Natural stone is a beautiful, unique and timeless wonder.

Understanding a little about the nature of marbles and granites will help you to appreciate the importance of a specialised cleaning and maintenance program.

Dimensional natural stone is quarried from massive deposits or formations, many millions of years old. The resulting blocks are cut to required thickness, and usually have one surface honed or polished. Tiles and slab panels are mostly cut to size in the originating factory, and then packed for further shipment.

Items such as bench tops, vanity tops and furniture are generally made to your specific requirements from polished random slabs. All of these finishers have something in common: each surface is essentially a cross section of the material – as it originally appeared in the massive deposit. A processed surface reveals the unmistakeable character of that piece of natural stone.

Natural stone is strong and stable to live with. It exudes a rich, organic, beautiful surface and has a confident, timeless “presence” in any environment.

The beauty of a natural stone is that no two pieces of slab or tile are the same of slab. It has its own unique colour, veining, and natural characteristics such as hardness and porosity.

Each has its own style. A one-of-a-kind presence and personality.

If your goal is a surface solution for the way you live that is truly unique, undoubtedly individual and purely personal, natural stone is a solid choice.

To help you better understand, we’ve put together some technical information.

There are two basic types of stone used in the building industry:

1. Natural stone such as marble, granite, or limestone
2. Composites (Man-Made stones) that consist of quartz suspended in a highly specialised bonding , manufactured material.

Natural stone can be grouped into three classes.

1. Igneous rock is formed when molten rock (called lava or magma) cools and hardens. Granite is an example of an igneous rock.
2. Sedimentary rock is formed from deposits that have undergone consolidation and crystallization. Limestone and sandstone fall into this category.
3. Metamorphic rock is created when other kinds of rocks are changed by great heat and pressure inside the earth. Marble, slate and quartzite are examples of metamorphic rocks.

Here are the names and definitions of some of the more popular natural stones: