Natural Stone Characteristics Stone Technologies is committed to importing only the highest quality materials in order to provide a superior product to our customers. The stone that is fabricated today was created by nature millions of years ago and each piece has characteristics that add to its uniqueness and dramatic beauty. Stone products can be shaped and polished; however, natural characteristics are in no way altered or diminished during the fabrication process.   Customers are encouraged to take the opportunity to personally approve their natural stone slab at Stone Technologies. Samples are often provided to customers to assist with material selection process. Samples offer a general representation of the overall color and markings.  Samples should never be considered an exact replication. Pitting, dry fissures, beauty marks, unusual veining, areas with high concentrations of color or lack of color, areas which will not take as high of a degree of polish as other areas or that will not take a polish at all, and variations of shade, pattern or color within the same slab or same bundle of slabs are inherent in natural stone and, therefore are not acceptable reasons for rejection of the stone once it is installed. Customers who view any of the unique characteristics as defects, may want to select a stone material that contains fewer of these characteristics.     Please review the information below to become more familiar with natural stone characteristics and terms.   Honed Finish Marble, limestone, travertine (either polished or honed) and honed granite frequently stain, scratch and show fingerprints much more than polished granite and require additional care/maintenance.     Stone Staining & Scratching Stone materials are porous by nature and, while highly resistant to staining and scratching, can be subject to stains and scratches and water marks.     Hollow Areas Hollow areas, especially in marble, are often filled with a matching color epoxy by the manufacturer.  This will not compromise the integrity and strength of the material.     Veining and Movement Variations in veining, color, and movement is often found in materials that are referred to as “swirl” granites which exhibit more of these types of natural occurrences. No two pieces of stone are alike, even if they come from the same block. Many stones have veining or directionality. With these colors, seams (especially) and/or corners and backsplashes will show incompatible patterns more visibly than others. If you do not want this feature you should pick a more uniform color pattern.     Fissures Fissures are often visible and can appear to look like “spider veins or cracks”. They usually pose no structural anomalies. Whenever possible we try to avoid any large fissures by cutting around them. If it is necessary to reinforce/repair a fissure, it is customary to apply a high-strength industrial resin filler.   When fissures appear in selected material, the appearance can be softened using filler or resin.  Once filled with resin, the area is structurally stronger than the granite itself. The use of resin is a common practice today for most manufacturers and is applied through the resin process to the majority of natural stone products.     Beauty Marks Beauty marks are natural mineral deposit concentrations that can be seen as intensified spots or lines of color, lack of color, or areas with compromised polishing ability.     Pitting Pitting or “pock marks” of varying size on the surface of a slab are a result of the tightness of the material grain and the material’s ability to accept a polished finish. These appear like small chips or holes. Some materials appear to be more pitted than others (natural structural characteristic of the individual stone).     Thickness Standard material thickness is 2 cm or 3 cm commonly labeled ¾” or 1 ¼”, respectively. Material thickness descriptions are nominal and can vary as much as +/- 1/8” throughout a particular slab.