Marble & Stone Restoration

Australia, Australia

Engineered stone (also known as reconstituted, quantum quartz, re-composed agglomerated and synthetic stone) is manufactured from a mix of stone aggregate chips (most commonly quartz or marble, but also igneous rocks such as granite and basalt); mineral fillers (generally the ground aggregate); a resin binder (typically an unsaturated polyester); pigments and additives. Tiles are typically formed using a vibrocompaction process, where applied vacuum minimises any porosity, usually reducing the water absorption to much less than 0.4%. There are many different kinds of polyester resins, with different viscosity, colour and hardening time. Tile curing may be accelerated by using ovens or steam. Some tiles are given post-curing heating treatments to increase the degree of cure.

Marble is a metamorphic rock resulting from regional or, rarely, contact metamorphism of sedimentary carbonate rocks (either limestone or dolomite rock ) or metamorphism of older marble. This metamorphic process causes a complete recrystallization of the original rock into an interlocking mosaic of calcite , aragonite andor dolomite crystals . The temperatures and pressures necessary to form marble usually destroy any fossils and sedimentary textures present in the original rock.

Granite is an igneous rock and is formed from magma . Granitic magma has many potential origins but it must intrude other rocks. Most granite intrusions are emplaced at depth within the crust, usually greater than 1.5 kilometers and up to 50 km depth within thick continental crust. The origin of granite is contentious and has led to varied schemes of classification. Classification schemes are regional and include French, British, and American systems.

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite (calcium carbonate : CaCO3). Like most other sedimentary rocks, limestones are comprised of grains, however, around 80-90% of limestone grains are skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera . Other carbonate grains comprising limestones are ooids , peloids , intraclasts , and extraclasts . Some limestones do not consist of grains at all and are formed completly by the chemical precipitation of calcite or aragonite . i.e. travertine

Travertine is a terrestrial sedimentary rock , formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from geothermally heated hot-springs . Similar (but more porous) deposits formed from ambient temperature water are known as tufa .

Sandstone (sometimes known as arenite) is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz andor feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any color, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow, red, gray and white. Since sandstone beds often form highly visible cliffs and other topographic features, certain colors of sandstone have been strongly identified with certain regions.

Terrazzo is a composite material, poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of marble , quartz , granite , glass or other suitable chips, sprinkled or unsprinkled, and poured with a binder that is cementitious , chemical, or a combination of both. Terrazzo is cured and then ground and polished to a smooth surface or otherwise finished to produce a uniformly textured surface.