Natural Stone Encyclopedia
Expert guides to marble and natural stone
Understand the main stone families, select materials for their intended use, specify them accurately, install them for long-term performance, maintain and restore them, and connect each decision to current Marbre Import availability whenever relevant.
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Explore the complete knowledge base
Start with a main topic, then select the guide that matches your project or technical question. Each title opens the full guide.
Starting point
Natural Stone Encyclopedia
Fundamentals
Understand what natural stone is, why marble has enduring appeal, how it forms and what distinguishes the principal stone families.
6 guides in this chapter
Selecting and identifying stone
Identify a stone, read a slab, compare finishes, assess quality and avoid confusion between marble, granite, quartzite, limestone and engineered materials.
8 guides in this chapter
- Marble quality criteria and selection
- Buying stone batches: natural variation, future matching and samples
- Petrography, identification and laboratory analysis of natural stone
- Applied petrography: field and laboratory identification sheets
- Natural, engineered and reconstituted stone
- Natural stone compared with porcelain, engineered quartz, terrazzo, concrete and wood
- Natural radioactivity, radon and the health safety of natural stone
- Stone finishes, tactile qualities and slip resistance
Project planning and decisions
Turn knowledge about stone into sound project decisions covering quotations, batches, future matching, technical documentation, shop drawings, terminology, checklists and suitability limits.
6 guides in this chapter
- Technical data sheets, Declarations of Performance, CE marking and natural-stone performance
- Buying stone batches: natural variation, future matching and samples
- Quotations, costing, warranties, qualifications and commercial limitations
- Shop drawings, slab layout, BIM, templates, site measurements and tolerances
- Marble and natural-stone glossary
- Project checklists for homeowners, architects, installers, stonemasons, hotels and designers
From quarry to slab
Quarrying, sawing, resin treatment, polishing, cutting, slab layout, stereotomy, stonemasonry and workshop constraints.
8 guides in this chapter
- Marble quarrying, processing and production techniques
- Industrial stone processing and slurry management
- Quarries, ecology and biodiversity
- Advanced stone cutting, carving and stereotomy
- Digital fabrication: CNC, waterjet cutting, engraving and workshop quality control
- Load-bearing natural-stone construction and masonry
- Natural-stone columns, capitals, cornices and balustrades
- Atlas of marble and natural-stone edges and profiles
Applications and projects
Floors, bathrooms, kitchens, staircases, terraces, façades, public realm, pools, hospitality, retail, furniture, backlighting and statement pieces.
17 guides in this chapter
- Interior and exterior applications
- Natural-stone façades, terraces and exterior applications
- Natural-stone terraces: drainage, frost, pedestals, falls and exterior maintenance
- Natural stone for roads, paving, kerbs and public spaces
- Natural stone in the urban public realm and trafficked pavements
- Marble and natural-stone fountains and water features
- Marble and natural-stone fireplaces: styles, heat and design
- Stone roofing, flagstones and slate
- Natural-stone columns, capitals, cornices and balustrades
- Natural-stone memorials, headstones and cemeteries
- Memorial stonework: engraving, gilding, local regulations, stability and care
- Natural-stone staircases, steps, nosings and accessibility
- Atlas of marble and natural-stone edges and profiles
- Accessibility in French public buildings: steps, thresholds, slopes, slip resistance and contrast
- Natural stone in pools, spas, hammams and high-moisture environments
- Pools and spas: water chemistry, salt, chlorine, slip resistance and ageing
- Kitchens, bathrooms and worktops
Architecture and interior design
Study major works in marble and understand the styles, light, proportions, vein composition and detailing that give a project lasting value.
11 guides in this chapter
- The symbolism of marble and natural stone across cultures
- Marble in architecture and interiors: understanding exemplary projects
- Historical atlas of marble styles, periods, monuments and applications
- Marble and natural-stone fountains and water features
- Marble and natural-stone fireplaces: styles, heat and design
- Stone roofing, flagstones and slate
- Natural-stone columns, capitals, cornices and balustrades
- Heritage buildings, conservation and ethical restoration
- Marble sculpture, statuary and artistic carving
- Natural-stone mosaics, opus patterns, marquetry and inlays
- Marble furniture, small objects and decorative pieces
Diagnosis by symptom
Start from the visible symptom to identify possible causes, carry out the right checks, avoid irreversible treatments and select a durable intervention.
