Bluestone Tiles - Nina Daniels

Bluestone is a natural stone which is blue/grey in colour. It is a hard stone, making it very durable and long lasting.

 Locally, Timaru Bluestone (http://www.timarubluestone.co.nz) offers a large variety of products and finishes. Using the raw natural stone they manufacture Bluestone into paving, house veneers, pool edging, tiles, architectural panels and much more. The unique stone is unaffected by the weather and low maintenance is required. It is ideal for high volume traffic areas due to its robust wear and tear qualities.

 
There are seven types of standard finishes available:
 

Brushed Polished – commonly used for tiles, vanities and architectural panels. This finish should not be used when slip-resistance is required.
 


Brush Honed – Generally used for internal applications such as tiles, stair treads and vanities. This finish has an acceptable slip-resistance (Co efficient of friction wet (AS/NZS 3661.1 1993) - 0.65).
 

First Brushed – This finish has a remarkable slip-resistance. (Co efficient of friction wet (AS/NZS 3661.1 1993) - 0.75). A light patina is created by one set of brushes. Generally used for tiles, stair treads, thresholds and vanities)
 


Diamond Rubbed – By calibrating the stone slab a non-slip surface is created. This finish is best suited for paving but is also used for house veneers and large architectural panels.
 


Birds Pecked – This machine finished texture is generally used for kerb and channel, house veneers and large architectural panels.
 



Tumbled – The stone is tumbled to roughen the surface and round the edges. This creates an aged appearance. Used for vehicular paving, pedestrian paving and cobbles.
 


Pitched / Split Face – This finish exposes the natural stone texture. It is commonly used for kerb and channel, house veneers, vehicular paving, walls and fences.
 

Bluestone tiles:

Timaru Bluestone produces tiles for both domestic and commercial use. Generally, they make their tiles 15mm thick for internal application. This allows the tiles to be laid alongside other flooring surfaces without a significant change in height. Standard tile sizes are 400x400mm or 400mm x 350-750mm. They cater for custom sizes on request.

 
For indoor use, tiles are predominantly Brush Honed or Brush Polished. Non-slip resistance is created through the micro texture of the stone permitting no wear of resistance over time. The low maintenance stone has a design life of 50+ years.
 
Bluestone tiles have an availability of 4-8 weeks.
For installation, Timaru Bluestone recommends the pavers be laid in a sand-cement mix on a 75mm 20MPA concrete bed or equivalent. An acrylic bonding agent should be added to the mortar. When grouting is required a 6mm joint should be considered, care must be taken to avoid staining of the stone. If cleaning is necessary from mortar, Timaru Bluestone recommends “Spirits of Salts”.
 
Bluestone’s neutral colour will allow it to be easily incorporated with other design elements. Its appearance will be enhanced by the forming of natural patina.
Examples of Timaru Bluestone projects are the Otago University and the Christchurch Airport. 

Otago University

(http://www.timarubluestone.co.nz/index.php/otago-university)

Christchurch Airport

(http://www.timarubluestone.co.nz/index.php/chch-airport)