These days, only in very special cases is stone direct from the quarry worked in such a way that a flat surface is produced. Even though after quarrying the surfaces of the sawn or cut blocks are surfaces of the sawn or cut clocks are worked by machine or with hand held power tools, a knowledge of the manual surface treatments is useful due to the increasing amount of work on existing buildings, refurbishment projects and the preservation of historic buildings.

The customary tools used today generally look much the same as they did in the middle ages. As in the past , their development and use are based on the type of material, its hardness and the effects that can be achieved baring in mind the nature of the material. The choice of surface treatment is therefore just as dependant on the character of the component as it is on the type of stone selected. The right choice of surface treatment can enhance the expression and effect of a stone component.

Surface Finishes

Type of rock
Granite	●	●	●	●	●	●										●		●	●	●	●		●	●		●	●
syenite	●	●	●	●	●	●										●		●	●	●	●		●	●		●
Diorite	●	●	●	●	●	●										●		●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●
Gabbro	●	●	●	●	●	●										●		●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●
Rhyolite (porphyry)	●	●	●	●	●	●										●		●	●			●	●	●		●
Trachyte	●	●	●	●	●	●										●		●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●
Basalt	●	●	●	●	●	●										●		●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●
Diabase	●	●	●	●	●	●	●									●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●
Lava Stone	●	●	●	●	●	●	●				●	●	●	●			●	●	●				●	●
Volcanic tuff	●	●	●	●			●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Conglo- merate	●	●	●	●	●	●					●	●				●		●	●			●	●	●
Breccia	●	●	●	●	●		●		●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●			●	●	●
Sandstone (quartzitic)	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●			●	●			●	●	●		●
Sandstone	●	●	●	●			●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●	●		●	●			●	●	●
Greywacke	●	●	●	●			●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●			●	●	●
Clayey shale	●																●	●	●			●	●	●
Limestone	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●			●	●	●	●	●
Solnh. platy limestone	●																					●	●	●	●	●
Dolomite	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●	●			●	●	●	●
Onyx																	●	●	●					●		●
Ortho- paragneiss	●	●	●	●	●	●	●									●		●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●
Quartzite	●																	●	●			●	●	●		●
Mica-schist	●																●	●	●
Chlorite schist	●																●	●	●			●	●	●		●
Serpentinite					●	●											●	●	●			●	●	●		●
Marble	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●			●	●	●	●	●
Migmatite	●															●		●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●
phyllite	●																●	●	●
Crystalline slate	●																	●	●
Slate	●																●		●			●	●	●	●	●
Granulite	●	●	●	●	●	●										●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●

Modified according to standard specification 014 for stonework

● Customary surface treatment for this type of stone, however this does not rule out the use of other forms of surface treatment