By The Fireside Guide to Stone Types

Natural stone, due to its natural beauty, versatility and durability, has been used on walls and floors for thousands of years and is still a popular choice today. By The Fireside, offer many different types of natural stone, each with their own characteristics, and now, we are able to offer many excellent manmade alternatives.

Granite

Granite is the hardest and most durable of all natural stone products. It is an igneous material, formed by the cooling and crystallisation of molten magna. Granite is non-calcareous and resistant to acid based substances. Granite is the only stone product which is suitable for use as a worktop. Granite is less porous than other natural stones although it is also excellent for fireplaces, bathrooms and floor tiling.

Limestone

Limestone is a warm stone of sedimentary composition, formed by the compaction of insoluble calcium salts and shelled sea creatures. Calcareous I substance, this stone type is not resistant to acid substances and extremely porous - given this, limestone is still very good for fireplaces and floors.

Marble

Marble, a metamorphic limestone, formed when rock is exposed to extreme heat and pressure, from volcanic action - a luxurious, sought after building material, used in construction since pre-Roman times. The crystalline structure is hard and dense allowing it to be polished to a high gloss finish - excellent for fireplaces, bathrooms, floor tiling.

Sandstone

Sandstone, an extremely durable sedimentary stone created by the compaction of minute quartz grains and sand particles well-known for its use in the construction of the Egyptian Pyramids. Sandstone is calcareous in substance, not resistant to acid and extremely porous.

Slate

Slate, a very affordable metamorphic stone composed of silt, ore, shale and volcanic ash compressed over millions of years in Earth's, sedimentary layers , non-calcareous in substance and therefore resistant to acid substances. The rich variation of colours gives this stone a truly individual feel - slate is extremely good for fireplaces, hearths and floor tiling.

Travertine

Travertine, derived from marble, is a sedimentary stone, formed slowly, from the precipitation of calcite in cooling waters around hot springs and underground rivers. Calcareous in substance, slate is not resistant to acid-base substances and is extremely porous - popular for floor tiling and bathrooms.

Micro Marble

Micro Marble - developed using a process by which natural marble is crushed, compacted together with a special resin and then polished - an extremely durable and beautiful marble look-a-like - excellent for fireplaces, bathrooms and tiles.

Quartzite

Quartzite, originally sandstone that has been converted into quartzite by heating and a pressurisation process - quartzite is an alternative to granite. It is as hard and durable as granite and extremely difficult to stain - great in kitchens and bathrooms!