Lite Stone Launches

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Lite Stone Limited has formally launched their new site and business – www.lite-stone.co.uk

After months of hard work to organize the site, new stock and marketing campaign we are very happy to have the new site online with the online shop fully operational and lots of information and images for our products.

We supply natural stone veneer format. This is a relatively new way of manufacturing natural stone which makes it lighter and easier to store, fix and handle. It maintains all the natural character and beauty of traditional stone formats and is competitive in price.

Were looking forward to an extremely busy and successful 2016, take a look at some images of projects using our material below and feel free to visit our site – www.lite-stone.co.uk

Applications of Slate Veneer

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As I covered in a previous post stone veneer applications here is an overview of how slate veneer can be used. Slate veneer tends to have a fibre glass backing making it less breathable than when the material is backed to cotton. Slate is also naturally a little less porous than the sandstones used for the stone veneers. This mean slate veneers can be used outside but you need to be a little more careful as to the application and take into account what the veneer will be fixed to.

The material is ideal for almost any interior applications in kitchens, bathrooms living rooms, bedrooms, as feature walls, vanity tops, flooring, fireplaces and also in slightly less ordinary ways such as cladding a door, wardrobe or table top.

For more information on Slate Veneers please visit – www.lite-stone.co.uk

Take a look at the images below and please post a comment if you have an ideas for other ways the materials could be used?

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Top 3 countries to source Granite

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Granite is one of the strongest, most practical and most prominent of all natural stone materials. I have worked extensively with granites throughout my career and this is first of a series of articles regarding Granite materials. So to begin with let’s take a look at where most granites come from –

  1. India – The most popular source for the two most popular granites in the world – Absolute Black and Black galaxy. India is an excellent source for Granite with a huge range of colours available from quarries in various different regions of the country. My personal favorites are Steel grey and Flash Blue. Please scroll down to view my previous blog post regarding the situation surrounding the most popular light Indian granite colour Kashmir White.
  2. Brazil – Some excellent Granites come from Brazil, I consider Brazil as the best source for lighter shades and warmer colours. A Fantastic range of greys, yellows and browns are available with some wonderful movement and character in the materials. Generally Granites from Brazil are higher in price in comparison to granites from India, China and other countries.
  3. China – It is possible to source Granites quarried in Brazil and India from China but this is never advisable, China has its own range of Granite quarried in the country which are predominantly grey with some flecks of other colours coming into play. These materials are not considered the most attractive but have sound technical qualities and are cost effective making them an ideal choice for large commercial projects such as airports, shopping malls etc.

Others to consider – Itay, (Home of the original Sardo Grey) Saudi Arabia (home of Tropical Brown, Sauid Bianco and various others), Norway (home of Blue and Emerald Pearl)

If you require an independent expert to quality check material on your behalf you can contact me at info@globalstonespecialists.com / www.globalstonespecialists.com

Corporate gifts – an onyx apple

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Just like any other industry in the world of Natural Stone every company wants to make an impression and many offer various bits and pieces to try and ensure their potential clients remember their name. As expected all the usual items make the rounds including, pens and various stationary, calendars, diary’s, bags and clothing, essentially a plethora of branded throw away items.

I want to share the nicest gift I have ever received which was given to me by an Onyx supplier based in Iran and Turkey. They will remain nameless as I don’t market businesses in this blog (unless its my own of course!), as a potential new client I gratefully received a small Onyx apple with a golden stem! Attached to which was a tag with companies web address.

It’s a lovely little piece which will probably always adorn a prime position in my living room and I wont forget that company. Whats the best corporate gift you have received?

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My top 5 Spanish marbles

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  1. Crema Marfil – Crema Marfil is one of the most popular marbles in the world, the most sought after marble coming from Spain ad is established as one of the most common and well known beige color marbles in the world. Available in both dark and light beige tones with various grey and black lines, veins and markings there are several grades of quality depending on the quality of the block and how clean the material looks. There are many similar materials coming from Turkey and second quality blocks of Marfil from China, but for the original and best quality Crema Marfil the country of origin must be Spain.

 

  1. Dark Emperador – Dark Emperador is a rich dark brown color and a very popular brown marble option. It often has two slightly different shades of brown in the slabs and some white veining and patches of white calcite. There are normally 2 or 3 different quality grades of Dark Emperador with the lower commercial quality having a lot of resin filling applied during processing to lesser quality blocks.

 

  1. Light Emperador – Light Emperador is essentially the same material as Dark Emeprador except it is a lighter tone of brown. There is little to no white in Light Emperador and as such you are likely to see a lot less resin filling in the slabs.

 

  1. Nero Marquina – Nero Marquina is a classic black marble, jet black with thin white veins and sometimes found with patches and shell/fossil like patterns of white in the material. The polish of good quality Marquina is very high gloss and reflective which does make it easy to be able to see any potential issues with the quality of the polish of tiles and slabs. Be wary of lesser quality blocks and imitations of these material normally coming from China and Turkey.

 

  1. Red Alicante – Another classic well known marble from Spain and probably the most common and recognizable red marble in the world. Red Alicante is a light red and has white veining and white patches similar to some block of Dark Emeperador. It normally has two distinct red tones in the blocks and slabs and is very attractive indeed.

CREMA MARFIL IMG_0769 IMG_0770 (1) IMG_2370

All About Travertine

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Ive done a lot of projects over the years in Travertine and it has to be one of my favorite natural stones. I think its the combination of durability, versatility and wonderful aesthetic features which means I keep on coming back to it for many different projects.

