Natural Stone

The classification of rocks is determined by several factors, including their mineral and chemical composition, the constituent particles of which they are composed, and the processes by which they were created. Using these factors, rocks can be divided into three categories: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.

Igneous rocks are composed of cooled, solidified magma. This process occurs in two different ways, dividing igneous rocks into two further classes. When molten magma cools and crystallizes within the Earth’s crust, the resulting rocks are considered plutonic, or intrusive. If the magma reaches the surface and cools, it is considered volcanic, or extrusive rocks.

Sedimentary rocks form when sediments, organic matter, or chemical precipitates (evaporites), are deposited and then compacted into rock. In addition, cementation occurs when minerals fill in the spaces within the particulate matter. These rocks form at or near the Earth’s surface. Included in this category are commonly found rocks such as shale, sandstone, limestone and dolostone.

Metamorphic rocks are formed when any rock type, including already metamorphic rock, is subjected to temperature and pressure conditions that are different from those in which the rock originally formed, and changed into other rock forms. For this to occur, the temperature and pressure must be very high, much higher than at the Earth’s surface.

The three classes of rocks can be divided into many subgroups, but this can lead to difficulties.

The differences between the classes are not hard and fast, and rocks from any one category have the properties of the other two categories. Thus, by increasing or decreasing the amount of particular minerals or the presence of particular structures, one class of rock merges into another. Because of this, geologists frequently recommend that classification be reduced to a few generalized designations, and the simplest criteria.

Rock coloration

The color of sedimentary rocks varies greatly, in large part due to other substances that contaminate them. For example, red sandstone and limestone, both of which are very common, contain small amounts of finely distributed iron oxide, also called hematite. Other substances, such as limonite and goethite, tint sedimentary rocks yellow or brown, and green tints are caused by glauconite or chlorite, or oxidized copper. Black coloration is caused by manganese oxides, asphalt, while bluish coloration can result from contamination with phosphates or the mineral fluorite.

The societal impact of rocks

Rocks have played a key role in human life, and the development of specific cultural practices and technological advances. Technologies that specifically involve the use of rocks are known as Lithic technologies. The mining of metal ore from rock is an example of a Lithic technology. The use of metals has played a major role in human prehistory and history, so much so that the early development of humanity is divided into the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. In addition, rock and products derived from rock continue to play key roles in building construction, road laying, and recreation.

Sandstone is a lovely material that often has a gentle look, resembling the waves of a wind swept, color laden dessert landscape. It comes in a variety of colors, and finishes, and it is relatively easy to maintain, even in a kitchen environment, where it is becoming very popular.

PORES

The most important thing to consider when installing sandstone flooring in a kitchen is the stones pores. Sandstone is very absorbent, and it has relatively large pores which can suck up a liquid rather quickly. This is one of the reasons that it is so often used to make drink coasters.

These pores are especially bad in the kitchen, where spills happen frequently. These liquid messes can soak into the pores of the sandstone and stain the material on the inside, making it impossible to remove.

Luckily there is a very simple way to solve this. All you have to do is apply a below surface sealer to the stone. This chemical application is like a wet, invisible glue, that goes down into the pores of the stone and clogs them up, making it impossible for stains to seep in.

This sealer should be applied once during the installation and then once more afterwards. After that, it can be reapplied every 6-12 months depending on the amount of floor traffic, and how shiny and deep you want the stone to appear.

Slippage

It is not generally possible to polish sandstone in the way that marble and granite can be polished. This means sandstone basically comes in two finishes, honed, and cleft.

A honed finish refers to a flat even surface. A cleft finish refers to a natural dimensional look.

The great thing about these finishes is that they both have somewhat of a texture to them, which can act as traction in a room, where spills and puddles are a common event. This means that your sandstone floor will be safer for you, and your family, then other more slippery and polished stones.

Style and Taste

There are a wide variety of sandstone colors available. There are also a variety of multi colors available. A multicolor sandstone is a material that has a pattern of color in its surface, which is different in every tile. Multicolored stone is considered some of the most unique material you can get.

