Grading
Fresh, medium and waterproof quality
Kota stone, from the same beds, sorted to three different standards. Knowing which grade you are being quoted is the single biggest reason two Kota prices differ — and the most common way a buyer gets caught out.
Kota stone is not one product at one price. Every quarry run produces material across a quality range, and what separates a good supplier from a cheap one is where they draw the line when sorting — and whether they tell you which side of it your consignment came from.
No grade on this page is honed or polished — all three are unpolished stone, but not the same face. Fresh grade keeps the rough, natural face the stone splits with. Medium grade is diamond sawn to a smoother, machine-cut face. If you want a honed or mirror surface instead, the same fresh/medium sorting still applies, but see our polished Kota page for that finish. We sell both grades openly and quote them separately. If a rate you have been given elsewhere looks impossibly low, this is almost always why: it is medium-quality stone quoted without the word ‘medium’ anywhere in the offer. There is nothing wrong with medium quality — it is the right specification for plenty of jobs — but you should know what you are buying before it reaches your site, not after.
Best grade
Rough Fresh Kota Stone
Freshly quarried stone in its rough, natural face — cut and sorted hard, but not honed or polished. Even colour across the pallet, clean square edges, minimal surface defect and consistent thickness within the batch.
- Rough, natural face — the stone as it is cut and sorted, not honed or polished. Want it smooth instead? See our polished Kota range.
- Tight colour band — sorted so a laid floor reads as one tone.
- Clean edges, square and unchipped, for near-butt joints.
- Few natural marks — the odd vein, no open seams or patches.
- Consistent gauge within the batch, before any calibration.
- Use for visible interior floors, showrooms, anywhere the client inspects the stone.
Economy
Diamond Medium Kota Stone
The same stone from the same beds, diamond sawn to a clean, machine-cut face rather than left natural, and sorted to a wider tolerance than fresh grade. More tonal movement, more natural veining and marking, occasional edge chipping — at a materially lower rate.
- Diamond-cut face — machine sawn smooth and flat, not the rough natural face of fresh grade.
- Wider colour spread — more visible variation piece to piece.
- Natural veining and marks are accepted rather than sorted out.
- Occasional edge chips; expect to cut a few pieces on site.
- Wider thickness range — the mortar bed absorbs it.
- Use for back-of-house, terraces, sheds, rentals, budget-led work, or anywhere rustic variation is wanted.
Rough grade
Waterproof Kota Stone (rough reject)
The third sort, and the cheapest Kota we ship. It is the material that does not make fresh or medium when the lot is graded — sound stone, but with the colour spread, thickness spread and edge condition that sorting is meant to remove. The trade calls it waterproof grade, after the job it does most often.
- Why "waterproof" — this is the stone that goes down on terraces and roof slabs over the waterproofing treatment, as the wearing course that takes the sun and the foot traffic. Nobody inspects the colour of a roof.
- Natural face, as the bed splits it. Not honed, not sawn smooth, not polished.
- Wide colour spread — greens, greys and browns can all appear in one lot.
- Uneven gauge and edges. The mortar bed absorbs the thickness; expect to dress some edges on site.
- Allow 15 – 20% extra over your measured area, against cutting and rejection.
- Same stone underneath. The compressive strength and the water absorption are the same as fresh grade — what you give up is looks, not life.
- ₹9 per square foot at 2′ × 2′ — the cheapest stone we ship. See the rate list.
- Use for terrace and roof courses, godown and shed floors, cattle sheds, plinth protection, compound walls, garden paths, sub-floors and temporary site flooring.
Four pieces from one lot. The tonal spread between them is exactly what fresh grade is sorted to remove — and exactly why this grade costs less.
The natural face, as the bed splits it. Faint shell and seam marks are normal in this grade and are not a defect.
Laid at our yard. Shot on the phone, not staged — this is what a waterproof-grade floor looks like in daylight.
