In two expressions, I can actually summarize the quality of Natural Stone: Timeless Beauty, Timeless Durability.
Now a bigger explanation follows.
In the context of Natural Stone, quality is broadly a matter of two points:
- Aesthetic Properties (one might refer to these properties in words like Look, Beauty, Color, Surface Finish, Grain Size, Grain Direction Texture, Pattern, Surface Feel, Slab Shape, Slab Dimensions and such)
- Technical Properties (these refer to properties like Strength under Load, Mineral Composition, Water Lines, Fissure Lines, Porosity, Water Absorption/Resistance, Heat Absorption/Resistance, etc.)
Aesthetic Properties and Technical Properties, or any other expressions used to assess quality of Natural Stone are obviously intertwined. Some times it may be difficult to separate the properties into different buckets.
What complicates the assessment of quality in Natural Stone? Whatever gives the timeless beauty to Natural Stone, is also the very thing that complicates the assessment of quality in Natural Stone. What do we mean by this?
What we mean is this:
- Natural Stone is not a ‘manufactured’ material. It is what it is, as natural processes have created it.
- Natural Stone is not a ‘manufactured’ thing like vitrified tiles, ceramic tiles, glaze tiles, etc.
- Natural Stone does not have repetitive patterns like you see in ‘manufactured’ things like vitrified tiles.
- Natural Stone patterns are not printed by a printer as it is done in the case of ‘manufactured’ vitrified tiles. Yes, that is right. The repetitive patterns you find on vitrified tiles are actually printed using a printer.
- Last but not the least important, Natural Stone is not a ‘manufactured’ thing and it isn’t a ‘packaged’ good. As an object, it is one of the most difficult things to handle and arrange. It is literally pieces of rocks or earth that you are trying to handle.
You can’t ask an artist to paint two paintings exactly the same, can you? You can’t ask nature to give you two slabs or pieces of stone exactly the same. And that really is the beauty of Natural Stone. Some QC guys don’t understand this. Some builders pretend not to understand this. Some home-renovators fail to understand this. It is rare for architects or interior designs not to understand this.
Regardless of all this talk about Quality, Natural Stone is always enchanting, looks more enchanting as it ages and gathers all the scratches and use marks, and so so ‘durable’ all the while. Have you visited forts and temples that are hundreds and thousands of years old.
If you have already decided what to use for your project, that’s fantastic. If you haven’t decided yet and are looking for options, visit K. K. Stones and have a conversation with us. We’ll ensure that you pick the right stone for your project.
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