Natural
The bed face exactly as it splits from the quarry. Slight undulation, natural grip, no two pieces the same.
Best for: Exterior paving, courtyards, rustic interiors, ramps
Surface treatments
Finishes & surfaces
The same slab can read as rustic, contemporary or luxurious depending only on what we do to its face — and finish, not colour, decides whether a floor is safe when it is wet.
Most finishes below are available across blue-grey, green and brown Kota and across Red Mandana — cotton and river finish are shown here on blue and brown Kota only. Because the stone underneath is identical, running two finishes against each other — a honed floor with a hand-dressed feature wall in the same material — gives you textural contrast at no extra material cost.
Sawn / machine cut
Gang-sawn on all faces to a flat, consistent surface with a fine machining texture. The base for calibration.
Best for: Cladding, general flooring, substrate for further finishing
Diamond cut
Cut on the diamond line to a true square edge and a clean, even face. Lays with a tight joint and needs no edge work on site.
Best for: General flooring where a crisp joint matters more than a sheen
Honed finish
Ground flat and smooth to a low-sheen matte. Comfortable underfoot, low glare, hides scuffing.
Best for: Interior floors, staircases, counters, contemporary work
Table polish
A satin polish taken off the table line — brighter and more reflective than honed, one grade short of a full mirror buff. The sensible middle setting.
Best for: Interior floors that want sheen without a mirror's glare or slip
River finish
A soft, watery sheen worked over the rough, as-split face of the stone rather than a cut one — calmer and less reflective than a full mirror, with gentle movement across the surface instead of a hard, flat gloss.
Best for: Interior floors and feature areas that want quiet shine without a full polish
Mirror polish
Progressively abraded to a full reflective gloss. Deepens the colour dramatically, particularly on green Kota.
Best for: Lobbies, showrooms, feature walls, table tops
Leather / antique
Brushed with abrasive heads to a soft, faintly textured matte. Like river, it is worked on the rough face of the stone, not a cut one. Sold as leather or antique — the same finish under two names, and the most forgiving one we run.
Best for: Premium interiors, vanities, wet areas, feature cladding
Cotton finish
A fine, dense pebbled texture with a soft matte face — even underfoot, no shine, and none of the glare of a polish.
Best for: Exterior paving, courtyards and wet areas where a matte, grippy surface is wanted
Hand-dressed / chiselled / textured
Chiselled by hand to a pronounced three-dimensional relief that throws shadow across the wall. Our own name for it is hand-dressed, chiselled or textured stone — घड़ाई वाला माल. Rock-faced is the same finish.
Best for: Feature walls, boundary and plinth cladding, elevations
Satin finish
A semi-polished face with a soft, even sheen — brighter than honed, one grade short of a full mirror, and far less slippery than a polished floor.
Best for: Interior floors and walls that want sheen without glare or slip
Lapatro finish
Polished on the diamond-cut face of the slab, not the rough one — that is what separates lapatro from river and leather. It leaves a soft, dimpled sheen with a faint orange-peel texture: brighter than honed, calmer than a mirror, and far less slippery than a polished floor.
Best for: Interior floors that want sheen without glare or slip
Tumbled & hand-cut
Edges knocked back and faces softened for an aged, worn-in appearance. Standard for cobbles and setts.
Best for: Driveways, garden paths, heritage and restoration
Flamed / sandblasted
A thermal or blast texture, not a hand or machine one — heat or shot spalls the outer crystals off, leaving a fine, granular, high-grip face with no facets. Run mainly on black basalt, since Kota and Mandana do not carry enough crystal structure to flame the same way.
Best for: Basalt paving, ramps, pool surrounds, anywhere grip underfoot matters more than looks
Selector
Which finish, where
Slip resistance is a specification decision, not an afterthought. Most complaints about stone floors trace back to a polished surface installed somewhere it should never have been polished.
| Location | Recommended finish | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Interior floor, dry | Honed or polished | Comfort, appearance, easy to sweep |
| Interior floor, wet (bath, kitchen) | Grooved or leather | Positive grip when wet |
| Staircase treads | Honed with grooved nosing | Safe edge without a slippery going |
| Ramps and slopes | Grooved or natural | Directional grip under load |
| Exterior paving, pedestrian | Natural or bush-hammered | All-direction grip, weather stable |
| Pool surround | Bush-hammered or grooved | Wet grip plus low heat retention |
| Driveway | Natural split cobbles | Grip and replaceable unit by unit |
| Feature wall | Rock-faced or leather | Shadow relief or soft tactile matte |
| Counter / vanity top | Leather or polished | Hides marks, or maximum depth of colour |
| Facade cladding | Rock-faced, honed or sawn | Weather stability and visual weight |
Calibration
Calibrated or uncalibrated?
Uncalibrated stone carries natural thickness variation — a nominal 25 mm slab might run 22 to 28 mm. The mason absorbs it in the mortar bed, which means a thicker bed, more material and slower work.
Calibrated stone is ground to a consistent thickness within about ±1 mm. It costs more per square foot but lays faster, uses less adhesive, and is effectively mandatory on thin-bed adhesive systems.
- Calibrate for thin-bed adhesive, large-format slabs, tight floor levels, and expensive labour.
- Skip it for random paving, rustic exteriors, cobbles, and any job with a traditional thick mortar bed.
Questions
Common questions
What stone finishes do you offer?
Natural (as split), sawn, honed, mirror polish, diamond polish, leather, lapatro, rock-faced, flamed and sandblasted. The same slab reads as rustic, contemporary or luxurious depending only on what has been done to its face — the finish changes the look far more than most people expect.
Which stone finish is best for outdoors?
Not a polished one. Polished stone is slippery when wet and the polish weathers off outside anyway. For external paving use natural, sawn, leather, sandblasted or rock-faced — all of them keep grip in the wet. Save mirror and diamond polish for interiors.
Which finish is best for bathroom and kitchen floors?
Honed or leather. Both are flat and easy to clean but keep enough texture underfoot to be safe when wet. A mirror polish in a wet area looks superb and is genuinely dangerous.
Does the finish change the colour of the stone?
Considerably, and this is where most disappointment comes from. Polishing pulls the depth and colour out of a stone — the same grey Kota is noticeably darker and richer polished than honed. Never choose from a photograph. Ask us for physical samples in the finishes you are considering.