A Guide to Choosing Natural Stone Tiles

When choosing natural stone tiles for your home refurbishment or renovation project, it is important to consider the many different finishes, effects and processes which can be applied to stone tiles. You will frequently find many natural stone tiles listed with various descriptive phrases which can easily cause confusion for someone with only a basic knowledge of the materials. Detailed below is a glossary of the main industry terms used to describe the different processes applied to stone tile products.

Antique(d) – A word used to describe various ageing and distressing methods applied to give a material a weathered effect. This method can often make the material more fitting to traditional surroundings. In different countries different methods are used to achieve the antique effect, therefore the appearance of antiqued stone will vary from source to source.

Brushed – Similar to antique, brushed stone has only slight surface texture and soft, rounded edges.

Calibrated – When the stone has been manufactured to a uniform depth.

Chipped – When the stone has been worked (usually by hand) to give the edges a rough ‘chipped’ appearance.

Filled – Filling stone is a process applied predominantly to Travertine. This is when the small holes on the surface of the material are filled with a similar coloured resin.

Honed – When the stone tiles are machine worked to give a smooth flat surface to the face of the stone.

Polished – When the stone tiles are worked to achieve a high gloss finish to the face of a tile.

Riven – When blocks of stone are split to achieve an un-even, natural finish to the face of the stone. This is particularly common with sandstone and can provide a more traditional feel.

Tumbled – A process which provides round soft edges to a tile. This is a common feature of Travertine.

Uncalibrated – When there is a slight variation in the depth of a tile.

Veining – A term used to describe natural mineral lines found in stone.

UK Tiles

UK Tiles