Generally sandstone is used in an application where a softer, gentler effect is desired. The fact that it is made from sand, means that sandstone tends to remind us of beaches and desserts, and the soft feel of the sand beneath our feat.

 Slate is quickly becoming one of the most popular materials for hotel flooring. This is because slate has a variety of properties that makes it a perfect option for this application.

STRENGTH

Stone has a reputation for being hard. However, some stones really aren’t all that strong, and can suffer from cracks, crumbling and breakage. One example of a relatively soft stone is marble.

On the other hand, slate is one of the most durable and resilient natural stone materials that you can get. It is resistant to cracking, to wearing down, and to crumbling, and it works great in high traffic areas, such as in hotel lobbies and hallways.

One thing you have to remember when choosing a flooring material for a hotel, is the tip of the heal effect. If a woman is wearing high heals, the direct force that is being put on the floor at the very bottom tip of her heal is equal to the amount of force that is distributed to a floor by an elephants entire body. Considering how many women are going to be clicking their heals up and down the hotels hobby, it behooves a clever designer to use a material, such as slate, that can handle the load.

Slippage

The world is a litigious place, and no where more so than the united states. Even worse, establishments that are perceived as having “big pockets”, such as hotels, are often targets for people looking to make a quick buck suing. Considering this, it is important that you do everything in your power to reduce the risk of injury to your guests. This includes reducing the chance of slippage on your floors and hallways.

Naturally clefted slate is a great solution for this problem. A natural cleft refers to the dimensional quality of the surface of the stone. When material is clefted it is dimensional, and often resembles the kind of stone found in mountains and in nature.

The amount of clefting depends on the source of the slate, but it can range from very broken and rigid peaks, to a smooth honed surface with just a little texture.

When you use clefted slate, you reduce the risk of slippage, because the tiny peaks and rises, the overall texture of the stone, serves to act as traction for a persons feat. Even if the stone gets wet for whatever reason, it will still give visitors a little bit of traction.

This minor detail can save the life of a hotel, and prevent ruin from a careless spill.

STAINS

Hotels flooring gets used, which means that it gets dirty. Whether its from mud coming off of a guests feat, or a spill from room service, or just normal dust and dirt from time itself, you know that the floor will occassionally get messy.

Now you could have maids sweeping the halls constantly, teams of them scouring the lobbys for any sign of dirt or dissarray. However that is very expensive, and probably ineffective. An easier solution is provided by certain types of multicolored slate.

Multicolored slate refers to material that has a variety of colors in it. These colors form naturally during the development of the stone, and tend to create unique patterns and formations, which amke every individual tile look different.

When multicolored slate is used in flooring, the powerful colors tend to hide dirt, with messes dissapearing within the complexities of the pattern of the stone itself. This means that your floors will almost always look clean, even if the maids go on strike.

Even if you choose a solid colored slate, the material tends to be resistant to stains and damage. While slate does have tiny pores into which corrosive and staining liquids can penetrate, it is relatively simple to apply a chemical sealer to the stone during installation. This sealer will clog the pores of the stone, making them basically impervious to penetration.

Slate also doesn’t have the chemical acid problem that many other types of stone, such as marble and travertine, suffer from.

STYLE

One of the nice features of slate is that it comes in sucha  wide variety of styles, colors and finishes. There are well over 100 different colors and multicolors of slate, and different lots of stone will vary slightly by color. This is because when you quarry stone from a mountain, the stone that comes from the same part of the mountain will tend to look the same. However when you quarry all of the stone in an area, and you have to go deeper, the colors in the stone can vary slightly, forming new but derivitive patterns. This means that there is a virtually endless array of slate colors which you can use.

Slate also comes in a variety of finishes. Naturally slate is clefted, with a rough, bumpy, dimensional surface that resembles raw stone from the wild. This is the finish which provides the most slip resistance.

However slate can be grinded down by machine powered grinders, to have a smooth flat surface, that is called a honed finish. The nice thing about honed slate is that while it has the finished, perfect look of a flat and level installation, the material still retains some texture, which makes it fairly slip resistant.

