Natural stone tile finishes and styles

ANTIQUE - A variety of ageing or distressing processes are used to achieve the look of worn stone. As our stone is sourced from different countries their methods of antiquing vary and as such the appearance of the stone will vary as well.

BRUSHED - Metal brushes are used to give the stone an aged appearance. This produces a certain amount of surface texture and softly rounded edges

CROSS CUT - This mainly refers to travertine and the process of cutting the blocks horizontally. This is the finish most frequently used for travertine.

FILLED - Travertine is characterised by surface holes that can be filled with stone or epoxy resin substance. Some small holes may remain unfilled and so even these pre-filled stones may require some filling during installation.

RANDOM LENGTHS - Tiles laid in this format have a constant width, usually 400mm or 600mm, but with a varying length.

HONED - A mechanical treatment is applied to the face of the tile to leave a smooth finish.

OPUS - This repeat pattern uses different sizes giving a random effect. Opus patterns can vary depending on the type of stone used and its country of origin.

PILLOWED - Another method of giving the stone an aged look that leaves the tile with well defined ‘pillowed’ edges.

POLISHED - This mechanical process gives the surface of the tile a highly reflective gloss surface.

RIVEN - Usually referring to slate and sandstone this finish is the result of simply splitting the blocks. This results in a characteristic cleft or riven finish.

TUMBLED - Tumbled stone has been aged to give a slightly textured surface and natural looking rounded edges.

UNFILLED - Usually relating to travertine where the surface holes are left in their natural state. The surface of the tiles must be during the installation process.

VEIN-CUT - Marble and travertine can be cut vertically to make a feature of the natural veining or striations