Q1. What do you mean by resin based semi-precious stone?
A. The Semi-Precious Collection is hand produced using solid (2-3cm) thick, select pieces of semiprecious stones, hand assembled and bound with a special epoxy binder not to exceed 9%. There is no marble or other type of backing that the stones are placed on.
Q2. What is the average diameter size of each individual piece of semi precious stone that you use in your products?
A. The stone diameters are carefully selected to be in proportion with the size of the end product. For instance, for slabs, the average diameter may be 15-35 cm while for small products such as a 75 cm tabletop, the pieces will average 5-10cm. In some cases, such as with Agates and Amethyst, the actual size of stone is naturally 3-10 cm and therefore product will be as per natural stone size
Q3. What are the different backing materials that can be used in case of an overlay ? Will there be a price difference based on the Backing used?
A. The backing materials that can be used in the case of overlay are Marble, Granite, Wood, Glass, Acrylic and Aluminum Honeycomb. And yes there would be a slight price difference in the case glass and acrylic are used.
Q4. Are all of the semi precious stones that you use in your products available for all applications/usage?
A. No. It is important to recognize the hardness of a stone type when choosing its usage. You can find the hardness of each stone in our Product Catalogue in the Description box. As a guided indication for comparison, the average hardness of granite is between 5 and 6.
Q5. Can the semiprecious and Gemstone products or concepts be used outdoors?
A. The entire semi-precious and gemstone collection can be used outdoors, as long as they are not exposed to direct sunlight. Prolonged exposure to direct sunlight may reduce the color quality of our Quartz products due to the natural pigmentation of the epoxy.
Q6. Resin Based semi-precious stone slabs have a tendency to bend in the long run. Is this a product abnormality?
A. No. Semiprecious stone and gemstones by their very nature are somewhat flexible including the 400 kilo slabs. They are not rigid and this is the precise reason why they do not easily break or have a problem with warping or stone popping. It's similar to the idea of building codes for earthquake zone buildings...where the flexibility allows for some movement. But it is important to make sure that the weight of your product is evenly distributed to avoid long term warping.
Q7. Can these semiprecious and gemstones be used for a kitchen countertop. Will it stain? And are there any cleaning products which can harm it.
A. Yes they can be used for varied applications including as kitchen counter tops. And No, it will not stain, In fact none of our products stain. To clean your semi precious countertop, all that has to be used is hot water and soap.
Q8. Are your products heat resistant?
A. All of the products are heat resistant but not fire resistant and in extreme prolonged cases of exposure to heat may reduce our special binding agents' abilities. For this reason, if you are choosing our products for a fireplace, you must use standard fireplace brick with our semi precious stone as an overlay or do an inlay of the same.
Q9. I would like to lay your semi precious stone in a high foot traffic area of my home. Can the stone be used for flooring?
A. Yes. But you must choose which semi precious stone is appropriate for flooring. The harder the stone on the MOHS hardness scale, the more suited it is for flooring.. As a guided indication for comparison, the average hardness of granite is between 5 and 6. Also, please be sure to apply standard slip guard to prevent falls.
Q10. What are the various applications of these stones?
A. The reason behind the upsurge in popularity of the semiprecious and gemstones is because there are really no limits to the application possibilities of these stones. They can be used for flooring, wall claddings and as table tops, counter tops etc.