If the grinding process is taken to the next level, it is actually possible to polish certain slates, to the point where they actually shine the way marble does. Unfortunately this process causes the stone to lose its slip resistance, and much of its vibrant color. It also makes it susceptible to scratches.

CONCLUSION

There is a reason that you are seeing slate in more and more hotel lobbies these days. It is easy to maintain, easy to protect, and it tends to take care of itself, and your guests. Aside from all of that though, there is a philisophical power that this material exerts, that tends to evoke a sense of comfort, nature, and peace. This design effectadds stylish elegance to a material which is already utilitarian and functional.

Marble is a beautiful and classic material that has been used in great works of art, architecture, and design, since the earliest days of human civilization. Unfortunately, it is one of the worst materials you can use in restaurant flooring.

A restaurant environment is hectic, it is high traffic, and it is sometimes a little messy. These are all factors that can destroy a marble flooring installation.

ACID STAINS

First of all, marble is made up of a chemical base. That is important because the matter that makes up the marble itself, will have a chemical reaction whenever it comes in contact with a material which is a chemical acid. This means that if any acidic substance touches the marble, your going to have a change in color that looks like a big nasty stain.

Some common acids you find in restaurants include pasta, salsa, barbecue sauce, really anything that contains tomatoes, all fruits and fruit juices, and most spicy sauces. Even most of the powerful cleaning agents you would use to clean up a spill or mess on the floor have acidic agents in them.

Of course it is always possible to add a sealant. A sealant is a chemical substance that is placed on installations to create a thin, invisible barrier. It is kind of like a watery glue, that you put on the floor. When teh water in the “glue” evaporates, all that is left is the dry and invisible barrier, sitting silently over the actual marble material. This thin barrier can keep acids, and any other stains off of the marble.

The problem is that over time, the sealer will tend to wear away, especially in high traffic areas. That means you will have to reapply it every few months. Whats worse, if you forget or go too long without reapplying it, you may start to aquire stains that are nearly impossible to remove.

SLIPS

One of the great draws of marble is that when it is polished, it has a smooth and glistening surface. In fact white marble is often used in art and sculpture because when polished, it becomes semi-translucent, and light can penetrate a little bit into its surface, making its eem to glow.

The problem with all of this beautiful polished marble in a restaurant floor, is that if it gets even the slightest bit wet, it is going to become a slip and slide. Condensation on a warm day, a slight spill from a waiter, and droplets from a wet coat on a rainy day are all potential lawsuits if the wrong person steps in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The alternative to polished marble is to purchase the material brushed. A brushed finish means that the stone has not been poliushed down to a glistening, flat, shean, but instead has been left in its original rough and unfinished state. However, some grinding is done to brushed material that takes away the majority of the dimensionality of the stone, leaving the surface textured but flat. A flat textuired surface is going to have traction, even when it gets a little damp. You should still strive to clean messes as quickly as you can.

The drawback to Brushed marble is that you don’t get the glistening appeal that is so heavily associated with marble. It is that elegant appeal that makes the material, whether brushed or polished, so expensive.

BREAKAGE

Everybody knows that stone is hard. But what most people don’t understand is that some stone can also be brittle. This is determined by the strength of the bond between the elements in the stone.

As far as stone goes, marble is pretty week. It is prone to chips, cracks, and breakage of every variety.

In its polished form, it is also prone to scratching. White marble will hide the scratches some what, but in darker colors it will be rather obvious.

CONCLUSION

The fact that marble is so hard to maintain, means that it is only used in applications where the customer has the resources to maintain the installation. This makes the demand for marble lower, which raises the price of quarrying, and importing the material, as well as processing it.

Mix that fact, with the classic history of marble, the fact that it is used in art, and has been favored in the palaces and monuments of kings, and it is easy to understand the dynamic of why marble is so expensive.

