StonePly: Stone Glossary

A

Abrasive finish
A flat (not slick) and non reflective surface finish for stone panels.
Abrasive hardness
Measure of the wearing qualities of stone panels when subjected to abrasion. ASTM C241.
Absorption
A measure of the percentage of moisture absorbed by a stone. Per ASTM C97, absorption is expressed as the weight of moisture as a percentage of stone weight. Standard absorption for various types of stone panel may be found on this website.
The absorption level provides some indication of how a stone will perform, its durability and weather resistance.
Acid wash
Finish produced by acid applied to the face of a stone panel and used to achieve a texture or finish that is distressed. Chemical treatments are more effective when applied to stone panels of calcareous stones such as marble, limestone or travertine than to siliceous stone types such as granite or sandstone.
Adhered
Stone veneer secured and supported by attachment of an approved bonding material over an approved backing. StonePly stone panels may be attached by adhering with structural silicones or with epoxy. See the installation section for a description of installation with adhesive.
Adoquin
A volcanic, quartz-based stone containing a variety of colored aggregates and pumice in a quartz matrix. Quarried in Mexico and available in a variety of colors. Adoquin stone panels are not recommended for use exterior use in freeze / thaw environments.
Alabaster
A finely granular variety of gypsum, often white and translucent, may be cut and carved easily with a knife or saw. The term is often incorrectly applied to fine-grained marble. Alabaster is for interior use only. Alabaster is most widely used for lighted or translucent stone surfaces and lighting elements. Alabaster stone panels from StonePly may be bonded to glass, polycarbonate or acrylic.
Alkaline
Basic, as opposed to acidic, substance. Calcareous stones (calcium based stones) such as limestone, marble, travertine, onyx are often referred to as alkaline.
Anchor
A metal device for securing dimension stone to a structure. For traditional stonework, these include those made of flat stock (stone straps, cramps, dovetails, stone dowel, strap and dowel, and two-way anchors) and round stock (rod cramp, rod anchor, eyebolt and dowel, flat-hood wall tie and dowel, dowel and wire toggle bolts). For StonePly these are replaced with Z clips, concealed screws or adhesive attachment.
Anchorage
The manner by which slabs of stone or stone panels are attached to a structure.
Antique finish
An appearance produced in stone panels by mechanical or chemical means to simulate the naturally occurring effects of the aging process. StonePly antique finish stone panels may be aged with texture, tumbling, with acids or with select stains. http://stoneply.com/finish_options
Apron
A stone trim piece or stone panel under a projecting stone top, window stool, sill, etc.
Arch
A construction for spanning an opening, consisting of a number of wedge-like stones, bricks, or the like; may vary in shape from flat to semicircular or semi-elliptical to acutely pointed. StonePly stone panel arches may be constructed from a series of stone panels attached to a frame in a prefabricated arch, or may be a site assembled panel.
Architrave
  1. The beam or lowest level of the entablature in the classical orders, spanning from column to column.
  2. The decorated surrounds of a window or door at the head and jamb.
Arkose
A sandstone consisting primarily of quartz and feldspar. Also called arkosic sandstone or feldspathic sandstone.
Arris
A ridge formed when two stone surface planes meet; for example, column flutes, moldings and raised edges.
Ashlar
A square or rectangular building stone or stone panel typically used as a wall facing in a pattern of varying shapes and sizes.

B

Backing rod or backer rod
A flexible and compressible type of closed cell foam polyethylene, butyl rubber, or open-cell or closed-cell polyurethane, generally round in section. It is installed at the bottom or rear of a joint. Often described as a "filler strip." In StonePly installations, the stone panels are erected, then the backer rod is inserted into the open joints, with the depth set with a simple tool. The sealant (generally silicone) is then "gunned" into the joint.
Backsplash
A stone paneling, normally 16-18 inches in height, between the stone countertop and lower cabinet.
Baluster
A symmetrical support, made of stone, marble or wood, which may either be curved or straight that supports a railing, thus forming a balustrade. See www.mybaluster.com
Balustrade
A railing system of balusters or posts made of stone, marble or wood, as support, and sometimes including a bottom rail. See www.mybaluster.com
Basalt
A very dense dark grey or black, fine-grained igneous rock commercially known as a granite when fabricated as dimension stone panel. Many of the grey granites and black granites are technically basalts.
Base
The bottom support of a stone wall, or the vertical stone panels that make up the first course above a finished floor.
Bed

