When you want to choose a natural material for your constructional, renovation or design projects. Natural stones can be the best and the first choice that comes to your mind; among them there are several famous kinds that are very popular such as marble, limestone, sandstone, granite, basalt and etc. Here in this article we will focus on sandstone and its uses, advantages, appearances and various types especially the blue sandstone ones. If you are interested to gain more information about other kinds of natural stones and their application, brows our website. You should find what you are looking for; if not, contact us, we will be happy to help.
Sandstone
Sandstone is a type of sedimentary rocks which is basically a mixture of minerals, sandy pieces of rocks with mud that has formed at the bottoms of seas, rivers and lakes millions of years ago. Sandstone can be found in different verities in many places all around the world, such as Australia, USA, parts of Europe, Africa, India and etc.
Its market and availability makes sandstone to be another common types of natural stones in the world which is used for various applications. Just as we said before, here our main focus is to introduce and discus different features of blue sandstone, one of the famous types of sandstones.
Blue Sandstone
Blue sandstone is one of the durable sorts of sandstone. It is available in a various range of rare colors for natural stones, like blue, lilac or even a shade of green; sometimes there is a light shade of light brown or gray in its surface. Being highly durable with vast choice for its appearance, has made the blue sandstone a perfect choice for wall cladding, paving, exterior designs and landscaping.
USA, Australia and England are three of the most popular countries in the world that have high quality blue sandstone quarries.
Due to research’s the USA blue sandstone formation process must have occurred around 350 million years ago, underneath the ocean that back then must have covered most of the eastern part of the country. This quarry has been active for more than 200 years. It is well known by the high quality of its stones.
The Australia’s blue sandstone also known as Welsh blue sandstone is originally from South Wales, where the blue sandstone slabs are quarried out of local quarries. It has a remarkable appearance that has made it popular all over the world. It is available in tones of true blue-grey colors with added occasional bronze seams. The blue sandstone slab and tiles are mostly used with limited finishes and as their naturalistic look which is suitable for both traditional and contemporary design styles.
The blue sandstone found in England, is also named as welsh blue pennant sandstone.
Like many other sandstones, the welsh blue pennant sandstone is extremely hardwearing with specific outdoor uses. These stones slab and tiles are available in color ranges of blue to grey with some iron or coal markings.
Different uses of Blue Sandstone
Blue sandstone has great popularity for many types of projects with different goals and outcomes such as commercial, civil, landscape and residential projects.
The blue sandstone has high resistance against scratching and slipping which makes it an ideal choice of natural materials for outdoor uses and open areas that are more exposed to weather changes or environmental effects. They can also be used for wall cladding of buildings or just simply be a thin stone veneer and facade.
The blue sandstone tiles can be used as a luxurious paving material; it will present the floor with a glamorous appearance. Moreover, in some cases, people like to use the blue sandstone slabs as their countertops instead of having other expensive natural stones like granite or marble in their kitchen or bathrooms.
As we mentioned before, the resistance of blue sandstone to slipping makes it to be a proper natural material for paving especially for outdoor and open spaces. If you look around, you can probably find them as in steps, courtyards, paved gardens, driveways, pool surrounds and walkways. Also with their beautiful aspects, they can be used in landscaping and gardening for creating fair and vintage settings.
Over the years, blue sandstone has been used in monuments. Which again is a proof for its durability and low need for maintenance over time.
Sometimes civil expert’s groups, use these natural stones to build walls, pedestals or headstones for their projects; it all depend on the project location and their calculations for loadbearing points.
Being resistant to water and high durability, makes blue sandstone tiles a suitable material for water features in major scale designs like water parks or just simple elements such as different styles of fountains, waterfalls or even ponds. The fact that blue sandstone is slip-resistance makes it a safe choice for using in wet places or areas near water. Also the beautiful texture and blue color of these tiles can add more compliments to the water.
With all that being said, the various applications or feature of blue sandstone, has made it a popular choice as building materials.
There are some other uses for blue sandstone slab and tiles, but they are not that common. In bellow we just name them to give you a full perspective of blue sandstone uses:
- The large blocks and slabs of blue sandstone can be used as foundation stones
- The blue sandstone tiles can be used as decorative stones
- they can be used in different shapes and sizes as fireplace surrounds
- With needing low maintenance and easy cleaning, these tiles can be used as paving or wall cladding in chemical labs and industry
- As they are easily cut to various shapes, they can be used for creating arches, pillars, fountains, outdoor furniture and etc.
Advantages and disadvantages
– Sandstone is a hard natural stone that has high resistance. Due to its formation process in comparison to man-made materials, it can tolerate many environmental challenges over time, this feature makes sandstone a perfect choice of material for landscaping, exterior design and outdoor applications.
– Sandstones is a durable material but its texture is not as rough as granite or marble stone which helps to provide it in various styles, sizes and shape it in to more interesting elements. This feature gives an advantage to blue sandstone facing other natural stones.
– Ecological and environmental conservation plans are one of the major concerns of today’s world. One of the most important recommendations that conservational professionals have is to use eco-friendly materials. Sandstone products are famous as eco-friendly materials. Its slab and tiles are easily reused and recycled.
– One of the main concerns of any contractor in constructional projects is their budget and overall cost of materials. In comparison to other natural stones, sandstone is an affordable substance that can properly function in many applications while providing astatic pleasing and being way more flexible to your budget.
– Just like any other natural material, each slab and sandstone tile is unique and has its own special appearance which makes it easy to replace if it gets harmed or damaged also it is a masterpiece with added value to your property.
– Sandstone has a grainy texture which help its slip-resistance feature, especially for places such as driveways, walkways, pool surround and many other open areas when they get wet.
– Due to the formation process and various minerals available in it, sandstone is available in vast ranges of colors. The light shades of it can be more porous than the darker ones, which means that they can absorb more water. with this feature, they also may need extra maintenance if you do not apply a proper sealant. by Sealing your blue sandstone tiles, you can prevent seepage and corrosion and thus which will help to extend the life your product to a greater extent.
– Another amazing fact about blue sandstone colors, is that unlike many other natural stones, the blue sandstone slab and tiles will not lose their colors and amazingly they will become more beautiful over time with natural weathering.
– Like other materials, based on their hardness and color, various types of sandstone can be identified; such as gray sandstone, crystallized sandstone, hard sandstone, carbonate cemented sandstone, blue sandstone and etc.
– Blue sandstone is a natural material, suitable for all seasons. It has the perfect look by its rustic texture and neutral shades of colors. Also it can withstand the weather confliction and changes.
Different Uses of Blue Sandstone
In the end we hope that now you everything there is to know about blue sandstone application or uses. If you still are unsure to choose which material for your project, brows our website and go through our gallery of products to understand what do you like or just contact us. Here at Unikastone, our professional consulters will help you find your ideal natural stone to your liking with all the features that you need. We aim to make our customers dream come true.
