In periods of uncertainty there tends to be a return to traditional values that have stood the test of time and represent solidity. Nothing does that better than stone.

When times are hard we tend to seek solace from things that have stood the test of time; that are strong and solid and can withstand blows dealt to them by the fickle hand of fate. Nothing represents those traditional qualities more than natural stone.

There might be more £3-4million renovations, extensions and even some new builds going up now than £30-40million mansions, but as far as British quarry owners are concerned, that is good news. Older buildings are quite likely to have used local stones in their construction and are quite likely, therefore, to use a local stone for any new or restoration work. And that is as true on the inside of the building as on the outside.

There have been attempts over the years by British stone producers and masonry companies to produce British stone tiles for the retail tile market but it is difficult for the relatively small-scale extraction of stone from the UK to compete against the huge economies of scale achieved by producers in Italy, Spain, China, India, Brazil and other countries overseas.

But there is a sector of the market that wants British stone interiors and there are those who can supply it.

Among the latest developments in the British stone interiors market is Lovell Purbeck’s investment in a Donatoni tile line at the Purbeck quarry in Dorset bought by the Hart family (of Forest of Dean Royal Forest Pennant paving fame) from D&P Lovell in 2009. They have put a lot of new machinery into the quarry including the tile line they have just finished commissioning.

It is nearly new, bought from a British company who had bought it for the production of resin tiles for London Underground. It came with two robots but Simon Hart, who runs Lovell Purbeck, decided that was a route he did not want to go – more details of the developments at Lovell Purbeck are coming soon in NSS.

Burlington, the Cumbrian slate and limestone producers, have expanded significantly in interiors since Rob Irwin took over as MD and Nick Williams became Sales & Marketing Director last year. They attributed the expansion in interiors as a major contributor to their 20% growth last year. Now they have teamed up with SCIN, the London-based surfaces and materials specialist consultants.

Burlington’s stones are on display in SCIN’s central London showroom, design studio and library in Bermondsey Street, which serves as the ideal shop window from which to promote the Burlington brand.

Greeting visitors in the ‘manufacturer’ section of the SCIN showroom is a Burlington flooring montage showing the colour palette of their seven different stones in the nine different finishes available.

Nick Williams says: “Not only is SCIN focused on materials, it stands as a highly respected and popular reference location for anyone interested in researching interior and exterior surface finishes of the highest quality.

“It presents us with an ideal flagship environment from which to introduce Burlington and its natural stone products to London’s most respected and active specifiers.”

Annabelle Filer, a co-founder of SCIN, explains it from her perspective. “Burlington Stone has a great heritage and is successful in marrying traditional with technical performance and innovation. The variety of patterns and hues that exist within each stone is extraordinary. They are a great addition to the portfolio of materials that SCIN has on display – and given that Burlington’s stone complements any number of finishing materials, this is sure to excite specifiers specialising in all aspects of interior and exterior design.”

Another new display of British stone for flooring (and also fireplaces) can be seen at Howarth builders merchants in Corby. This display has been installed on the first floor by Vic Abbott of Churchfield Stone in Peterborough. Vic has made a speciality of supplying British stone as flooring (in particular) for the past 15 years and he says interest in the British product is growing.

Corby is one of 48 outlets owned by Howarth and, if it goes well, Churchfield Stone could have displays in more of the Howarth premises. Howarth join specialist outlets such as Hyperion Tiles of Ascot and Marlow, who have featured Vic’s English tiles for more than 12 years, and Hardrock Flooring in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

Vic says experience has taught him that to be able to manufacture and promote English limestone flooring at a price considered to be sufficiently competitive in the market place certain criteria must be met:

• There must be a sustainable source of block stone local to the manufacturer
• The block must be of consistent quality
• The block must be of a size which allows for efficient production methods, giving a good yield
• And it must be of a reasonable cost per tonne.

The increased interest in local products, including English stone, has made it easier to find products that meet those criteria, he says.

Vic, who does have a robot arm among his processing equipment, now has his own Blisworth stone quarry, which he expects to have in full production (weather permitting) in January or February next year. He will add the stone to his range but intends to continue to buy in stone from other English suppliers in order to be able to continue to offer a full range.

The backbone of the Churchfield range comes from The Johnstone Quarry Group. Their investment has brought a stability of supply of tested, local block stone that fulfills Churchfield Stone’s production requirements.

Johnstone’s supply Churchfield with five limestones of different characters from their Creeton and Great Ponton quarries in Lincolnshire (and Churchfield have bought the rights to all the block from Great Ponton for the next four years).

Churchfield’s aim has always been to produce flooring of typical traditional English character – whether it has a honed finish or has been given a naturally aged appearance, is produced in standard course widths and random lengths, cut to set lengths or produced in traditional or modern, bespoke patterns.

Vic: “The stone is complementary to all settings – the English period home, modern and minimalist settings, commercial use. Being so hard wearing it is suited to any room of the house in shades from grey/beige to cream/beige and now also an attractive hard blue/grey, all with varying degrees of characteristic fossil content.”

British stone producers are trying to find a niche for their products in the tile market, but a benefit of tiles made from a local stone processed locally is that it is readily available in block that can be turned into any product that can be made from it. So whether it is the simple touch of providing matching skirting or interior window cills, or complete staircases, columns, arches or swimming pools, the option is available. The stone company can work with architects and designers to achieve a setting of timeless style sustainably and to a tight schedule.

Another stone speciality that can help masonry companies compete against general tilers in the interiors sector is bookmatching.

