Design - Stones

Since stone-age man has known the value of stone at home. Ancient man was closer to stone because it was used due to its availability and because it was a robust and readily available material to build homes. Stone ware and stone utensils have also been discovered in excavations in various parts of India and the subcontinent, where life supposedly evolved.

Even today, stone is often used for fireplaces, hearths, and decorative walls in homes. Stone walls and fireplaces are easier to clean and look attractive. To put these stones together in walls in designs and other interior décor they have to be cut to size first. Since the stones are hard, a very hard diamond blade is used to cut these. These blades are used on a wet tile saw. A water pump in the tile saw helps keep the blade cool so the job gets done with speed.

A diamond blade is a circular saw blade used for cutting hard or abrasive materials. Where shape cutting is required band saws are used. These also use diamond blades for cutting hard materials.

For cutting concrete, brick, block, stone and other similar materials designers use diamond blades. A diamond blade consists of a steel core and powder metal combined with diamond crystals which is heated and pressed into a molding to become the diamond segments, which are the actual cutting teeth of the blade. These diamond segments are then welded to the steel core. Another way of making a diamond blade includes electroplating diamond crystal directly to the metal core. Single layer diamond blades are made by a method called brazing (soldering).

The steel core of a diamond blade may be different one from another because of its usage. The spaces called segments are used in a diamond blade to provide cooling to the blade. The continuous rim blades are more used for smooth chip- free cutting. To cut a stone in designs, modern architecture demands use of proper tile saw. People have developed tastes and need more finesse in their living standards.

Construction and masonry tiles

A concrete block is also called cement block or foundation block. It is a large rectangular brick commonly used in construction of homes and other buildings. For higher density, sand and fine gravel is mixed with cast concrete, i.e. Portland cement. While lower density blocks are made by using cinders instead of sand and fine gravel. These low density blocks are called cinder blocks in the US and in UK breeze blocks or clinker blocks. In clinker blocks bottom ash or clinker is used. Since concrete is a heavy building material; to reduce weight the blocks are built with hollow centers. This also helps to improve insulation.

A lot of contractors use blocks because they can be layered in designs.
For a hard, glossy finish these blocks can be coated with glaze used in pottery. This way you can also color the blocks to your choice while making them water resistant.

For contractors, where sanitation codes matter; these masonry blocks serve the best in the design and build of such places as car washes, pools, locker rooms, shower stalls and dining areas such as cafeterias and commercial kitchens.

Glazing such as that used for pottery can also be applied to concrete blocks, resulting in a hard, glossy finish on this construction material. This finish often can be made virtually any color and, with integral water repellents, can be made water-resistant, ideal for design use in homes.

This makes glazed masonry an ideal fit for building areas in which special attention must be paid to moisture issues and sanitation codes. This includes construction of car washes, pools, locker rooms, shower stalls and dining areas such as cafeterias and commercial kitchens.