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Stone Identification

Learning to deal with Types of Monuments

Here is a scenario. We mention and you read in books that you should not use epoxy on certain stones as it is not water permeable. Or that you can use premix putty like compounds on some stones but not on others. Yet none of us are experts. How can we tell an unpolished marble stone from a sand stone monument for instance.

Always remember. Keep things simple. Here is what I mean.

Generally in our area at least and I expect most there is only one stone type that is NOT water permeable. And that stone is granite and is extremely easy to identify. Also, you should always try to avoid a stone contacting cement. And cement is relatively easy to identify in larger amounts at least.

So, if you get to know granite, you have got it made for most applications. If it is granite you can use premix putty like compounds. If it is not granite then you should not. If it is not granite you don't need to know if it is sandstone or slate or unpolished marble for instance. Because all of those compounds are treated exactly the same.

Granite is of course easy to identify. Think of almost all modern stones. White, black, red, gray stone with that very distinct marble like pattern in them. And extremely hard rock. Then just remember that granite is not water permeable. So you can use products like latex or silicone next to it. I always hate to see silicone. But it is actually ok to use on them. On the other hand if it is not granite it is not ok to use those. Then you use the Limestone Mortar type compounds to allow water and salts to move through the stone, etc.

Lastly, you may hear people saying "I've used Epoxy for twenty years and I see no damage from it whatsoever." That is probably indeed true. It does take substantial times for damage to show from what we can learn. When it does begin to show it will show up as small rounded edges on the stones corners of the pieces put together.

With time you will get to know stone types.

Granite. Many colours and used in modern stones with the marble like pattern in it

Polished marble. You often see it in construction. Very smooth. White with marble like pattern of different type from above.

Unpolished marble. One very distinct characteristic is that if you scratch it by mistake it will be white. You can wash stones of this material with a power washer and they will look beautiful. But unfortunately if this is done it can shorten their life time and it will not last.

Sandstone. Often a "Sandy colour", but colours can very. This is the material that our bases that we find are made out of.

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