How to read a stone technical datasheet
Water absorption, flexural strength, slip resistance and abrasion. A plain guide to the numbers on a stone datasheet and which ones actually matter for your project.
By GraniteFirms Editorial
A stone datasheet can look like a wall of figures and standard codes. In practice, only a handful of values decide whether a stone suits your project, and knowing which to read makes supplier comparison much easier.
The values that matter most
- Water absorption: lower is better, and it predicts frost resistance and staining.
- Flexural strength: how much bending a thin panel can take, important for façades.
- Compressive strength: load the stone can bear, relevant for heavy structural use.
- Abrasion resistance: wear under traffic, critical for floors and paving.
- Slip resistance: essential for steps, ramps and wet areas.
Match the numbers to the use
For exterior paving, water absorption and frost resistance lead. For a ventilated façade, flexural strength and panel thickness matter most. For an interior floor, focus on abrasion and slip resistance. There is no single best stone, only the right stone for each application.
Ask for the test method
Good suppliers quote the European standard behind each figure and can provide the test report. If a producer cannot back its claims with documentation, treat the numbers with caution. Reliable technical data is itself a sign of a serious processor.