12 guides in this chapter
- Diagnosis: marble has become dull, yellow or grey
- Diagnosis: stains on marble and natural stone
- Diagnosis: cracks, chips and breaks in stone
- Diagnosis: cracked, recessed or deteriorating joints
- Diagnosis: efflorescence, water marks and rising damp
- Diagnosis: debonded stone or hollow-sounding flooring
- Diagnosis: scratches, micro-scratches and loss of gloss
- Diagnosis: crumbling, powdering or delaminating stone
- Diagnosis: exterior stone damaged by freeze-thaw cycles
- Diagnosis: stained, blackened or streak-marked stone façade
- Diagnosis: slippery steps and damaged stair nosings
- Diagnosis: shadows, hotspots and variation in backlit onyx
Regulations and compliance
Understand the French and European requirements applicable to natural stone and turn them into project decisions, checks, evidence, specifications and clearly allocated responsibilities without confusing legislation, standards, NF DTU rules and assessed systems.
18 guides in this chapter
- Natural-stone standards, specification and French CCTP requirements
- French regulatory guide: legislation, standards, NF DTU, CPT documents and responsibilities
- French regulatory guide: NF DTU 52.1 and traditional mortar-bed stone installation
- French regulatory guide: NF DTU 52.2 and adhesive-fixed natural stone
- French regulatory guide: CSTB technical documents, refurbishment, flowing screeds and SPEC waterproofing
- French regulatory guide: NF DTU 55.2 and mechanically fixed thin-stone façades
- French regulatory guide: substrates, concrete, screeds and underfloor heating
- French regulatory guide: terraces, balconies, falls and waterproofing
- French regulatory guide: walls, renders, substrates and façade joints
- Regulatory guide: product standards, CE marking, Declarations of Performance and the new Construction Products Regulation
- French regulatory guide: accessibility in public buildings, floors, thresholds and stone staircases
- Regulatory guide: fire, wind and seismic design for stonework
- French regulatory guide: RE2020, FDES declarations, PEMD audits, reuse and waste
- Regulatory guide: crystalline silica, stone cutting and installer safety
- French regulatory guide: handover, defects, insurance and warranties for stonework
- Technical data sheets, Declarations of Performance, CE marking and natural-stone performance
- Fire, wind, seismic design and Eurocodes for natural stone
- Accessibility in French public buildings: steps, thresholds, slopes, slip resistance and contrast
Installation and site practice
Adhesive fixing, traditional mortar-bed installation, mechanically fixed cladding, delivery, storage, handling, lime, mortars, joints, substrates, falls, drainage, waterproofing, thicknesses and inspection points.
20 guides in this chapter
- Level 1 – Natural-stone installation fundamentals
- Level 2 – Independent natural-stone site practice
- Level 3 – Managing complex natural-stone projects
- Natural-stone installation
- Load-bearing natural-stone construction and masonry
- Natural-stone columns, capitals, cornices and balustrades
- Marble and natural-stone fireplaces: styles, heat and design
- Stone roofing, flagstones and slate
- Substrates, screeds, levelling compounds and residual moisture before installation
- Waterproofing beneath stone: French SPEC and SEL systems, showers, hammams and critical junctions
- Logistics, storage, handling and site safety
- Thermal and acoustic comfort, and heating with natural stone
- Mechanically fixed stone façades: fixings, joints, maintenance and responsibilities
- Mortars, lime, traditional joints and historic buildings
- Natural-stone standards, specification and French CCTP requirements
- Technical data sheets, Declarations of Performance, CE marking and natural-stone performance
- Fire, wind, seismic design and Eurocodes for natural stone
- Shop drawings, slab layout, BIM, templates, site measurements and tolerances
- Atlas of marble and natural-stone edges and profiles
- Natural-stone staircases, steps, nosings and accessibility
Care, ageing and restoration
Care, protection, refurbishment, polishing, crystallisation, defects, staining, salts, frost damage, restoration and long-term performance.
11 guides in this chapter
- Marble and natural-stone refurbishment
- Care, restoration and stone defects
- Stain removal and cleaning products by stain type and stone family
- Water and oil repellents: protection, limitations and renewal
- Stone deterioration caused by salts, moisture, capillarity, black crusts and pollution
- Maintenance plans for homes, hotels, retail, exterior areas and French public buildings
- Indoor health: silica dust, VOCs, radon, cleaning and air quality
- Quarries, ecology and biodiversity
- Industrial stone processing and slurry management
- Environmental performance, durability and life cycle
- Circular economy: reuse, dismantling, second life, offcuts and traceability
Marbre Import resources
From technical guidance to a real project
Available natural stone
Select a currently available material when your research concerns a stone family, application, colour or finish.
Care and protection shop
Find suitable products for routine cleaning, stain removal, protection and ongoing maintenance.
Eye Stone Consulting
Independent support for specifications, French CCTP documents, façades, stone defects, diagnostics and technical project decisions.