Considering the price, why would a restaurant owner want to go to the trouble of installing marble flooring? There are only two answers. Either the restauranteur is ignorant and or uninformed, or they want to make a specific and distinct impression and are willing to spend the resources to do that.

If you know what youa re doing, and you are willing to take the precautions, then you should use marble in your restaurant. However, everyone else should avoid it. There are a variety of alternatives such as polished slate, sandstone, and even granite, which will be much less of a headache and a hassel

Slate tile is quickly becoming one of the most popular building materials in the world. It is available in several hundred different colors and multicolors, a variety of textural finishes, and just about any size or shape you can imagine. Unique and exotic it is often described as the rebellious alternative to standard, corporate granite, since it has similar durability and resistances.

Sizes

Slate is a natural material which is quarried from mountains around the world. When it is extracted, it comes out in the form of enough chunks of unprocessed rock. These chunks are then squared off and sliced down into useable sizes and shapes.

Standard slate tiles are 12″ X 12″ squares. These squares can be cut down to any smaller size. If you have an experienced fabricator you can also cut the stone down to exotic shapes, or even circles. The standard thickness for a 12″ X 12″ tiles is 3/8″, although this can vary depending on how much dimensionality is found in the surface of the stone

Some tile dealers will also carry tile that is 16″ X 16″ square. Sometimes it is even possible to find 24″ square tiles. These larger tiles are often thicker, being 1/2″ - 3/4″ in depth.
For the most part sizes larger than 24″ X 24″ are called slabs.

The only real difference between tile and slab is that slabs are generally larger and thicker. They are also often irregular

Finishes

Slate is available in a wide variety of finishes

Clefted slate is the most dimensional, and includes peaks and breaks in the surface of the stone. A clefted finish is often referred to as a natural finish, because it looks like it was taken directly from the side of a mountain, which it was. The amount of cleft found in slate varies from material to material. Some relatively flat tiles may be called cleft, just because they have an occasional rise or bump, while other materials which have wild breaks, peaks, and crevasses will share the same name. It is important to get an idea of cleft, because this will affect your ability to walk, or work, on the surface of the stone.

Honed slate is material that has been ground down using a mechanical polishing machine. The resulting material is flat and smooth. When slate is honed, often the colors will change. Often they become more subdued, but sometimes the peaks and crevasses show up as patterns in the flat honed surface. While honed tiles are less resistant to slippage that clefted, they still provide greater traction than polished material.
Polished slate is material that has been honed to such a high gloss that it actually has a luster to it. Not all slate materials can reach this level and for them the closest that can be achieved is a hi-hone.

Brushed slate has been ground down just enough to take the points off of the clefts, but not enough to remove the dimensionality of the stone

Guaged material refers to tiles that have been leveled off at the factory so that they are all roughly the same thickness. You should only use first quality guaged material because using tiles which are all different sizes can cause your project to have gaps.

Outdoor Slate Tiles

Some slate tile holds up beautifully outdoors, others do not. It depends largely on the chemical makeup of the piece as it formed.

Many red slate do not last well outside. This is because the red color is often an indicator of iron oxidizing in the surface of the stone. This is a process which is similar to rust and which can cause the tile to fall apart when exposed to rain over the course of years.

Other considerations include the water absorbancy rate of the stone, and how much it suffers from clefting or splitting apart.

All outdoor slate applications should receive a water barrier sealer which will clog the pores of the material. You should also be aware that normal weathering effects tend to dull the colors found in natural slate.

Care and Maintenance

Slate generally has a low water absorbency, which means you don’t have to worry about stains and liquids getting into its pores and causing damage from the inside. A water barrier sealer should be applied to slate during installation, to ensure that the stone is protected against stains and mold.

The sealer tends to make slate seem brighter and more vibrant. These powerful colors will tend to fade back to normal over time unless the sealer is re-applied.

The sealer can also be re-applied on an annual basis to protect it from high traffic or high stain areas.

Cleaning slate is fairly easy and can normally be accomplished with soap and warm water. There are also special stripper soaps which may be available from your tile dealer, than can helo with ground in dirt.

