Stone Glossary
Stone 101
Ashlar: Masonry having a face of square or rectangular stones that have split-faced, rock-faced, smooth, or other finish surfaces.
Bevel: The angle that one surface or line makes with another, when they are not at right angles; a sloped surface contiguous with a vertical or horizontal surface.
Brownstone: A sandstone of characteristic brown or reddish-brown color which is a result of a prominent amount of iron oxide.
Bullnose: Convex rounding of a stone member, such as a stair tread. A convex, semicircular molding formed on the end of brick.
Cap: Masonry units laid on top of a finished wall, column, door, or molding
Coping: A flat stone used as a cap on walls or around the perimeter of patios and pool decks.
Course: A horizontal range of stone units the length of the wall.
Gauged: A grinding process to make all pieces of material to be used together a uniform thickness.
Honed Finish: A very fine, satin smooth finish on stone. This is the last step before polishing. A super fine smooth finish with little or no gloss. Recommended for commercial floors.
Lineal: Measurement of dimension along linear axis
Mortar: A mixture of cement, lime, sand, and water used to bond masonry units.
Mosaic: A style of stone masonry construction with no definite pattern; most of the stone is irregular in shape.
Natural Cleft: Generally pertains to stones that are formed in layers in the ground. When such stones are cleaved or separated along a natural bedding plane, the remaining surface is referred to as a natural cleft.
Rise: The height of stone; generally refers to veneer stone.
Rockface: Rock face stone is hand-chipped around the perimeter to produce a bold, convex projection along its face. This finish creates a more massive appearance than split face. Detail character ranges from low to high for fine grain through coarse grain stones, respectively.
Slate: A fine-grained metamorphic rock derived from clay and shale, which possesses a cleavage that permits it to be split readily into thin, smooth sheets.
Stretcher: A unit of stone placed lengthwise in a course.
Thermaled Finish: This finish is achieved by applying a high temperature flame to the surface of the stone. This flame fractures crystals on the face, leaving a rough-textured finish. Highly skid resistant, the thermaled finish is an excellent choice for walking surfaces.
Tread: A flat stone used as the top walking surface on steps.
Tumbled Flagstone: ¾” – 2 ½” thick stone relatively smooth-surfaced and machine tumbled to make the edges and corners smooth and rounded-off; face size, thickness, and colors will vary.
Stone Finishes
Bullnose
Convex rounding of a stone member, such as a stair tread. A convex, semicircular molding formed on the end of a piece of stone, usually bluestone, travertine, or granite.
Rock Face
Rock Face stone is hand-chipped around the perimeter to produce a bold, convex projection along its face. This finish creates a more massive appearance than split face. Detail character ranges from low to high for fine grain through coarse grain stones, respectively.
Tumbled
The process of rounding or softening the edges of a piece of stone and its face to provide a smoother, more rustic appearance. Commonly tumbled stone includes pavers, wall stone, and cobblestones.
Natural Cleft
Generally pertains to stones that are formed in layers in the ground. When such stones are cleaved or separated along a natural bedding plane, the remaining surface is referred to as a natural cleft.
Thermaled
This finish is achieved by applying a high temperature flame to the surface of the stone. This flame fractures crystals on the face, leaving a rough-textured finish. Highly skid resistant, the thermaled finish is an excellent choice for walking surfaces.
Variegated
Defined by varying color pattern across the surface of a stone, most commonly referring to bluestone. Variegated bluestone displays lightly varying shades of blue, pink, lavender and brown.