Natural stones are the blessing of Mother Nature. You bring natural beauty by using natural stones in your spaces in & outside of the home. Natural stones are soothing eyes upon looking at it, relaxing upon touching, and energizing while living with it.
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Of course, the right decoration and utility come with the right selection of stones. However, out of dozens of different stones types, it is confusing to choose the right type of stones in the right combination for homeowners. It is where they need expert consultancy, and we are aiming to provide the same here in our blogs.
In due course, we have given you some outlines in the posts “12 Things to Consider When Choosing Natural Stones for Your Home” and “Things to Consider While Buy Natural Stones – Shopping Guide” as well as other similar blogs. Today, we are going to give you at least 15 useful tips to select the right natural stone for your construction projects.
At first glance, the tip seems weird for an ordinary homeowner but may prove highly useful in making a smart decision from a technical point of view. Geologists usually classify the natural rock formation in three different processes.
You can find more details in “How Natural Stone is Made – All You Need to Know” post. When you know the origin, you will have insights about the content of the natural rocks and properties of the natural stones.
However, in general terms, we can classify stones as siliceous stones and calcareous stones. It saves us from complicated technical classification during practical applications. The construction industry professionals usually classify natural stones into two major segments based on the predominance of the content. Those are siliceous stones and calcareous stones.
Siliceous stones have silica/sand in a high percentage of all content types. Thanks to the presence of quartz and other minerals, siliceous stones are stunning in look. Variations in colors, grains, veins, and patterns are enriching them a lot. High strength due to hardness, density, and other durability factors render them the best choice for exterior applications.
Calcareous stones are rich in calcites/calcium compounds. They also consist of organic and inorganic substances, which they acquired during the rock formation process like sedimentation.
Thereby, they are porous and relatively soft on working in the construction process. Moreover, marbles like stones are rich in color variations, grains, veins, and exhibiting different patterns. So, they are the best candidates for interior decoration in different areas, including floors, walls, columns, and sills.
However, marbles are easily getting stains and acid-sensitive. So, it has limited usage in the kitchen like areas. Marbles also demand care and regular maintenance against siliceous stones.
Commercially available natural stones have different forms. For the sake of ease, we can segregate stones into two major forms: whole stones & crushed stones.
Nature breaks the stones with climatic factors. By natural means like water and wind, natural transportation occurs. Thus, naturally crushed stones form.
You must select the types of natural stones based on the areas where you want to install them. For instance,
Softer and calcareous types of stones are the best candidates for interior applications.
Most of the siliceous and rough & tough types of stones can prove a superior choice for outdoor and landscaping applications.
The stone surface finishing treatments are determining the utility of the stones. Polished and glossy stone texture is appropriate in a living room like a low utility, but most impactful areas to impress your guests or home visitors.
Coarse surface treatments are good to go for slip prone areas like wet places and outdoor spaces to create anti-skid surface texture. However, you must know the basic types of natural stone finishes, such as:
Take the help of stone consultancy to get the right selection for each area individually.
Colors have direct impacts on the human psyche and practical utility of the space. For instance,
The brighter colors reflect the light rays more than darker colors. It makes the ambiance vibrant and energetic. The bright ambiance creates a spatial impression and lets us feel the space larger than the real psychologically. The outdoor kitchen, patio, and decks are places where brighter colors suit the most.
Various countertops, floors, and walls in high utility areas like kitchen, bath, and washrooms are prone to various staining. Spills, dirt, and chemical contaminations are high in these utility areas. If we use dark colors in the stone installation, it can hide stains, watermarks, fingerprints, and dirt to some extent. So, try to set dark-colored stones in such areas.
Stones get damages due to various impacts like hit by objects, high foot traffic, structural loads, earthquake-like natural disasters, and accidental or intentional damages by humans.
Most outdoor areas, façade, living room, kitchen, and playing rooms for children are receiving different kinds of impacts more often than rests of spaces. Therefore, you must look at stones with high strength and durability properties to lay in such areas.
Most of the interior areas have fewer impacts of different climatic factors, but outdoor spaces have high chances. The cold, heat, humidity, water, sunrays, frost/thaw cycle, and similar climatic factors directly or indirectly affect the lifecycle of the natural stone and its appearance.
You must consider these climatic factors based on the weather in your region while making the stone selections for different areas. Many stone types are harder and studier than soft stone types, which can be the right choice for outdoor areas and semi-open areas in your home.
Most of the siliceous stones except slates are sturdy to withstand the climatic changes. Similarly, limestone and travertine like calcareous stones can prove the choice for exterior applications besides the internal uses.
Excessive humidity and water can create corrosion as well as fade the stone appearance.
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Acid rains and acidic chemicals can damage the stones more in the case of calcareous stones and less in siliceous stones.
Sewage, soaps, and carbonation bring drastic pH fluctuation and damage the stones permanently. So, select the appropriate stone types considering such chemical effects and try to apply the right sealing or coating treatment as a preventative measure.
Colors, textures, and patterns are components of the stone design theme running across your property. Let interior & exterior designers or architects to decide these factors while making the selection for buying natural stones.
We already know about grains, veins, and surface patterns existing in the natural rocks. We know how different types of cuts and surface treatments can bring all to make stones appealing. These all create an aesthetic appeal when you use the right combination of natural stones in your living spaces.
Aesthetic appeal and durability of natural stone are the merits of overall home value. If you have invested enough and smartly, you can get high values of your property with the pace of time.
Compressive strength, flexural strength, hardness, modulus of rupture, specific gravity, density, porosity/absorption, and abrasion resistance are metrics of durability. Such technical knowledge can help you to make the right selection of stones for you or your stone consultants.
There are simple tests to measure the durability of natural stones, and you can apply with simple tools or consult the team at World of Stones USA to help you out in making the right choice for the durable stone types for you.
