Overall rating: 11 out of 10 (yes, my rating goes to eleven).
I mentioned before that we’re been living without floors for almost a year. We had issues with Rona and Home Depot, trying to find the right contractors. Such a big job needs to be done right.
A co-workers of James’ recommended the website ‘HomeStars‘, which is basically an online community of contractors for different things. Their customers go on and rate them so you know exactly how good (or bad) they are.
Originally, James and I were looking at hardwood or bamboo but he came across a company StoneCote Inc. because they had such a good rating. But what really caught James’ eye was that their product was something we hadn’t seen before – it’s called Texturock.
The way I explain this to people is that it’s a mixture of natural (and beautiful) pebbles that is coated with an epoxy. So it feels very natural to walk on and the look is….well, take a look at the photos. It’s stunning. It’s even better in person, I feel that the photos don’t do it justice. Each person who has stepped into our condo (neighbors, family, the Internet guy) has been immediately amazed by how impressive it all looks.
The install
I also want to commend the team from StoneCote who put it all together. they were fun and easy going, a pleasure to work with. Customer service is very important to them and it’s obvious. It took about 2 weeks to do the entire condo, with a three day break in between. They did the upstairs first, then the downstairs, which allowed us to move everything around. If we had a house with a basement or larger storage area, they probably could have done it all in one shot, but this is what worked for us.
What’s so great about it?
- High WOW!-factor – I am pretty sure I have one of the most unique floors ever (but I’m not sure how long that will last!). I’ve mentioned before that our decor is a mixture of old and new, so this floor is a perfect meld of that – it’s such a unique look, but the product is so natural. I mean, it’s stone!
- Customizable – They had a ton of choice of colours and you could even blend colours to get a mixture or tone of your choosing. The sample they had for the border colour wasn’t white enough for us so they mixed it with more white to get the consistency we needed for our decor. There are other options too, like having a coloured grout, or even using glass instead of stone for light fixtures (something we are thinking about for the bathroom or kitchen).
Rounded corners
- Easy Install – We had ugly bare concrete floors, plywood and tile. This stuff went over it all. Yup, that’s right, didn’t have to bother ripping up the tiles or putting in any subfloors.
- Mix with other products – The living room is the room we spend most time in, it’s also the most open. It’s basically the focal point of the condo, so we wanted something a little different in there. What we chose to do was a mix of engineered hardwood with the stone; I couldn’t be happier with the result.
- Flexibility of the product – The second floor of the condo looks over into the living room so there is a ledge, which used to be a damaged piece of pine. Now, it’s stone, the same colour as the border. This product can cover just about anything. As I mentioned, we’re now looking at what options we can do in the kitchen (counter) and the bathroom shower. Also, if you take a look at the border in the rooms with just stone you’ll see that we chose to have rounded edges instead of sharp corners, which was easy to do in the rooms with stone (not so much for hardwood!). I think it adds to the uniqueness.
Something to consider
If you like soft and cozy, I would recommend something squishy for you, like carpet or silly putty. With Texturock you can definitely feel the pebbles on your feet, but I love being barefoot. Or I would recommend getting a thicker epoxy, like the way it’s done for the kitchen and bath. They put much more in, because of the moisture, and it’s a lot smoother feel.
If you are considering doing floors I would highly recommend this product and especially the guys who installed, Jerret and Chris (and their team). Take a close look at my pictures (and there are more coming) and if you have any questions just ask.
Company: StoneCote Inc.
Website: http://www.texturock.com/
Homestars page: http://homestars.com/companies/2773994-stonecote-inc
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hamilton-ON/Stonecote-Inc/92757149233
Twitter: http://twitter.com/stonecote
