has asthma. The tile floors in my home were a major attraction for me when I was home-shopping. They’re so easy to clean, and when I’ve cleaned them I know that they are really clean - everything comes up easily and there’s no place for crud to hide. An added bonus is that my home is as much as twenty degrees cooler than my neighbors’ homes on some of our hot tropical days. Twenty degrees - that puts me in a nice comfort zone when my neighbors are sweltering. My only disappointment is that the previous owner had no sense of style. My tile floors are beige. Can you imagine choosing beige when there are so many design possibilities with tile? Remember I told you a few weeks ago that I’m getting ready to start painting inside? The paint is already on hand and the color is terra cotta. I’d love to swap out the floor tiles for terra cotta, too. I’ve been reading about Mexican saltillo tile and that’s what I’d like to have. Authentic Saltillo Tile only comes from Saltillo, Coahuila Mexico and it is made by hand. I love the color variations and slight imperfections in natural, hand-made terra cotta tile. I inspected a home near Diamon Head recently that has it, complete with dog paw prints on a couple of the tiles. How perfect would that be for me? Tile floors can last a lifetime, too. They don’t wear down like wooden floors or carpets and they don’t get scuff marks. Well, we don’t wear shoes inside in Hawaii, so I never get them, but if you do get a few they’ll come right off. I don’t know when I’ll get to re-do my floors. I’ve already got the paint for all of the walls and the wood for new kitchen cabinets and the pre-made cabinet and vanity for my master bath. Those jobs have to be finished first, but one of these days I’m hoping to install Mexican Saltillo tile to finish things off and bring it all together. I’ll enjoy having it for as long as I own my home and it will be a huge selling point if I ever decide to sell. If you’re thinking about some changes around your own place, check out Saltillo Tile. I’ll bet you’ll find something you like!

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