Marble stone is one of the highly demanded stone. It gives a very soft look and provides elegance to the modern era. Marble stone is used in architecture and sculpture. The best example of architectural heritage is Taj Mahal, which is one of the seven wonder of the World. Marble stone is a very good building material. Marble stone is widely preferred for home furniture, counterparts, marble countertops flooring, foyers, bars, tables, showers, windows and fireplaces. It is a very natural stone, easy to clean and gives you a spectacular look.
Some of the distinguished features of marble stone are as following:-
Physical Properties of Marble Stone
Marble stone shall be hard, sound, dense, and harmonized in texture with crystal in texture as far as possible. It is generally uniform in color and free from stains, cracks, decay and weathering. According to Indian standard, it should not absorb moisture more than 0.4% by weight and its stiffness should not be less than 3 where as specific gravity should not be less than 2.5.
The marble stone blocks are used in building monuments. Marble blocks are converted into marble slabs or tiles. These slabs or tiles are used for flooring, stairs, facing, dado, skirting and table tops etc.
Durability of Narble Stone
The degree of resistance of marble stone to chemical agents in the atmosphere, to heating and cooling and to the alternate cycles of freezing and thawing is a measure of its weathering ability.
Finishes of Marble Stone
Marble can be finished or polished in three ways:-
Categories’ of marble Stone
The marble blocks, slabs and tiles can be classified broadly in the following two categories
A. Pure white marble
B. Different colored marble such as black, green, pink, brown, yellow and grey and so on.
Different Varieties in Marble stone
There are over 3000 varieties in marble stone available in the world market. Marble deposits are widely spread in India mainly in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Rajasthan is the main depository of marble in India accounts for over 90% of total marble production of the country, with reserves spread over the districts of Nagpur, Udaipur, Rajsamand, Banswara, Dungarpur, Jaipur, Sirohi, Bhilwara, Ajmer, Bundi, Alwar, and Pali. Some popular varieties are given below:-