Tiles & Slabs

Blocks of natural stone are quarried from the earth and fabricated into dimension tiles and slabs. These products are ideally suited for wall and floor covering, veneer panels and tops because stone is highly resilient to the natural elements and will withstand enormous burdens placed upon it. A work of nature, stone is available in countless varieties of composition. It will vary in color and texture one piece to the next and one lot with another over time. This variation is the basis for natural stone's allure; each piece is a priceless work of beauty and uniqueness.

Careful selection of vendors combined with tasteful selection of colors from all continents on earth is what we have excelled at for over fifteen years. Sourcing them is a painstaking process; consistency of color and texture and high quality of manufac­ture are musts.

Travertine

Travertine is derived from limestone that was heated and crushed into marble, then broken up and pushed through the earth's crust by water. The evaporation of the water at the surface leaves behind deposits of calcium-based crystals in layers. Noticeable features typically include little holes caused by water action, and a revealing of the many layers of this truly "natural" stone.

Slate

Slate is a fine-grained stone derived from shale which itself metamorphosed through heat and pressure from beds of clay. Slate exists in layers that, when split, reveal a natural cleft surface. Typical characteristics are moisture resistance, natural cleft surface and wide color variation.

Marble

Marble is a metamorphic stone derived from the immense heating and crushing of limestone by the earth over millions of years. This process causes crystallization of the stone and any minerals that seep into it thus enabling marble to achieve a highly reflective, polished finish. AKDO typically offers several surface finishes for marble including honed, polished, brushed and tumbled.

Granite

Granite is an igneous stone; one derived from magma that cooled beneath the earth's surface. The addition of minerals into the cooling stone gives granite its wide array of colors and crystalline textures. This is the hardest of all the stones in our collection and the most widely used due to its ability to remain beautiful while enduring punishing use.

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary stone formed over millions of years from the calcium-rich remains of dead animals, usually from bodies of water. The remains are crushed by the earth's immense pressure, which forms limestone. Noticeable features typically include a smooth, honed surface, occasional pits, the appearance of fossils, shells and other streaks or spots of cal­cium-rich deposits.

Sandstone

Sandstone is formed by the cementing together of sand usually by calcium carbonate, iron oxides, silica or quartz. Its natural attractiveness is its rough-textured, usually cleft surface and earthy colors.

Onyx

Onyx is a variety of cryptocrystalline quartz called chalcedony (quartz with a microscopic crystalline structure). Typical features are a waxy, translucent luster with angular bands of contrasting colors.