The preference for larger format tiles has already made a significant impact on the tile market and favours stone because it is a lot easier to cut a larger piece of stone than it is to set up a new production line to make large format porcelain or ceramic tiles. And if you are going to use larger format tiles, why not go the whole hog and have properly bookmatched marble.

So argues Isabella Arpino, Sales & Marketing Director of New Image Stone in Staines. New Image Stone offer a book-matching service for the developer and architect which begins with initial design concepts and ends with the perfection of the finished installation.

Isabella says: “It is worth stressing that the book matching effect can only be achieved with the right skills and experience. From the moment a project begins, in-depth knowledge of materials is crucial. Once materials are specified and agreed, our skilled templaters will liaise with the interior designer or architect (as well as the other trades on site) to plan the best tile or slab for your book-matching project. The project is then overseen by our highly skilled stonemasons.”

A pain in the Apps

Just as most of us had got used to websites, we are now moving on to Apps for smartphones and tablets. There aren’t too many stone companies involved yet but it isn’t difficult to imagine a time when we will all have our heads (or at least our Apps) in the cloud – if, that is, the technology doesn’t leapfrog us into some other medium long before our iPads have flickered their last.

The first stone App that NSS became aware of was from Lapicida, those überstylish stone suppliers based in Harrogate, Yorkshire, that now also have an outlet in London. The latest App is from Burlington, the Cumbrian slate and limestone producers who have taken giant strides forward in marketing their stone, including a concerted push into the interiors sector.

Smartphones and tablets are already essential accoutrements of aspirational construction professionals. It is only a question of time before we will all have to be there with them.

MADE IN GRANITE

Made in Granite, based in Walsall in the West Midlands, grew out of Strong’s Memorials, so are used to handling granite that is chunkier than the average worktop.

That helped them see a potential for granite not just in the form of worktops, but also for solid granite sinks and wine racks.

They have even used exactly the same techniques used for decorating memorials to produce granite murals for walls, like the one pictured on the right. You can see the whole range on their website (www. madeingranite.com).

Floor saver

Here’s a familiar site: the stone you have just painstakingly laid is being driven over by other trades’ access platforms and forklifts. But this floor is protected by Ram Board, the first shipment of which has just been brought into the UK from America by Surrey company Trio Plus.

Ram Board was originally created by engineers for the film industry and, contrary to what the name suggests, this exceptionally strong, heavy duty temporary floor protection is supplied in rolls, making it easy to lay – and just as easy to remove. It stays flat in use and won’t leave any residue or marks on the floor when it is taken up.

Keep it clean

There is no shortage of products available to seal, treat, care for and clean stone and most installers have found that a bit of protection added to their work also adds protection to their reputation.

Porous limestone floors are particularly vulnerable to staining and discolouration from ground-in dirt but can be protected by initial treating and regular cleaning regimes.

The major consumables suppliers to the stone trades have their various products and installers tend to have their preferred brands. These brands are becoming ever more ecological, with nasty chemicals being replaced by more friendly ones.

The pictures here show market leader Lithofin’s Eco Stain-Stop (left) and the latest matt and satin finish eco-sealers from newcomers Stone Care 4U.

NSS will be taking a detailed look at developments in stone care products in the new year.

Schluter’s universal substrate

Schlüter-Kerdi-Board is a multifunctional, universal tile substrate for walls that can be used to create bonded waterproofing assemblies with tile coverings. It also has many uses as a structural panel. It makes it easy to create an instant and innovative underlay for tile installation over substrates as diverse as metal and wooden stud frames, green masonry and mixed substrates.

As well as being waterproof, temperature resistant and vapour retardant, Schlüter-Kerdi-Board is thermally insulating, quick and easy to install and lightweight, so it’s easy to handle and transport. It contains no cement or fibreglass, has a fleece webbing for easy anchoring in thin-bed mortar and the printed guidelines make it easy to make precise cuts with a utility knife.

There are also versions specifically for showers and drain bases.

Anyone for tennis

Quartz composite has always been used in the commercial sector as well as the domestic sector, but with the housing market subdued, the makers of quartz are looking even harder for sales to take them beyond the domestic kitchen and into projects such as the one pictured here – the luxurious competitors lounge at Wimbledon Tennis Club.

The requirement was for a surface for the dining area that complemented its style and heritage while providing a high level of functionality.

The solution chosen was Caesarstone’s Titanium quartz surface in a 30mm thickness with a 50mm formed edge. Caesarstone is sold in the UK by CRL Stone and the surfaces were fabricated and installed by Cheshire Marble, based in Altrincham.

Matt Howard of Cheshire Marble says: “Caesarstone offers a sense of versatility and aesthetically it is one of the best surfaces around. Its hard-wearing physical properties mean it is the ultimate combination of form and function.”

A helping hand

Both Stone Federation Great Britain (SFGB) and The Tile Association (TTA) have publications to help designers, fabricators and installers to make the most of their use of stone in interiors.

SFGB have produced codes of practice for natural stone kitchen worktops and natural stone flooring as a response to the number of complaints that were being made about failures in these areas, usually as a result of a lack of understanding of the floors or worksurfaces as parts of a system – for example, when a floor cracks it is often due to the way it was installed rather than the use of an inappropriate stone.

A code of practice for wetrooms is next on the list from SFGB, while TTA have published a guide to looking after floor and wall tiles so they continue to look good throughout their years of service.

www.stonefed.org.uk

www.tiles.org.uk