So outlined below is a brief overview of this classic natural stone staple:

Travertine is a form of Limestone, its appearance has a more marble effect compared to most limestone’s and is available in several neutral beige tones, as well dark beige, chocolate brown, gold/yellow, silver/grey and red. Travertine is known for having a honeycomb texture to the stone, which are tiny cavities in the stone itself so it is available in several different finishes.

Some of the most popular finishes for Travertine are –

Polished and filled – The top surface has a gloss finish and the cavities are filled with either a cement or resin based filler.

Honed and filled.  – The top surface has a matt and smooth finish and the cavities are filled with either a cement or resin based filler.

Honed and unfilled – The top surface has a matt and smooth finish and the cavities are left unfilled.

Tumbled – The material has been tumbled to offer a natural riven surface finish and the cavities are usually left unfilled.

Travertine is usually found available in cut to size tiles, mosaics and slabs for bespoke project (vanities, special tile sizes, wall cladding etc), it is available in either vein cut or cross cut  and this refers to how the block of stone is cut and effects the pattern of the movement on the face of the finished product.

There are 3 main countries where Travertine is quarried.

Italy – Some of the more expensive Travertine’s come from Italy, my personal favorite is Travertine Romano.

Iran – There are some stunning colours available from Iran in particular reds, greys and yellow’s. Unfortunately due to the international sanctions they have not been readily available on the market. Recently these sanctions were lifted and hopefully that means we will see much more Travertine coming from the Iranian quarries into Europe and the west.

Turkey – Probably the most popular source for travertine due to the large quantities quarried, lower cost relative to Italy and easier to ship from in comparison to Iran.

As travertine is a strong Limestone it is possible to be used outside as well as inside, combined with it being a very attractive material with many neutral beige and brown options it is a very popular material for both residential and commercial projects.

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Applications of stone veneer

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Following on from my previous post outlining what a stone veneer is and its advantages I want to take some time to explore the full range of its potential applications. As normally with the veneer format stone veneer and slate veneer are considered two different products I am going to post two different articles to explore their applications separately so this is the first of a two parter!

From a practical perspective the difference between the two types of veneer is the back with the stone backing being cotton this makes it more breathable and able to be used in all kinds of ways outside as well as in.

It looks fantastic as wall covering on buildings, steps and external flooring as an alternative to traditional paving. It can also be used internally in bathrooms, kitchens, floors, walls and fireplaces.

Take a look at the images below and please post a comment if you have an ideas for other ways the materials could be used?

For more information please visit – Lite Stone

 

Badewanne1 Basalt3 Eingang Boden

How to maintain your natural stone – the 3 most important factors

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Looking after finished natural stone is an issue I receive questions about all the time from clients who want to ensure there materials continue to look the same way as they do when there first installed, in a lot of cases this is not possible as stone naturally ages and weathers. Outlined below are the three most important things to consider for all natural stone types in both interior and exterior applications. This is an introductory article, I will expand and go into further detail in future posts –

  1. Seal & Re-seal – Firstly make sure that either your supplier, fixer or you are sealing the material directly after installation. Take some advice to make sure you are using the correct type of sealer for the material and environment, water based or solvent, colour enhancing, natural, anti slip etc there are many options in the market.

Following this you must make sure you reseal the material on a regular basis, how regular will depend on the material itself and how heavily the area is used. Consider once every 6 months testing the material by putting a small blob of water on the surface and watching to see if it keeps it shape and stays on the surface or slowly starts to spread out and get absorbed into the material. In most circumstances to reseal the material once every 12 months is enough and it can be a very fast and easy job.

  1. Cleaning liquid – There are many cleaning solutions in your local supermarket listed as being special cleaning products for natural stone. It doesn’t matter if you use these or use another cleaning product, the most important thing is that whatever you use it is PH neutral. If a liquid is heavily acidic or alkaline it is possible it can damage your stone. As long as it is PH neutral then its absolutely fine to use to clean natural stone.
  1. Cleaning tool – This one is pretty obvious but ive seen this mistake made so many times – Do not use an abrasive cleaning instrument. Use a soft cloth not a scourer, a soft mop or soft broom with plastic bristles, no abrasive cleaning instruments will mean no hairline scratches on the surface of your material.

Kashmir White Granite

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Kashmir White, the light grey / white granite was once one of the most popular granite’s worldwide and certainly the most popular granite for a white option. You may not have a clue what it looks like but if you have ever ventured inside an airport or shopping mall then at some point you have walked on it or washed your hands in a vanity top made of it.

When I first started in the natural stone industry over a decade ago it was extremely popular and relatively cost effective, now it has all but disappeared and if any company does have stock it is sold at a premium rate. I haven’t found any for at least 3 years, so what happened to Kashmir White?

Kashmir White does not actually originate from Kashmir, it is in fact quarried in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Unfortunately as in many parts of India in Tamil corruption is rife and the scandal which has halted all production of Kashmir white involves countless stone companies in the area. Over 23 properties of quarry owners, businessmen and state officials have been raided and over 15 fake shell companies have been discovered whilst government officials work to untangle a web of fraud and tax evasion which seems to span back for many years.

It’s a sorry state of affairs for the masons and workers who’s communities relied on those quarries for their main source of income and has undoubtedly contributed to further immigration of workers from the southern states of India to regions such as the GCC as these people search for a new source of income to support themselves and their families.

This all happened in 2012 and as I write this post at the end of 2015 there are no signs that Kashmir White quarries will resume their operations any time in near future. The material is still there and hopefully one day and in our lifetime we will see a return for Kashmir White.

kashmir white close up kashmir white kitchen