Stone Floor Medallions

The use of stone with wood flooring has been a design option that has been used Oshkosh Stone Medallion for centuries. In this segment we'll take a look at types involved and their installation methods. Because stone has different properties than wood, installation applications differ, specifically with allowing expansion spacing.

How Are Medallions Made? Thickness, Construction

Depending on the source, some medallions may be made specifically for inset into ceramic tile or stone where the overall thickness will be 3/8 of an inch. Depending on the size some may be fully intact or arranged in sections for safer shipping. While this thickness is ideal for standard engineered floors that may be glued to concrete, we're left with another 3/8 if one desires to install over a wood sub floor system if the wood flooring is ¾ inch in thickness.

In the case of using solid floors with thinner medallions a concrete backer board is recommended. Some manufacturers like Oshkosh Designs out of Wisconsin offer thickness options for their designs if installing into floors from 3/8 up to ¾ inch. In other words, a plywood backer board is attached to the design that can be pre grouted or not, leaving the final grouting and color selection up to the buyer.

Materials Used In Stone Medallions

Ceramic/Porcelain
Granite
Glass
Marble
Travertine
Limestone
Slate
Quartzite

Installation

By following some of the page links at the end of this section one can get a better idea of how to install these medallions. However using these materials along with wood floors requires an expansion area. By not doing so the natural expansion of Installing Stone Medallion With Wood Floor hardwood against these materials are likely to cause cracking because of the force set forth. The force of moisture with wood and stone has been known for years. In fact it was a method used to split large sections of stone in ancient times.

For all installations with hardwood floors, expansion areas should be allowed or on the order of one quarter inch followed by filling with a silicone/latex grout. More with an excellent source of how the silicone can be applied without the mess visit this offsite link.

Image Sources: Hardwoodfloorsmag.com, Oshkosh Designs

Related Pages:

• Hardwood Flooring Designs & Ideas
• Hardwood Floor Medallions
• Custom Hardwood Medallions
• Mixed Media. Hardwood & Tile or Stone
• Hardwood Floor Borders - How and when they're installed
• Parquet Wood Flooring
• How Medallions Are Made
• Installing Medallions On Existing Hardwood Floors
• Installing Medallions On Concrete