Stone Types
Investing in stone
There are many hundreds of different stones from all over the world each with its own unique colour, veining, hardness and strength. So it's important to get the right advice when choosing which to put into your home. However big or small the job, we will help you to choose a suitable stone for the use to which you are going to put it, allowing you to enjoy the luxury of natural stone for years to come.
The information below gives some information on the different types of stone, how they were formed and their characteristics. You can also click on the stone name to see sample images of the stones that we keep in stock.
Engineered Stone
One of the features of natural stone is a variation in tone and veining, engineered stones offer most of the qualities of natural stone whilst having a consistency of colour that does not occur naturally and some people prefer this uniformity of look.
stoneCIRCLE offers a range of different engineered stone including the popular Trevisan, a marble composite and quartz composites from the market leading producers including Q-Stone, Silestone, CaesarStone, Dupont Zodiaq and Quarella. All of these quartz composite are composed of a high percentage of crushed quartz mixed with bonding agents and colouring pigments. They are an excellent replacement for granite or limestone. You can view these engineered stones in our showrooms in Newbury Berkshire and Basingstoke Hampshire.
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic rock. Granites can be pink to dark grey or even black with blue and green variations also available. Granite is nearly always massive, hard and tough, and for this reason it has gained widespread popularity as a construction stone and is perfect for kitchen worktops. You can view our granite range at our showrooms in Newbury Berkshire and Basingstoke Hampshire.
Jerusalem Stone
Jerusalem Stone is the name given to stone quarried in areas from the Jordan River on the east of Israel to the Mediterranean Sea on the country's west, and from the southern Port of Eilat on the Red Sea to The Galilee and Haifa on the north. It is mostly dolomitic limestone or dolomite, and tends to be of a gold or reddish hue, though some varieties are grey or nearly white. It is hard wearing and suitable for use in most situations, both inside and out - in fact most buildings in Jerusalem are clad in this stone, giving it its beautiful golden hue. We have slabs of Jerusalem Stone available to view in our showrooms in Basingstoke Hampshire and Newbury Berkshire.
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite. The primary source of the calcite in limestone is marine organisms, although other sources do occur. Limestone makes up about 10% of the total volume of all sedimentary rocks. Limestone is perfect for use in bathrooms and kitchens as tiles, shower trays, cladding and vanity tops. Our limestone slabs are on display at our showrooms in Newbury Berkshire and Basingstoke Hampshire.
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock resulting from regional metamorphism of sedimentary carbonate rocks. It comes in a vast range of colours from white, green, red to black and its veining generally contrasts with the base stone colour.
It has been used as a building material for centuries and is suitable for many different applications including outdoor and kitchen worktops depending on the particular type of marble. We have most of our range of marbles on display at our showrooms in Newbury Berkshire and Basingstoke Hampshire.
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed of mineral or rock particles the size of sand. The colour depends very much on the type of sand from which it is formed but tends to have a warm tone tending towards red, yellow or orange. The stone is often used for building and paving materials and other outdoor uses. Sandstone slabs are available to view at our showrooms in Newbury Berkshire and Basingstoke Hampshire.
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low grade regional metamorphism. It splits easily into sheets and most commonly comes in green and black shades. It is most often used for floor tiles and kitchen worktops. You can visit our showrooms in Newbury Berkshire and Basingstoke Hampshire to see samples of our slate range.
Travertine
A sedimentary rock which is deposited from the water of mineral springs or streams saturated with calcium carbonate. When pure, travertine is white, but often it is brown to yellow due to impurities. It is a hard and durable stone, typically quite porous with numerous cavities. It is used as floor and wall tiles, for cladding, and to make bathroom items such as basins and stands, vanity tops and baths. We have travertine products and slabs on show at our showrooms in Newbury Berkshire and Basingstoke Hampshire.
