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Stone GlossaryFaye BentleyNovember 11, 2020December 16, 2021

STONE GLOSSARY

There are a many types of stone available, and each can be finished in a number of ways to suit a certain style or application.

The list below tells you a little bit more about each stone and finish. Alternatively, tell us about your project and we can recommend some suitable options.

TYPES OF STONE
BASALT

One of the most versatile and hard wearing natural stones, Basalt is quite literally lava stone. Usually anthracite in colour, Basalt is extremely hard wearing and contemporary and perfect for both internal and external application. Please note that a degree of caution is required in the use of Basalt due to its chemical composition – for example, many basalts contain iron and should not be used in wet areas. Please consult one of our team for more information.

ENCAUSTIC CEMENT TILES

Encaustic tiles are cement tiles where the pattern on the surface has been created using different colours of clay inlaid into the body of the tile, so that the design and colour remain, even as the tile wears. Highly fashionable due to the vivid colours and designs, some highly contemporary and some reminiscent of Victorian tiles. Like natural stone, cement or encaustic tiles will age naturally over time and develop their own patina.

GRANITE

Granite is a tremendously strong versatile and durable natural stone. Granite is an igneous rock that cooled at depth in the Earth’s crust with the slow cooling causing the main minerals of granite to grow to easily visible sizes. As such, granites come in a multitude of often-unexpected colours. As the hardest of the natural stones, Granite is perfect for external use as well as commercial areas of high traffic.

LIMESTONE

Limestone is known for it’s warm and light colours. The Devon Stone range of limestones also includes blue, grey and even anthracite limestones. Limestone is usually distinguished from the other stone types by visible fossil markings that add great interest to your surface. In some stones such as Jura, these fossils can be seen in full size and ammonites, sea horses and even jelly fish can easily be distinguished. Limestone in many formats is the choice stone for interiors but with our range of stone finishes some of our limestone range can also be used externally.

MARBLE

Marble is essentially a crystallised limestone easily identified by strong veining. Due to being an extremely hard stone, marble is often known for its classical, highly polished and very colourful formats. At Devon Stone, we have been working with suppliers to increase the number of surface finishes to marble giving Marble a different appeal and making some marbles useable externally.

SANDSTONE

Sandstone (sometimes referred to as Gritstone) is a soft sedimentary stone. Widely used externally for patios and terraces, sandstone has also been used for centuries in the facades and detailing of historic buildings. York Stone and Reclaimed York Stone flagstones (also referred to as flags) are the most commonly requested form of Sandstone with Indian river sandstone offering a cost-effective alternative for patios.

SLATE

Due to the natural cleft and undulations of slate, this stone makes for characterful floors often looking like they have been installed for centuries. Very hardwearing and usually dark in colour (although some slates can be very metallic and multi coloured), slate is a perfect partner for both internal and external floor and wall coverings.

TERRACOTTA

Terracotta from the Italian for ‘baked earth’, is made from clay. Immediately identifying with the Terracotta floors of the Spain and Italy, it is a deep red to orange colour with a rustic, glazed finish.

TRAVERTINE

Beautiful and warm, Travertine is easily identified by it’s natural pits or holes that you will find on the surface of Travertine stone. One of the characteristics of Travertine is that the number of holes can increase over time. Although easily rectified using either grout or resin (or most cases left open adding to the drama of this beautiful stone), at Devon Stone we prefer to advise client on the use of Travertine tiles as quality and type of use is very important to this type of limestone (calciferous stone).

STONE FINISHES
ANCIENT

A well worn stone finish – extremely authentic of a very old floor. The ancient finish is achieved by heavily etching and working of the surface followed by a further process of knocking back the grain exposure to ensure the character of the stone remains in place.

BROSSATO

The brossato finish is one of our luxury finishes reserved for a hand full of stones. The brossato finish is achieved by hand honing the stone followed by a brushing process. This anti-slip finish is very gentle under foot and less prone to scratching.