Practical considerations

Slate is most often used in floors and counter tops, although it can be found in almost any application, from back splashes, to fireplace surrounds. It is even found in a series of innovative home decor products manufactured and designed by PebbleArt

Slate is very popu8lar in bathrooms because it is slip resistant and hides dirt

It is popular in kitchens for the exact same reasons

There are several hundred colors of slate, and even a single type of slate can vary in color from box to box. Be sure to check the range of the stone before purchasing. You should always buy an extra box or two, in case a tiule breaks later on. This is because in the time since you first purchased the stone, the color may have changed.

Restaurants and hotels often use slate flooring in order to avoid slips which can lead to costly lawsuits.

Slate is also a popular and classic roofing material

Location of Slate

A lot of slate is quarried in the united states, especially in places like Vermont. However, more exotic colors of slate are often imported from countries such as India, China, Pakistan, Turkey, and various places in South America.

Slate tiles is often quarried by a stone yard, then shipped to distributors via freight containers. These containers can house millions of dollars worth of tile. The distributors then house the materials, and sell them to architects and designers in smaller quantities, who then use them to finish projects.

Natural slate is a powerful and exotic material, that can add a passionate element to a rooms ambiance. In a bedroom, slate installations can often add an energy to the space, that is invigorating and exciting. However, before choosing this material, there are several factors that you have to consider.

Texture

In its natural form, slate has a rough clefted texture, that resembles the side of a towering mountain range. The extremity of this clefting will vary from material to material. In some instances, the clefting can be so severe that it makes walking on it barefoot painful, because of the tiny peaks and ridges in the surface of the stone.

Since the level of clefting will vary from material to material, it is important to evaluate a range of tiles before making a selection.

If the slate you choose has too many sharp edges, the material can often be honed, or even polished down, to give it a flat surface. The drawback to this, is that honing slate tends to subdue the vibrant colors which are often found in it.

One way to have your cake and eat it to, is to purchase slate which has a brushed finish. This means that the slate has been honed down such that, all of the sharp peaks on the stone have been removed, but the depth and crevices in the stone remain. The result is material which you can walk on barefoot, but which retains much of the natural beauty of slate.

Temperature

The other concern you have to be aware of when installing slate in your bedroom is temperature. Slate tends to be cool to the touch. If it is a warm summer day, putting your bare feet on a slate floor can be a refreshing pleasure. However. if its a chilly winter morning, hopping out of bed barefoot can be a nasty surprise.

The best way to compensate for this is by installing a sub-floor heating system. That consists of a series of heated pads which are installed directly beneath the tiles, and which are connected to a thermostat which allows you to control the heat output. The best time to install sub-floor heating is during the tile installation, because the stone is generally adhered directly to the pads.

A less involved method of handling the cold is simply spacing warm throw rugs throughout the room, allowing you to travel throughout the space in warmth. The interplay of cold and warm textures will make the space seem even cozier.

Advantages

Most people who install slate flooring in their bedrooms claim that they are looking for a way to connect their lives to the natural world. Others claim they like the fierce and passionate appeal that it adds to the space. However, many people like it simply because it is so unqiue, and easy to maintain.

Slate is just about the perfect material for kitchen flooring. It has a variety of features which make it particularly safe and stable in this room, and it comes in a wide variety of colors, multicolors, finishes, and designs.

Safety

In its natural form, slate has a clefted texture that is rough and bumpy. This is often referred to as a natural finish, since in this form the stone looks like it could be sitting in the side of a mountain.

The best thing about clefted slate is that it almost never gets slippery. Even if you spill dishwater and tomato sauce on the floor, you will always have a little bit of friction. That is why slate is so often used in restaurants and kitchens, where a nasty slip can quickly turn into a lawsuit.

Durability

Slate is one of the hardest building materials around. Aside from that, it has a relatively low absorption rate. This means that unlike some other materials, slate doesnt absorb as much liquid into its pores.

When a colored liquid such as juice gets into a materials pores, it can stain that material from deep within, creating a permanent mark. Even if the liquid is just water, the water can sit in its pores and rot away the material, possibly even expanding and contracting, weakening the entire installation.

