Glossary of Stone Industry

Glossary of terms provides definitions for terminology used throughout our website. We hope this comes in handy when choosing your perfect tile. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch Contact Us

• Antique Simulating an aged stone with ‘wear and tear’ by applying an acid wash to the stone to distress the surface. The surface is then brushed to make it smooth and slightly restore the colour.
• Flamed & Brushed – Putting stone under the intense heat of a flame torch, burning most of the carbon content away and leaving beautiful textured quartzites with gentle colouration. The stone is then brushed to give it a worn and fairy smooth appearance.
• Honed – A process of grinding and sanding the stone to produce a smooth, matt finish.
• Honed & Brushed – Grinding and sanding of the stone (as above) followed by brushing the surface with an abrasive mechanical wire brush to slightly restore the colour and produce an even smoother, matt finish.
• Polished – A process of grinding, sanding, and buffing of the stone to produce a high gloss, mirror-like finish.
• Riven – A textured finish created as a result of splitting the stone along the natural lines that form within its layers, producing a slightly uneven surface. This technique ensures the tiles are non-slip.
• Sanded & Brushed – A very rough process of putting the stone under a high-pressure sand blast. The stone is then brushed to give it a smooth, matt finish.
• Tumbled – As the name suggests, tumbling and vibrating stones in a container mixed with water, sand and mild acid to create an aged, weathered look.
• Tumbled & Brushed – Tumbling stones (as above) to create a worn, weathered look. The stone is then brushed to give it a smooth, matt finish.

• Bevelled – Cutting the edge of a tile at an angle less than 90 degrees to create a smooth, slanted and very defined surface. They are used decoratively, but also prevent injuries that may occur from having sharp, perpendicular edges.
• Hand-cut – Exactly as described. The edge of a tile which has been cut by hand to produce a fairly straight edge. Slight indentations in the straight edges follow the naturally riven surface of the slab to provide authenticity and draw beauty from the stone’s natural imperfections.
• Straight cut or Sawn edge – Pure precision. Rather than being split naturally along the fault line, the natural stone tile is machine cut to produce a clean cut, uniformed straight edge.

• Free Length – This is where the width of the tile is fixed, and the length of the tiles can vary in size to produce an interesting and aesthetically pleasing pattern when being fitted. A traditional and timeless stone flooring technique.
• Grand Opus – A large format version of the Small Opus (see below). This is mainly used in bigger spaces and areas that require an interesting and random pattern to break it up.
• Small Opus – The opus refers to a set of tiles (approximately 3-8 different sizes in different products) that allow a random pattern to be generated and easily repeated. This provides a contemporary and interesting flooring style.

• Adhesive We use tile adhesive to stick our natural stone tiles to walls and floors – it’s essentially “Pritt-stick for paving”. There are two different types of tile adhesive, ready mixed pastes and powdered adhesives.
• Grout – Grout is used as a filler to seal the seams between tiles once the tiles you are installing have been set. Grout is generally a mixture of water, cement and sand and can come in a variety of muted colours to blend into the décor, keeping the focus firmly on the beauty of the natural tiles themselves.
• Sealing – A liquid coat applied to tile surfaces to protect the natural stone tiles from moisture, oxidation, natural deterioration and day-to-day wear such as unexpected spillages and staining.