Choosing the right type of stone for your building project

If you are starting a new building project it’s worth taking some time to consider which stone to use for each building element. We have compiled a list of a number of popular stone types, including their usage, and pros and cons.

Marble

Marble is naturally hard and compact with a high compressive strength. Marble can easily be cut and carved and be made into varying shapes. Given it also occurs in varying colours such as white and pink, it is popular as a decorative material. Also, marble polishes really well. Marble is a popular choice for home design.

Marble is often used for steps, flooring, stone facing slabs, columns, wall linings and decorative and ornamental items. Marble looks good, has an even colour spread, comes in a range of colours and can easily be cut and shaped. On the downside marble can stain, often needs special care and is expensive to maintain.

Granite

Granite is one of the most used stones in building projects. Granite is popular because of its durable qualities. Granite is highly valuable thanks to its crushing strength. Even more so, it can withstand a high level of weathering. Granite stones are usually cut into slabs, then polished. These slabs can be used for flooring or stone facing slabs. Granite is perfect to use in building projects as it is inert to some acidic fluids like curds, vinegar, and lime juice. That makes granite useful for tabletops in your kitchen.

Granite is often used for external wall cladding, retaining walls, stone columns, damp-proof courses, monuments, and curbs. Granite is available in a range of colours, can withstand high weathering and is resistant to bacteria. On the downside granite is expensive, will need constant resealing and has poor fire resistance.

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock consisting of various minerals such as feldspar, silica and quartz. This stone is available in different colours such as brown, grey, white, yellow and red. The hardness of sandstone is based on how many minerals are in the stone. This is why sandstone is easily workable, making it ideal for various construction projects.

Sandstone is often used for columns, roofing, and facing works. Sandstone is durable and holds water well. On the downside, sandstone is weak in abrasion.

Limestone

Limestone is mostly made of calcium carbonate meaning it a soft rock compared to most others. It is easily workable for various building construction. It is often mixed with small amounts of alumina and silica along with magnesia.

Limestone is often used for walls, flooring and roofing. Limestone is not very hard but still versatile and is ideal for high-traffic floors. On the downside, limestone is not as durable as the stone, usually needs to be sealed and can stain easily.

Basalt

Basalt is an igneous rock also known as white stones, green stones or blue basalt. This stone is hard and tough, which is both good and bad for construction. This toughness makes it hard to use the rock as easily for whatever purpose. The compressive strength of basalt is high between 150-190 MPa. The stone’s structure is medium to fine-grained. It is also compact with various colour availability. You can find basalt stones in dark grey to black, an aspect that makes it in demand for home design.

Basalt is often used for decoration, aggregate and pavements. Basalt is tough, environmentally friendly, available in a large range of colours, and lightweight. On the downside, basalt is not easily workable.

Onyx

Onyx is a kind of marble, but mostly calcite. Compared to granite, it is much softer. It is also likely to etch or stain. Compared to marbles, onyx is translucent. On that, you will often find it used in construction combined with lighting to show its beauty. This stone is has heavy veining. As such, you will never find two pieces of onyx stone that look the same. This quality makes onyx a highly in-demand stone in home and interior design. On the other hand, it is also much more fragile than other stones.

Onyx is often used for tables, sink bases, countertops and novelty items. Onyx is a really good looking and rare stone. On the downside, onyx requires high maintenance and is quite expensive.

Quartzite

Another metamorphic stone, quartzite is the result of sandstone after being subjected to high temperature and pressure. The main characteristic of this stone is its granular texture and crystalline structure. Quartzite is brittle and hard, which does not make it easily workable. The crushing strength of quartzite is around 115 MPa. Quartzite is available in various colours such as grey, white, and yellowish. This stone is dense with high resistance to chemical weathering, which also makes it ideal for use in a kitchen.

Quartzite is often used for stone pitching, slabs, and retaining walls. Quartzite is available in a range of colours, is tough, and is highly resistant to chemicals. On the downside, quartzite is not easily workable.

Alabaster

Alabaster is a highly translucent stone. This building material is relatively scarce, which makes its use in construction limited. It is mostly used in creating small artistic items instead of an entire building. It is, however, combined with other materials that helped to widen its applications. The primary feature of alabaster is its translucency. Because of this, the stone must only be used indoors. Also, it cannot be used somewhere where it can be rained down or at least must be protected against it. Due to this, the use of alabaster for building construction is limited.

Alabaster is often used for architecture, sculpting, and lighting. Alabaster primary benefit is it can be used as a lighting element due to its translucency. It also looks good and is easy to stain and sculpt. On the downside, alabaster must be rated before it’s exposed to water.

Slate

Slate is a rock formed via a metamorphic process where shale goes through low heat and pressure conditions. It is mostly composed of mica, clay, and quartz minerals. With a fine-grained, foliated structure, slate is brittle and hard. This stone is mostly available in the colour black, but may also be available in greenish-grey, grey, or purplish-grey. Since it is foliated, slate can be easily split into slabs by simply following the natural planes of the rock.

Slate is often used for roofing, damp-proof courses and flooring. Slate looks good, can easily be split into thin slabs, and is resistant to break and cracks. On the downside slate can sustain moisture damage.