With slate, all you have to do is apply a light sealer during installation, and you will pretty much clog the pores for life. You may want to reapply the sealer every year or so if you want to really protect the installation, but with common use this may not be necessary.

Color

One of the great things about slate is the variety. There are well over 100 different colors available, and many of those are multicolors.

A multicolored stone refers to material that has multiple colors running throughout it. These colors are comprised of various chemicals that were present during the formation of the stone. They can appear in the form of veins, waves, spots, or even naturally occurring landscapes which will stretch out breathtakingly across the surface of the stone.

The way that various colors merge and interact in any given piece of stone is random, and every single tile is a one of a kind work of natural art. Coordinating the many colors found in even a single type of slate can be like creating a tremendous masterpiece, that reflects the union of your soul and the natural world.

Finish

While slate comes naturally in a clefted finish, it can be worked, ground, and even polished down.

Polished slate is smooth and has a shining luster that is similar to marble or granite. However, the polishing process tends to remove much of the vibrancy of color that is found in its natural counterpart. Polished slate can also get quite slippery when wet. Polished slate can also be scratched, although a good multicolor tends to hide scratches.
Honed slate is not as lustrous as polished, but it does have a little more traction when wet.

Brushed slate refers to a process where the points and peaks are honed off of the material, but the ridges are left. The final result is a material that retains its dimensional quality, but doesnt have the edge that might make it harsh to walk on barefoot.

For all of these reasons, slate is quickly becoming one of the most popular materials for kitchen installations. To see just a small selection of some of the natural slates we have in stock, you can visit http://pebblez.com/stone/slate.htm

One common complaint about natural stone flooring is that it can feel a little cold to bare feat. While this may be a desirable feature on a sultry summer afternoon, it can be rather jarring on a chilly winter morning.

The easiest solution to this, is to install a radiant sub floor heating system. Such a system consists of a series of “warming blanket” mats which are set just beneath the tile, resting on the subfloor. These mats contain electric resistance wires, which are hooked up to a 120 volt GFCI circuit.

Using the attendant thermostat,  users can adjust the amount of heat that is radiated throughout the floor.

Installation of a subfloor warming system is easiest if performed during your tile installation. This is because often, tile is adhered directly to the warming matts, to ensure that the system is as efficient at heat distribution as possible.

The heating pads should be installed directly on a concrete subfloor. If your home has a wooden subfloor, it may be necessary to install cementboard over this.

Often, a small heating system can be wired directly into an existing GFCI circuit. However if the area being warmed is largem or if the thickness of the tile requires more output, it may be necessary to install a dedicated circuit for the heaters use.

The most important thing from a safety point of view in regards to these systems, is that the installer performs a resistance checks on all of the wires to ensure that they were manufactured properly, and were not damaged during shipping. Installers should also follow any manufacturers instructions regarding power limits, installation, and use.

not used as sole source of heat in rooms

usually made up of a series of flat matts which have electric resistance wires in them. mats warm up, and send heat through stone

mats usually wired to a 120 volt GFCI circuit

thermostat controls the heat

matts laid over concrete

adhesive added to them, then thinset tile placed on top.

do not install heating mats directly on wood subfloor. Install cementboard if necessary

an important safet issue during installation is to perform a resistance check on the heating wires to ensure that they were properly manufactured, and weren’t damaged during shipping.

the size of the installations determines whether the system needs to be hooked to a dedicated GFCI circuit, or if it can patch into an existing one.

Tile can be a beautiful choice for decorating your walls. A distinct choice, the texture and dimensionality of tile makes it an automatic attention grabber.Wall tile is generally thinner than floor tile, and has a less durable finish, because it doesn’t have to stand up to the pressure of constantly being walked on. This means that it is generally more delicate than flooring material, but is also easier to cut and work with. Floor tile can be used in most wall tile applications, with the only difference being that it is slightly heavier.

