Travertine Dream

Well, another year has passed and 2008 beckons tomorrow.

Here’s some info about a Vancouver legend…

Dal Richards and his orchestra is playing tonight on what will be Dal’s 73rd consecutive New Years Eve gig! Dal celebrates his 90th birthday on January 5th, and it’s not as if he saves himself for a single performance each year - He has played over 200 times this year and has always kept up this level of intensity!

This year, Dal will be playing a swinging New Year’s Eve show for a dance floor full of happy fans at Richmond’s River Rock Casino Resort.

Even after 7 decades, Dal continues to swing - leading his orchestra of talented musicians in a blend of unique sounds that capture the best of the big band era, along with jazz, rock and pop standards from the 1930s to today. He’s played small towns and big cities throughout the province - and continues to bring his unique sound to British Columbians from White Rock to Whistler, New Westminster to Inuvik and beyond.

This year, I was not able blag tickets, so I will just have to put on a CD. Listen to a few of his tracks here.

Happy New Year to one and all.

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Slate is a fine-grained metamorphic rock that derives from sedimentary rock and shale deposits. The main constituents are quartz, chlorite, mica and calcite, with some also containing trace amounts of metals. Slate is formed when ocean or riverbed sediments are compressed and heated by the earth’s crust.

This heat and pressure produces the pronounced partings (cleavage) that give slate its distinct layered characteristic.

The color of slate is determined by its chemical and mineralogical composition. The colors visible in many slates are the result of the stone splitting along natural layers and exposing the metals to the atmosphere, which then oxidize (rust).

Today, most slate is sourced from India, China, Brazil, Wales and in some areas of the Eastern U.S. (mainly Vermont and Pennsylvania).

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If you have navigated to this blog from the BuildDirect Main Blog Page, you may be wondering why there is an image of my desk, and not a smiling mug shot. Well, I was in the UK at the time of the photo shoot, so was slightly unavailable.

It may be a while until the weather and lighting conditions are suitable for our somewhat detail-oriented photographer, so in the meantime, take a look at a photo of me from a few years back

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I have had a few questions recently about thinsets that are bleeding into natural stone tiles. A customer called while installing a dark granite tile and was concerned that the white thinset that he was using was entering and discoloring the tiles. I will tell you guys exactly what I told him.

 When installing, and caring for, natural stone flooring, it is very important to use thinset, grout, sealers and cleansers that are specifically designed for your stone. In this case, the customer was using a thinset designed for porcelain tiles. Porcelain thinsets tend to be a thinner mixture and because your natural stone is a porous material, it can have a tendency to bleed into natural stone. When installing stone flooring, ensure that you are using a thinset that is designed for natural stones. Also be sure to mix the thinset exactly as the manufacturer suggests. If your mixture is too runny, you risk bleeding and seepage.

 So, to avoid having your thinset bleed into your tiles and discolor your new floor, ensure that you a) are using the proper thinset and b) have mixed it to the correct consistency. This will help ensure that your tiles stay the same vibrant color that they were in the box and give you many years of beautiful stone floors.

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Welcome to slate tile!

Here’s an article about the advantages of slate tile.

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Hello and welcome to the Travertine Dream, my little slice of the world wide web where I will be discussing topics including travertine floor tiles, travertine paving stones/ pavers, travertine sinks and showers, travertine mosaics and virtually anything else you can think of made of travertine. I will be discussing issues related to product uses, design ideas, installation, care and maintenance.

I invite you to actively participate and encourage all of my readers to engage in the dialogue.

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