About Indian Sandstone
Indian sandstones and limestones are relatively new to the uk market. And have only been widely available for the last two or three years. The quality of the stone is therefore, an unknown factor to most people. I have been using the stones for about two years and have found the quality often the equal of or even superior to many British stones. The sandstones in particular, have a very tight grain and when polished have a smooth even finish.
The range of colours available in these stones is also very impressive, from pale grays through buffs, pastel pinks, greens and whites. Most of the stone available is imported with a riven finish. This is the natural finish that is left on the stone when the stone is split along its natural bed or strata. This riven finish is the wavy uneven pattern that is so often copied and simulated by artificial slab manufacturers. These Indian sandstones tend to be much harder than their English counterparts. The cream coloured sandstones, I have used for my house signs are much harder than stones such as Portland stone or Bath stone which I think all the nearest equivalent British stones.
The nearest British stone to the buff coloured sandstone would be Yorkstone. In comparison the Indian sandstone has a much tighter grain, a smoother polished surface and has a higher tensile strength. This allows the making of thinner house signs than I am able to make in Yorkstone.
The most impressive feature about the imported Indian stones is the consistency in the colour and quality. It is quite rare for me to work on a piece of Indian stone and uncover a fault a crack or a blemish. Also, when polishing, the stone tends to remain consistent throughout the its thickness no matter how deeply I have to grind into the material. Yorkstone has a tendency to change colour throughout its thickness, being a sedimentary stone Yorkstone consists of layers of sediment, compressed over the eons, and for some reason, I don't quite understand the colour of these layers can vary quite a lot. So that I can start grinding away on a light buff surface and find myself creating a darker, more mottled surface as the grinder eats into the next layer down.
This does not seem to happen with the Indian stones, they are also sedimentary stones but the layers or strata are much thinner and closer together, and the grain, the sand that makes up the stone is of a very fine a quality.
There is however one caveat to all this positive comment. India is a huge continent, and it is difficult for ordinary buyers to pin down exactly which quarry the stone is sourced from, the importers generally give the stone generic marketing names, rather than, is the case of british stone that is usually named after the area or quarry where the stone originates.
At the end of the day, the best rule is as always with natural stone, buy what you can see!
Buying Indian Sandstone Paving