Hi Faith,

Slate, and most natural stone floors are very low maintenance, you can expect them to wear very well.

Our favorite tip is to use a good subsurface sealer, and then wash the surface with a soap based cleaner, like Murphy's Oil Soap. The stone will develop a patina, and become essentially permanent, and require nothing more than sweeping and an occasional damp mop and buff. Think of how much traffic stone floors get in hotels, city spaces and the like,. In Europe and Asia, you can see stone floors that are more than 1000 years old!

It's a misnomer that slates chip easily. Some softer stones like Indian Multicolor may dust or chip a bit until they settle in, but mostly that is a non issue after it is installed.

The Decor Cinza, and any number of other cleft slates and stones are very durable. You can think of them as being like Denim or Leather, compared to fabrics. Very practical, and much more warm, natural and comfortable looking compared to a porcelain tile.