Choosing · Buying guide
How to choose a slab, and why to see the actual one
Photos and small samples show the type of stone. Only the actual slab shows what your countertop will look like.
Natural stone varies from slab to slab, and sometimes within one slab. A sample or a photograph shows the character of the stone; the slab you will actually receive can have more or less movement, different veining and different colour.
Look at the direction of the veining, the darkest and lightest areas, and any flaws or fissures. Decide where the seams will fall, and which part of the slab will become the most visible piece, such as an island top or a full-height wall.
For book-matched walls the slabs must be consecutive from the same block, so they are chosen together. For a waterfall island, the vein has to run where the miter will be.
That is why we agree vein direction and seam positions with you on the actual slab, and why nothing is cut on assumption.
Keep reading
Book-matching, explained
Two slabs cut one after the other and opened like the pages of a book, so the veining mirrors across the seam.
FabricationHow it is builtHow a waterfall island is made
The stone turns down the side of the island so the vein runs unbroken from the top to the floor. Here is what makes that possible.
The Taj Mahal quartzite is not the Taj Mahal
The quartzite is a Brazilian stone. The monument is white marble from Rajasthan.
Questions about your stone?
Send us a photo or the slab name and a person from ONC will answer.