A few years ago I made a short video about stone roof tiles, which you can see with my other videos on the Video page of this web site. That video gave a brief introduction into the use of stone roof tiles and showed a few examples. I also gave a warning about the use of imported stone tiles, especially those from India. Indian stones, in many forms, are widely available in the UK but we are now seeing premature failure of these stones in use. Considerable caution is advised and they may not be as economical as it might first appear. You can watch the stone roof tile video here..:
The stones are most commonly sold on the basis that they have a readily available supply and, frequently, because they are cheaper than native UK stones.
The use of genuine traditional York stone for paving, for example, has hundreds of years of history behind it. It is a really good quality stone. Unfortunately, the supplies are not as readily available as they used to be, so consumers look elsewhere. Contractors will suggest stones that they know they can buy quickly and easily. However, this does not seem to translate to an equivalent quality.
In the short video, I specifically refer to roof tiles. Another common use of Indian stones is for patio surfaces and paths. You can see some photos, below, of Indian stones used for a patio. The exact same problem can be seen. Two of those examples are brand new stones, laid within the last few weeks. The stones with the lichen were put down in 2001. You can clearly already see frost damage and this is the same as I showed with the stone roof tiles. The texture of the stone allows for moisture to penetrate and this then delaminates the surface. We do not see this same problem occur so soon with equivalent native UK stones.
Be aware of this risk of frost damage on Indian stones.
Disclaimer: Anything posted in this Blog is for general information only and it is not in any way intended to provide any advice, legal or otherwise, on any general or specific matter that you can rely on. You should always seek your own legal and professional advice.
