Care Instructions by Surface

Care Instructions

Keep your stone and tile looking great by following some precautions from the Stone and Tile Care Guide.

Note: Instructions are for reference purposes only. Please follow label directions on back of actual product.

The product instructions shown below are provided in Adobe PDF format. If you do not have ADOBE click here to download.

Surface

Polished Marble | Unpolished, Honed, and Textured Marble
Marble is a crystalline rock composed predominately of one or more of the following materials: calcite, dolomite, or serpentine, and capable of taking a polish.

Polished Terrazzo and Agglomerate Marble
Agglomerate marble is a man-made product fabricated to look like quarried marble stone. Usually composed of stone chips or fragments embedded in a matrix of mortar or thermosetting resins. A type of concrete in which chips or pieces of stone, usually marble, are mixed with cement and are ground to a flat surface, exposing the chips which take a high polish.

Less Absorptive Polished Granite-Homogenous Granite | More Absorptive Polished Granite-Veined and Oriented Granite
Granite is a very hard, crystalline, igneous rock. Contains granular, flecks of minerals spread consistently throughout the stone to form a visibly even crystalline structure.

Black Granite
Black granite must be tested PRIOR TO installation.

Polished Limestone | Unpolished, Honed, and Textured Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed primarily of calcite or dolomite. The varieties of limestone used as dimensional stone are usually well consolidated and exhibit a minimum of graining or bedding direction. Often contains remains and fossils of sea creatures that lived in the warm seas millions of years ago.

Polished Travertine | Unpolished, Honed, and Textured Travertine
Travertine is a variety of limestone. Usually has voids on the surface formed by water elements and pressure over time. These voids are either filled or left unfilled.

Natural Slate
Natural slate is fine-grained metamorphic rock derived from clay and shales, which possesses a cleavage that permits it to be split readily into thin, smooth sheets.

Sandstone & Flagstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock consisting usually of quartz cemented with silica, iron oxide or calcium carbonate. It is durable, has a very high crushing and tensile strength and a wide range of colors or textures. Flagstone is thin slabs of stone used for flagging or paving walks, driveways, patios, etc. It is generally a fine-grained sandstone, bluestone, quartzite, or slate, but thin slabs of other stones may be used.

Saltillo, Terra Cotta, and Clay Brick
Terra Cotta is low-fired clay, either glazed or unglazed. Clay is a natural mineral aggregate consisting essentially of hydrous aluminum silicate. It is vitrified when fired to a sufficiently high temperature.

Concrete or Cementatious Brick
Concrete is a composition material consisting of cement, aggregate, and water. When mixed together, will result in a chemical action that will set and harden into rock-like mass. Cementatious brick is block of clay, made from or composed of cement, baked by the sun or in a kiln; used as a building or paving material.

Ceramic, Porcelain, and Quarry Tile with Cement-Based Grout
Ceramic is a mixture of clays which have been shaped and fired at high temperatures resulting in a hard body. This hard body may then be left untreated or it may receive a glazed wear layer. Porcelain is a ceramic mosaic or paver tile, generally made by the dust-pressed method, of a composition that produces a dense, impervious, fine-grained tile with smooth and sharply formed face. Cement-based grout can either be sanded or non-sanded. Both varieties are absorbent and acid-sensitive. Often cement-based grout is polymer modified to prevent or minimize cracking and add strength.

Ceramic, Porcelain, and Quarry Tile with Epoxy- or Urethane-Based Grout
Epoxy grout is impervious to liquids and does not need sealing. It will not allow bacteria to grow and it minimizes cracking. It is generally used with ceramic, porcelain and quarry tile and not with natural stone.

Cantera and Adoquin
Cantera is a volcanic quartz-based stone with qualities similar to Adoquin, but not as dense; quarried in Mexico. Adoquin is a volcanic quartz-based stone containing a variety of colored aggregates and pumice in a quartz matrix. Quarried in Mexico and available in several colors.

Finish (applicable only to stone)

Polished

Glossy smooth surface that reflects light and emphasizes the color and markings of the stone. Generally only possible on hard, dense materials.

Unpolished / Honed

Satin smooth surface with relative little light reflection.

Textured

A rough surface finish that tends to subdue color and markings; obtained by bush hammering and machine chiseling.

Uniformity (applicable only to stone)

Homogenous

Minerals are evenly distributed to form a visibly even crystalline structure.

Oriented

Minerals are distributed according to a certain orientation – directional.

Veined

Minerals form veins of a different color to the base color, creating a curved or swirled movement in the rock.