PRECIOUS STONE CARE AND MAINTENANCE
INSTALLATION
Our tiles follow the same procedures of installation like any other granite or marble. We recommend the use of white or clear thinset. Diamond band saw and water jet are recommended in order to attain the best finishing. The use of a standard wet saw will produce less than desirable results to the cut edges. Proper care in mixing the varying natural shades should be taken prior to any installation to achieve a pleasing natural look. If pieces need to be joined, we recommend using AKEMI products for that purpose.SEALING
We recommend using the Miracle product 511 Porous Plus to seal the stones. Please follow the directions given by Miracle when using this product. If color enhancement of the antique stones is desired, we recommend using Miracle's Mira Matte. Again, please follow all directions on the product given by its manufacturer.MAINTENANCE
These stones should be treated as any other marble or granite is to be treated. Once they are sealed they should be fairly simple to maintain. We recommend the Miracle products for their general care and maintenance. Mira Clean and Mira Soup should be used as their direction outline and should give satisfactory results. Again, we ask that you follow the requirements. You should evaluate your individual needs and pick the product that fits those needs.These are only guidelines and each situation should be treated as a separate issue. Only the people involved directly with the job should make decisions based on their specific requirements for installations, sealing and maintenance. We do not accept any responsibility or express any warranty on the above outlines information.
Some helpful addresses:
MIRACLE Sealants12318 Lower Azusa Rd. Arcadia, CA 91706 800-350-1901
AKEMI North America
30-B Carlough Rd. Bohemia, NY 11716 888-307-4628
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE GLASS BACKING TILES AND SLABS
Translucent Stones:
Red Onyx (Carnelian): This is a translucent, reddish, orange variety of Chalcedony, was once thought to still the blood and calm the temper. Its various shades of Red are due to the presence of iron oxide. Stones may be uniformly colored or faintly banded. The hardness is (7) seven.Apart from our translucent stones, we supply slabs and tiles in a wide variety of semi- precious stones and Sea shells.
Grey Agate:
Agate occurs in nodular masses in rocks such as volcanic lavas. When split open, they reveal an amazing variety of colors and patterns. Agate also occurs in several distinct forms. Fortification agate has angular arranged bands. Hardness (7) seven, translucent and colorless white and grays.Amethyst (Quartz):
Crystalline Quartz in shades of purple, lilac or mauve. Amethyst is diachronic showing a blueish or reddish purple tinge when viewed from different angles, hardness (7) seven.Yellow Agate:
Agate is a quartz gem, classified as microcrystalline quartz. Agate comes from silica, which comes from volcanoes. The ash, water, rain, manganese, iron, and other minerals of the earth form together to create agate under pressure and heat. Silica is always predominant in agate, usually with aluminum and oxide of iron present as well. Agates range from transparent to opaque in a variety of beautiful colors. Hardness (7) seven.Sizes and thickness:
Our tiles and slabs can be manufactured in any size within our range from tiles 2" x 2" to the largest slab size of 4" x 8"Tiles are manufactured with 1/2" an inch thick glass backing. Slabs can be manufactured with either 3/4" (2 cm) or 1-1/4" (3 cm) thick glass backing
Care and Maintenance:
The care and maintenance of our slabs and tiles are like any other veneered tiles, granite or marble.If you going to backlit please do not use a very strong light source, the close and direct intense heat may affect the stones.
Carnelian and our other stones available are very hard and are resistant to most of the acids and alkaline, but as a pre-caution if used in a vanity or counter top, make sure to seal it with a granite sealer from either Akemi or Tenax.
We suggest that our slabs and tiles should not be placed directly against sun light; such application may result to color fading.
Other backings:
The marble and granite backing are also available for manufacturing of our tiles and slabs and can be found in 1/2", 3/4" (2 cm) and 1-1/4" (3 cm) thick.Sink cuts and edges:
We would suggest that sink cuts should be done in our factory in order to provide you with the best finishing possible. A CAD drawing is required in order to acquire the best and most precise results. All of our cuts are done with water jet.For the glass backing tiles and slabs only straight edge is available. You may place a special request for a simply bull nose which may soon be available. All edges finishing are charged separately from the price of the slabs.
For the marble and granite slabs we have available: Straight, Bull nose, ogee and bevel edges. All edges finishing are charged separately from the price of the slabs.
