FoxStone | Information about Granite, Marble, Caesarstone, Limestone, Ceramic & Porcelain Tiles

What is the natural stone?

• Granite • Marble • Caesarstone • Limestone • Ceramic Tile	• Unglazed Tile • Glazed Tile • Quarry Tile • Porcelain • Mosaic Tile

Formed by nature and enhanced by man, natural stone is a building material unlike any other. Rich in color, diverse in texture, it is the perfect addition to the home, whether featured in the kitchen, in the bath, or on the floor.

Through creative ingenuity, craftsmen pull rough blocks of stone from the earth and parlay them into a hundred unique variations, from the tiniest rippling mosaics to the most massive streamlined slabs.

Each slab of marble, granite, limestone or onyx is a unique jewel created by the unpredictable forces of nature, which turn ordinary rock into a thing of beauty.

Granite - A hard, crystalline, igneous rock formation formed when various minerals such as feldspar and quartz are fused by extreme heat. Lifted from the earth in enormous blocks, granite is the oldest, strongest, and hardest natural stone available. Due to its combination of vigor and good looks, granite has become one of the most highly regarded natural materials for the home interior. Surface finishes of granite are limited to polished, honed, and flamed. Granite’s large internal pore structure makes it susceptible to staining, so you have to seal it with a penetrating sealer.

Marble - A metamorphic rock formed by alteration of limestone or dolomite; often irregularly Colored by impurities. Marble is an elegant stone with colors range from earthy naturals to emerald greens, chocolate browns, and ruby reds.

Caesarstone -Is the original quartz-based engineered stone primarily used for kitchen countertops and bathroom vanities.

Caesarstone is 93% crushed quartz, one of the nature’s hardest minerals. The quartz is combined with high-quality polymer resins and pigments and then compacted under intense vibration, vacuum, and pressure into dense, non-porous slabs. The slabs are post cured, gauged to precise thickness, and polished to an enduring shine.

Limestone - Sedimentary rock wholly or in large part composed of calcium carbonate. It is ordinarily white but may be colored by impurities, iron oxide making it brown, yellow, or red and carbon making it blue, black, or gray. The texture varies from coarse to fine. Most limestones are formed by the deposition and consolidation of the skeletons of marine invertebrates; a few originate in chemical precipitation from solution.

Ceramic Tile -Is simply malleable clay that has been baked at high temperatures to form a hard body. Raw clay is often blended with any number of additives, such as talc, shale, sand, quartz, mica, or feldspar, either to improve its overall strength or to reduce the likelihood of cracking and shrinking. Clay that has been formed, placed inside a kiln, to be fired at temperatures ranging from 900 to 2.500 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the clay has been fired, it is referred to as bisque.

Unglazed tile -Is basically a fire-hardened clay slab. After one pass through the kiln, it has come to the end of its journey. Because this class of tile does not receive a surface coating of glaze, its color reflects its natural composition, and is the same from top to bottom.

Glazed tile - Has received a topcoat during the firing process. This glaze is a tinted liquid glass that is either brushed, sprayed, or poured on the face of tile, and eventually becomes fused with the clay body through tremendous heat. Some types of glaze can stand up to use on floors and countertops, while others should only be used on walls.

Quarry tile -Is machine-made by the extrusion process, quarry tile is a very rugged, earthy material. Its surface can be glazed, but it is most often left in its raw, unglazed form.

Quarry tile is categorized as either vitreous or semivitreous, and is very stable outdoors, standing up well to climates that experience freezing, resists staining, and it provides excellent traction when wet.

Porcelain - Manufactured by the dust-press method and fired in kilns at temperatures exceeding 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, porcelain is classified as either impervious or vitreous, and is therefore considered waterproof frost-proof, and stain-resistant.

Some of more popular styles on today’s market imitate marble, limestone and slate.

Mosaic tile - Ceramic and porcelain tiles two inches square and smaller are commonly referred to as mosaic. Used on both floors and walls, these tiles are available in a range of pennies (circles), and chiclets (tiny offset bricks).