Ready for a change? Now is the perfect time to try something new and what better way than the natural look of stone. Of course, the next question becomes, where do I start? Cost Less Carpet is the answer. From sun rooms to foyers, living rooms to family rooms, kitchen to baths, natural stone is being used to establish ambience, create stunning underfoot effects and define and separate activity areas.
What is natural stone?
Natural stone includes slate, granite, marble, travertine, and limestone. This isn’t cultured or man-made, but rather a product of the earth. Each product is cut into blocks at quarries and then taken to a processing facility to be cut into different shapes and sizes.
You can find sinks carved out of a single block of stone to the smallest trim piece, The most common applications of natural stone is on kitchen and bathroom backsplashes. The 6×6 travertine has turned that average kitchen or bath into extraordinary with simple application and low cost. In addition, stone mixed with glass, 1×1’s, 2×4’s,3×6’s,6×6’s,12×12’s,16×16’s,18×18’s and even 24×24’s are seeing increasing use due to their diversity and style. With the vast array of sizes come different finishes and edge profiles.
- Tumbled Stone – This process takes the square cut piece and rounds the edges and surface areas. This makes for a less man-made look and is great for doing edges because of its rounded corners. The appearance on tumbled stone sometimes looks very porous.
- Brushed and Tumbled – In addition to tumbled, the surface area is run through a large wire brush which smoothes the surface and gives it a soft texture.
- Brushed and Chiseled – In addition to brushed, the top of each side edge has been chipped away.
- Honed and Filled – This process cuts the block like cheese and then fills in any porous openings with filler that matches the color of the stone.
- Polished and Filled – The surface of the same honed and filled piece is then polished to a high shine.