BUSH HAMMERED

Bush hammered is an aggressive highly slip resistant yet very contemporary stone finish. Achieved by the application of a hydraulic bush hammer to the surface of the stone. The appearance of the bush hammered finish is industrial with a large number of close and small indents.

CHISELLED STONE

Finish achieved using an air chisel. The appearance of this type of natural stone finish can be likened to a linen texture with the fine grooves positioned closely together and parallel to the edges. A perfect and interesting external finish.

DIAMOND CUT

The diamond cut natural stone finish is achieved by sawing the stone block using diamond wire. The surface appearance of this stone finish shows typical saw cut markings parallel with each other in the direction taken by the saw or the wire.

DISTRESSED

Created by hand-fettering and then cushioning (softly rounding) the edges of the stone leaving the surface flat.

ETCHED

Created by sand-blasting. An etched finish makes stone surfaces less slippery. It also softens the colour of the stone for a slightly more muted finish. This is particularly appropriate for hard stones that are used for exteriors and pool surrounds.

HAND CLEFT STONE

Finish achieved by manually hammering the surface of the stone with a chisel. The Hand Cleft finish is reserved for feature stone.

HAND HONED STONE

The honed texture is smooth with fine circular markings. The honing process is carried out by hand rather than machine and the surface is purposefully left with visible abrasive and carborundum markings as a feature. Usually recommended for external stone flooring and internally to achieve an industrial look.

HONED

A smooth matt (or flat) to light shine surface finish (depending on the stone) created by high-speed mechanical action using different grades of abrasives under factory conditions. Honed stone is the most commonly used and recommended internal floor finish.

POLISHED

A high gloss and reflective surface finish that brings out the colours in the stone. The polishing of natural stone follows the same process as honing using finer abrasives. The degree of polish of the natural stone is determined by its mineral elements and texture and not all natural stones can be polished. Usually recommended for wall covering, polished stones are not usually recommended as stone flooring due to their low slip resistance value.

RIVEN, CLEFT AND ROCKFACE

Riven finish is the split or cleft face of stones that are naturally made up of many thin bed or strata layers. Stones such as slates and sandstones are typically supplied in the Riven finish, but some limestones are also available with this natural face.

SABLINO

Sablino finised natural stone tiles are first hand honed or honed, then sandblasted and finally brushed. The resultant appearance is a slightly rough texture which is easily maintained and again less sensitive to scratches. Sablino is very similar to the Satino finish with a finer stippled surface.

SATINO

The Satino finish is achieved by the processes of hand honing the stone before texturing it with a high pressure mechanical action followed by a flaming process. This results in a smooth stippled surface which is then brushed to a soft finish. Whiklst not as aggressive as a flamed finish (although aestheitcially very similar), it can improve slip resistance in wet areas and less sensitive to scratches.

SEASONED

A subtle process for matching aged stones. This is a mechanical process that softly rounds the edges and exposes the surface grain leaving it with a lightly stippled effect.

TUMBLED OR ANTICO

Re-creating the effect of the sea on beach pebbles, the stone is hand honed and then tumbled against stones exposing the surface grain and giving a worn look with a natural patina from day one. Tumbled stone edges are also softly rounded.

VELVET OR HEAVY VELVET

The stone is sandblasted to give it a bleached, etched effect and then undergoes the satino process which gives it an orange-peel look and velvety feel.

VIEUX MANOIR

Specific to the Pierre de Bourgogne limestone, the surface of the stone tile is distressed by a combination of hand honing, milling and brushing, with the edges being highly distressed. As close to an ancient flagstone as modern stone will get.

VINTAGED

Created by hand-fettering the edges of the stone and then texturing the surface in a more concentrated process to give a delightfully rustic look.

WEATHERED

Created by hand-fettering the edges of the stone and then heavily etching and then smoothing the surface to produce an open-grain finish that mellows to an antique patina

WORN

A smoothing process to create the effect of antique, riven flagstones.

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