Buy it for the right job
This is the honest bottom of the Kota range and we sell it as exactly that. If the floor is going to be looked at, buy fresh grade. If it is a roof, a shed, a plinth or a path, waterproof grade will outlast the building and save you a great deal of money. What we will not do is sell it to you as fresh — ask us which grade you are being quoted, every time, from anyone.
How it is cut
Diamond cut, 22″ and 23″.
Both grades are diamond sawn to size rather than chisel-trimmed. The blade leaves a clean, square, near-vertical edge — which is why these lay up to a tight joint with almost no dressing on site. On medium grade the same blade also takes the top face smooth; on fresh grade the face is left in its rough, natural state and only a faint fan of saw marks shows near the cut edge.
- Square, near-vertical edges — tight joints without on-site dressing.
- Available at 22″ and 23″, same gauges, same sorting standard.
- The saw fan is normal. Those faint arcs across the face are the blade, not a defect. Honing or polishing removes them; natural and sawn finishes keep them.
Side by side
What actually differs
All three grades are the same stone with the same compressive strength, water absorption and lifespan. The difference is cosmetic consistency, not durability.
| Rough Fresh | Diamond Medium | Waterproof | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour consistency | Tight — sorted to one band | Wide — visible movement | Widest — greens, greys and browns in one lot |
| Edges | Square and clean | Occasional chipping | Dressed on site where needed |
| Surface marks / veining | Minimal | Accepted as natural character | Expected throughout |
| Thickness spread | Narrow within the batch | Wider; bed absorbs it | Widest; laid on a thicker bed |
| Wastage to allow | 7 – 10% | 12 – 15% | 15 – 20% |
| Relative rate | Higher | Materially lower | Lowest of any Kota we ship |
| Best for | Visible interior floors, showrooms | Terraces, utility areas, budget work | Roofs, sheds, plinths, paths |
The honest summary
A medium-quality floor will last exactly as long as a fresh-quality one, and so will a waterproof-grade roof course. They simply look more varied and need more cutting on site. Specify fresh where people look closely, medium where they do not, and waterproof where nobody does — and never let anyone sell you one as the other.
The small sizes are not graded
Fresh, medium and waterproof are how we sort full slabs and the large squares. The small cut sizes — 9″ × 9″ up to 22″ × 10″ — come as mixed material: fresh and semi pieces together in one lot, at a single rate. Nobody sorts them, because on a dado, a border, a riser or a skirting the difference does not read. If you need a small size in fresh grade only, ask — it can be cut to order, and it costs more than the mixed rate. The rates are on the rate list.
Sizes
Available in every grade
22″ and 23″ squares are the volume sizes and we hold both. The larger the format, the more the grade matters — variation is more visible across a big piece.
| Size | Metric | Sq ft / piece | Pieces per 100 sq ft | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22″ × 22″ | 559 × 559 mm | 3.36 | ~30 | The standard square. Held in both grades |
| 23″ × 23″ | 584 × 584 mm | 3.67 | ~28 | Slightly larger square, same grades and gauges |
| 24″ × 24″ | 610 × 610 mm | 4.00 | ~25 | 2′ × 2′ module |
| 46″ × 22″ | 1168 × 559 mm | 7.03 | ~15 | Large calibrated format, green Kota |
| Random slabs | Bed-run | By area | — | Most economical; both grades |
Pieces per 100 sq ft are rounded up, since a fraction of a slab is not a thing you can order. See the full size and weight reference.
Getting it right
Four questions to ask any supplier.
Not just us — ask these of whoever you are comparing us against. The answers tell you more than the rate does.
- “Is this fresh or medium quality?” If the answer is vague, the rate is for medium.
- “What wastage should I allow?” 7–10% means fresh. 12–15% means medium. A supplier who says “5%” has not thought about it.
- “Is it calibrated?” Calibrated and uncalibrated are different products at different rates — see the polished page.
- “Can I see a full pallet, not one sample?” One good piece proves nothing about grading. The spread across a pallet is the whole question.