Home maintenance includes regular removal of dust & dirt through different methods of cleaning, sealing or coating the stone surfaces, and replacement of damaged stone pieces.
Stone finishes determine the ease of sweeping and washing while chemical sealing eases the overall cleaning as well as stain removal. Calcareous stones are acid sensitive while siliceous stones can tolerate pH fluctuations to some extent.
Similarly, outdoor paving and other stone applications demand durable types of stones, and they also need frequent maintenance programs to keep look-n-feel intact. In short, you have to prepare your home maintenance program keeping the natural stone types used in your spaces, and expert advice can make a lot of difference.
The budget is the prime priority in each construction project. Therefore, we used certainly ask about the budget of natural stone installations and the cost of stone products. Due to the improved scenario of market and technologies, we can get natural stones at highly competitive rates against other construction materials.
We have multiple choices to make within a budget. It means you have to look at other pros and cons of selected natural stones and should make up your mind. For instance, white fantasy granites are the cheaper choice when marble proves the softer choice instead of costly quartzite. You can get the best of both worlds, sturdy stones like quartzite, and the stunning beauty of marble!
World of Stones USA is offering free of charge stone consulting services to help newbies, and even seasoned contractors find some complexities of large project confusing. Our stone experts can weigh the pros and cons of each stone type and can suggest the best products for your projects.
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In the world of natural stone, it can be a challenge to learn about all the different kinds of natural stone surfaces. If you have ever gone onto a slab yard to peruse the selection, you have seen just how many variations of stone are available. In this article, we will discuss three specific tests that can be very practical for natural stone professionals as well as natural stone owners. As we do, we will discuss some reasons why these tests are not only handy, but also very valuable.
The first test that we are going to discuss is the scratch test. This test is not unique to natural stone but it is extremely helpful in identifying a variety of stone materials. Why is that the case? Because sometimes two very different stones might look very much alike. However, the hardness is often times significantly different. And a scratch test is designed to determine how hard a stone is.
A scratch test is needed before you get the stone. Ideally before you even buy the slab you might want to either have one done or do the test yourself. Since the reason for the test is determine the hardness so you can confirm that the stone is correctly labeled, before you buy it is the best time. Finding out if you have a true quartzite can save you the time, money, and heartache of getting your countertop home only to learn that it is not actual quartzite at all.
Determining a stone's hardness hardness using a scratch test is pretty much just as it sounds. You scratch the stone using an instrument that has a predetermined hardness. In fact, companies sell scratch test kits designed for this purpose. You can do a Google search and find many online. Each tool has a measured hardness.
Begin by using a tool to try to scratch the surface of the stone. If it does not scratch the stone, move to harder tool. The tool highest number of tool that does not scratch the stone indicates how hard the stone is on the Mohs scale. Compare the actual hardness of the stone you test, with the known hardenss ratings of various materials and you can determine what the material actually is.
Water tests are very practical because there is a very important need to know a stone's absorption rate. Engineered stone, porcelain, and sintered stone surfaces are non-porous. However, a natural stone will "drink" liquid that gets on it.
Fabricators that are putting the initial seal on the stone perform a water test after treatments to determine when the stone is sealed well enough. Similarly, homeowners that are trying to determine whether their countertop needs to be resealed benefits from the results of water testing.
Performing a water test (or absorption test) is a simple process. All you do is simply pour some water on the surface of your natural stone. The faster the stone absorbs the water, the more it needs sealed. A key to protecting your natural stone is knowing when and how to treat it with granite and stone sealer. Keeping natural stone sealed can help them resist staining. checking your stone's absorption periodically is wise since various household liquids can breakdown the seal on a stone surface.
The third and final test that we will consider is the acid test; also called an etch test. This test is designed to tell you some very important information; information that you will want to know before investing in a high priced surface. An etch test has the purpose of indicating whether the stone under test contains calcium carbonate. This knowledge is valuable because of what it can help you do.
One of the primary reasons to do an acid test is to distinguish stones from each other. Just as the scratch test can help you find the hardness of an unknown stone, the acid test identifies the minerals in the stone. Thus, revealing what stone you are actually looking at. Some stone types have calcite, a crystallized form of calcium carbonate. Others do not contain this mineral. How the stone responds to the acidic liquid reveals what it is made of.
When used in conjunction with the scratch test, an acid test can help stone consumers differentiate stone types. For example marble and quartzite can sometimes be confused with one another because they look similar. This is important because of a common problem in stone labeling where marble is incorrectly labeled as quartzite.
Performing an acid test is simple and effective. All you do is pour a small amount of acidic liquid (lemon juice or vinegar) on a small piece of the stone and wait a few minutes (up to 15 minutes). If the stone changes color or gets cloudy, Then the you have etched the stone. You will want to perform this test on a piece of scrap or in an inconspicuous area because if the stone etches, you will have a dull spot (if the stone is polished) or a dark spot. Etching can be 'removed' in a sense by using an etch remover on the discoloration. However, because of the nature of this type of discoloration it can take patience and a bit of "elbow grease" to correct it. So, if you do an etch test on a stone that is already installed, be sure you do it in an area that is not readily noticeable. And, you might want to have some etch remover on hand to correct the appearance after the test. Clearly, our recommendation is to do the test on a piece of scrap and not on an installed stone.
So there you have it. Three stone tests that can help you to assess not only the type of stone you have, but also whether your natural stone needs to be sealed. Having the ability to perform these revealing tests allows fabricators to verify stone types and prepare a slab for a customer if needed. So be sure you're familiar with hardness testing (scratch test), seal testing (water test), and etch testing (acid test). If you are, you'll be better equipped to prepare, maintain, and work with natural stone surfaces.
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