NATURAL STONE, although it can be ordered in slab form, usually is cut into tiles from quarried blocks of granite, Granite, limestone, slate or other rock. Although floors made from this material are expensive and hard on the feet, they provide an exceptionally beautiful flooring material that has a timeless, elegant quality.

Granite: A derivative of limestone, Granite is a metamorphic stone that can be polished. There are countless types of Granite from around the world. All of these materials are extremely durable and offer a natural look. There is definitely a reason they are referred to as "hard surface." These floors offer no resiliency, are cold underfoot and noisy in comparison to other types of floors. They are extremely low maintenance and hard wearing.

POLISHED: High shine. The polish may last a long time. Polished stone can be slippery when wet. Stone tiles are usually at least a foot square, but may also be available in mosaic style pieces either for borders, or arranged into designs that can be installed just like regular sized tiles.

Two very important steps have to be taken before installing the material:

• Check Your Delivery: Verify that the correct material was delivered. Once the material is installed, it is too late to make any changes.
• Sorting the Material for the Job: The success of a great Granite job is the mixing and matching of the stone before installation. This step will always yield to a uniform homogeneous installation.

For proper stone placement or mixture, we recommend the following guidelines:

• Divide the area of installation into separate flat areas and allocate enough material for each area including some waste.
• If the material to be installed is tiles, all the boxes should be open and the tiles should be taken from all the boxes randomly. In this way, the installation will be uniform and the material will look homogeneous. Remember that stone cannot be inspected or appreciated by looking at just one tile. The only way to check stone is by looking at several tiles, mixing them and laying them flat together in order to appreciate the stone's quality and color.

(Please note that these are general guidelines; you should check specifications from both the adhesive manufacturer and the building code.)

Stone tiles can be installed by adhesive or they can be mechanically anchored depending on the size of the pieces and the application. A different method and adhesive is used if tiles are going to be installed indoors versus outdoors.

The installation of slabs on fireplaces is recommended using mechanical anchors with adhesive for the vertical pieces.

When installing horizontal pieces for countertops, it is recommended to use a non-staining adhesive.

Joints between pieces should be grouted using the proper material and color. It is important to approve a sample of the grout before the job is done to avoid problems. The seams should be perfectly clean before applying the grout material.