A term used by stone quarries to refer to:

  1. The top or bottom of a joint, natural bed; surface of stone parallel to its stratification.
  2. In granites and marbles, a layer or sheet of the rock mass that is horizontal, commonly curved and lenticular, as developed by fractures. Sometimes also applied to the surface of parting between rock sheets.
  3. In stratified rocks, the unit layer formed by sedimentation; of variable thickness, and commonly tilted or distorted by subsequent deformation. It generally develops a rock cleavage, parting, or jointing along the planes of stratification.
Bed joint
A horizontal joint between stone panels, usually filled with sealant.
Belt course
A continuous horizontal course of stones marking a division in the wall plane. If a stone wall, the belt course may be a different stone color, stone texture or design.
Bevel
A deviation made by a line or surface when not at right angles. In stone, the term bevel usually refers to the slight easing or chamfering of sharp edges of stone panels.
Blending
The proper mix of adjacent veneer panels and stone panels, by their predominant color. Much easier to accomplish with StonePly stone panels than with traditional slab stone.
Block
See quarry block. The raw stone cubic piece extracted from the quarry for later slabbing into stone panels.
Block cutter
A machine or equipment used in the stone quarrying process for in-line drilling of small diameter holes used to split out the quarry blocks.
Bluestone
A fine- to medium-grain, metamorphic, quartz based stone of the U.S. Appalachian Plateau and other regions of the world used for building purposes. Formed in the Devonian Period, blue stone panels from the upper beds are green and lilac in color, while the stone panels taken from the middle stone is dark gray and blue.
Bollard
A free standing stone post or guard to protect a wall corner from damage.
Bond
  1. To stick, adhere, connect or fasten.
  2. Overlapping of stone joints in successive courses.
Book match pattern
A pairing of stone panels to mirror each other. Book matching usually refers to marble, where one stone slab is cut apart and the two stone panels are installed side by side, with one marble panel’s pattern of veining mirroring the other marble panel’s pattern. Book matched stone panels are available from StonePly only by special order.
Bowing
A bending or curving of the wall cladding. Bowing of traditional solid slabs of marble can be a problem due to thermal hysteresis. This problem is avoided by StonePly. The honeycomb supports the marble panels.
Brecciated marble

Any marble composed of angular fragments embedded in a fine-grained matrix. The word Breccia is from the Italian word for stone fragments, and from the old German word for "break or fracture". Breccias in commercial use are generally sedimentary stones. Commercially, breccias are classified as marbles because they can be polished. The cementing matrix of breccia is normally composed of calcite, silica, iron oxides and other minerals.

StonePly stone panels in breccia include:

  • Breccia Oniciata Marble Panels
  • Breccia Pernice Marble Panels
  • Breccia Aurora Marble Panels
  • Karnezeika Breccia Panels
  • Brecha Tavira marble panels
  • Breche Nouvelle
Brownstone
A reddish brown sandstone used a building material.
Brushed finish
Appearance obtained by brushing a stone panel or slab with a coarse rotary-type wire brush. http://stoneply.com/finish_options
Bullnose
Rounded edge of a stone member, such as a counter top or stair tread.
Bush hammering
A mechanical process which creates a textured stone surface that varies from a light stone texture to rough stone texture. http://stoneply.com/finish_options