One of the most important things to know about wall tile is the grade of the material you are getting. Grade one material should be perfect and square. Grade two material may be slightly irregular, and or have minor surface defects such as scratches. Grade three material is completely irregular.

Another important thing to know about your walls tiles is their water absorption level. Non-vitreous or semi-vitreous materials are very absorbent, and need to be sealed against moisture to prevent mildew. Vitreous materials are slightly resistant, but may still need to be sealed after the initial installation, especially if they are going in a wet area such as a kitchen or bathroom. Impervious materials are often resistant enough to water that they will not require sealing.

Sealers are most often sold by tile retailers. They are applied during the installation, and they are designed to clog the pores in the material. Some sealers will change the look of a tile, so test before you apply. The sealer can be re-applied regularly if needed, or to maintain the look of the stone.

If you are installing the tile outdoors, you should also be aware of its frost resistance rating.

One of the challenges when tiling a wall is that corners of the tile often end up exposed. These can be covered up using decorative borders. A border can make a wall design look finished, and allows you to frame the tile in whatever color you want, whether it be contrasting or complimentary.

Trim pieces often bull nose, or round off, connecting a counter or tile design to the wall seamlessly. Listellos on the other hand are generally made of thicker tile which extends out into the room, creating a clear border.

One of the major differences between installing wall tile and flooring tile is that the material may tend to slip down the wall. Battens are devices which can be used to secure the tile and stop slippage.

How much you pay for wall tile will depend entirely on the material you are using. Some wall tiles are less expensive than flooring tiles because they are thinner and less durable. However, since wall tiles don’t have to handle as much wear and tear, some people choose expensive delicate materials for these applications.

Tiles come in almost any shape and size, and can be made from almost any material you can think of. This allows you to get really creative with any wall tile design you work on.

To purchase rustic, natural slate, or elegant marble tile for your walls or floors, visit http://pebbleZ.com/stone

Use an Appropriate Slate

The most important thing to consider when using slate in an outdoor project is to choose a type of slate which is appropriate for this application.

Red veins running through the surface of a slate are often an indication that iron is oxidizing in the surface of the stone. While generally harmless indoors, when placed outdoors moisture can speed this effect up drastically causing the slate to become brittle and break apart. This is a process that is similar to what happens to iron when it rusts.

If the slate is a straight red color without veins however, this may mean that it is one of many other elements that can cause the color red to appear within stone.

Low Absorption Rate

When using stone of any kind outdoors it is important to have a low absorption rate. This means that the pores found within the surface of the stone will not soak up moisture that much. When water gets into these pores, it can freeze, which causes it to expand, and which can then shatter the stone.

Slate is generally is generally a good stone to use outdoors because it has a very low absorption rate, often as low as .2% compared to other materials such as bluestone which can be as much as 10% absorbent. However the absorption rate will vary slightly between different types of slate, so for optimal durability you may want to research the material you select.

Proper Installation

It is very important that stone is installed properly when being used in an outdoor application. If your contractor does not create a smooth subsurface for the slate to lay on, voids may appear underneath the stone, into which water can creep. This water can then freeze, expand, and destroy the entire project.

Layers

When choosing a material try and get a few samples so you cans see exactly how it behaves. If the material flakes apart along highly visible layers, it may have trouble maintaining its integrity while suffering from weathering over the course of several years. Ideally you want a slate that is relatively non-directional in the way that it breaks, and which shatters in chunks rather than lines.

Weathering

When installing anything outdoors, it is important to be aware of the fact that this installation will be subject to the full power of the weather 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With natural slate, this means that some weathering may occur to the colors in the stone.

This is not necessarily an unattractive thing. Many people love the rustic patina that slate develops over the years, which can give a project a classic, aged look.

Chemical Protection

There are chemical coatings which should be applied to any natural slate project that you are creating outside, which will offset many of the negative effects that weather can have on your material. At the very least a water barrier sealer should be applied to the stone after installation. If you want to enhance the colors and protect the stone from weathering, then you can apply a non yellowing protective finish to the surface, every few months.