C

Calcareous
Stone with calcium carbonate as a major component, such as marble, travertine or limestone.
Calcite
A crystalline variety of calcium carbonate which forms a basic mineral constituent of limestone, marble, and travertine.
Calcite streaks
A white or milky streak occurring in some varieties of stone in some stone panels. It is a joint plane usually wider than a glass seam which has been naturally re-cemented by deposition of calcite in the crack.
Calibration
The initial step in the finishing process of a StonePly stone panels. Coarse abrasives pads are mounted to the bottom of rotating wheels that under extreme pressure and rotation speed are applied to the face of the stone. This process grinds the stone to a uniform and consistent thickness within tolerance. This process is applicable only to dense stones that can take a honed or polished finish, such as limestone panels, marble panels, and granite panels. Calibration does not apply to slates, quartzites, and other cleft-face stones, where the precision of the calibration process is not possible. Split faced or cleft faced stones are gauged which is not as precise as calibration.
Canopy
A covering over a niche or a doorway.
Cantera
A volcanic, quartz based stone quarried in Mexico, with qualities similar to adoquin, but not as dense. Cantera stone is not recommended for exterior use where freezing temperatures occur. Very soft stone.
Cap or capital
The culminating stone at the top of a column or pilaster.
Carve
To contour a solid material such as stone by precisely cutting it with a tool.
Cavity wall
In stone cladding, a cavity wall is a wall built with a continuous air space between the outer masonry, stone slab or stone panel, and the inner wall, typically concrete block or frame construction. Water that penetrates the outer masonry in driving rain runs down through the cavity and is directed out at the bottom through weep holes. See weep holes.
Caulking
Filling or closing a joint between stones by sealing with an elastic, adhesive compound.
Cavity vent
A hollow opening in joints of stone veneer to allow the passage of air and moisture from inside the wall cavity to the exterior. The vents may be weep holes, plastic tubing, or wicks.
Chamfer
To cut off the edge or corner where two surfaces meet in an external angle, leaving a bevel at the junction.
Cladding
Non-load-bearing stone veneer used as the stone facing material in wall construction. Stone cladding is designed as an envelope for the building, but not as a structural support. http://stoneply.com/curtainwalls.php
Chat sawn finish
A rough gang sawn finish produced by shaving with coarse abrasives.
Clast
An individual grain or fragment of a rock or stone.
Cleavage
The ability of a rock mass or stone to break along or split along a plane or natural surfaces; a surface of natural parting.
Cleavage plane
Plane or planes along which a stone may likely break or split. Generally refers to slates and other similar stones.
Chiseled edge
A process of mechanically shaping the stone panel edge, thus giving the stone a rustic, aged appearance.
Cleft finish
Rough-surfaced stones such as slates that are split or parted along a natural seam are referred to as natural cleft. These types of stones were formed as a result of metamorphic foliation.
Cobblestone
A dimension stone larger than a pebble used in paving. A term commonly used to describe paving blocks, usually granite, and generally cut to rectangular shapes.
Colonnade
A range or series of columns supporting an entablature or one side of a roof.
Column
An upright support composed of stone, usually consisting of a stone base, stone shaft, and stone capital.
Composite
A construction unit in which stone is to be exposed as a final exterior finish, permanently bonded or jointed to another material.
Conglomerate
A coarse-grained sedimentary rock consisting of fragments cemented together, with clast grains larger than 2 mm.
Contractor
Company or person that performs work and installs fabricated dimension stone.
Control joint
A joint that allows for dimensional changes of different parts of a structure due to shrinkage, expansion, variations in temperature, or other causes to avoid development of high stresses in the structure.
Coping
A flat stone used as a cap or cover on freestanding walls.
Coquina
Soft, porous limestone composed predominantly of shells and fragments of shells and corals loosely cemented by calcite.
Cornerstone
A stone forming a part of a corner or angle in a wall or intersection.
Cornice
Any projecting ornamental horizontal molding that crowns or finishes the top of a building or wall.
Course
A continuous, horizontal range of stone units the length of a wall.
Coursed veneer
An appearance achieved by using stone panels of the same or approximately the same height. Horizontal joints run the entire length of the veneered area. Vertical joints in the stone panels are constantly broken, so that no two joints will be over one another.
Cove base
A hollow and curved stone molding. See base.
Cove molding
A curving inward molding, typically found at the sloped or arched junction of a wall and ceiling.
Cramp
A U-shaped metal anchor used to hold or bind two adjacent units of stone together.
Cross-cut
The process of reducing the initial block of stone parallel to the natural bedding plane. The effect is a mottled or cloud like appearance.
Crowfoot (stylolite)
Also known as a stylolite, a dark grey or black series of jagged interlocking up-and-down projections occurring in stone. It usually does not affect the structural soundness of the stone.
Cubic stone
Dimension units are more than 2 inches thick.
Curtain wall
Stone cladding supported by an anchoring system and used to protect a building from the elements. http://stoneply.com/curtainwalls.php
Cushion
A resilient pad or pillow to absorb or counteract severe stresses placed between adjoining stone units and other materials.
Cut stone
Finished, smooth, dimensioned stone ready to set in place.