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Natural Stone is beautiful and unique. At Ecora we specialise in supply of first quality natural stone tiles from around the world and are able to help create outstanding spaces in your home, where no two tiles will be exactly the same. Helping you make the correct choice when choosing the stone for your project is our priority and we hope you will find this information useful.

Choosing the correct material is always a balance between aesthetics and practicality. To choose your natural stone tiles you must consider, in addition to the look, the application and location where the stone tiles will be set in order to ensure suitability. We are available to assist and give you all the information you require to enable you to make the right choice.

We deal in the highest quality materials sourced from the most reputable quarries worldwide and offer our clients value for money and a personal customer service experience. The alliances we have created with our suppliers ensure that the quality of our materials are consistently of the highest standards and selected only from the best seams within the quarries.

Our friendly and knowledgeable staff are always happy to advise and guide you on all aspects of choosing the right stone for your project, as well as offering important information on caring for and maintaining your stone.


Our sample service
Our tile samples are supplied for a small fee, which covers the delivery costs only. The tile samples are 100mm x 100mm in size, and will be delivered in a cardboard box for protection along with some information about our company and services we offer. Full tile samples are available on request, but will incur an additional charge.

Please be advised that tile samples may differ slightly to the actual stone that will be purchased, due to the natural characteristics and variation of stone, but in general it will be a good guide to colour and tone.

To select your tile samples please navigate to the tile you are interested in and click on the 'Order Sample' link.


About Natural Stone
Limestone is an organic, sedimentary rock. This means it was formed from the remains of tiny shells and micro-skeletons deposited on the sea bed. They were compressed to form solid rock. Limestone is made up of calcium carbonate and reacts with diluted hydrochloric acid. Limestone is formed in layers - called bedding planes. These bedding planes contain vertical cracks called joints. Joints and bedding planes make the rock permeable. Limestone tiles are usually light coloured however with impurities such as iron oxides and organic materials they can take on a variety of colours and surface markings. Limestone tiles have been used as a building material for many generations and is gaining popularity as a sophisticated flooring material offering the timeless qualities only possible with natural materials.

When selecting a limestone you must consider the application for which it is to be used to ensure its suitability. Choosing the correct material is always a balance between aesthetics and practicality and we are here to help and offer you advise. It's always worth looking at the technical specification particularly the porosity and always clarify the intended application of the material. We usually only offer the harder Limestone tiles as these offer predictable maintenance properties and they have considerable advantages over Travertines as they do not have the natural voids and are generally far more durable.

The application is important when choosing a material for example, you could use a particular Limestone on a bathroom floor but would it be suitable for a busy family kitchen? We have a very experienced team who are happy to discuss your requirements and make recommendations based on the application.

Marble is a metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of sedimentary carbonate rocks such as limestone or dolomite rock or metamorphism of older marbles. This metamorphic process causes a complete recrystallization of the original rock into an interlocking mosaic of calcite, aragonite and dolomite crystals. The temperatures and pressures necessary to form marble usually destroy any fossils and sedimentary textures present in the original rock, resulting in a stronger harder material.

Pure white marble is the result of metamorphism of very pure limestones. The characteristic swirls and veins of many coloured marble varieties are usually due to various mineral impurities such as clay, silt, or iron oxides which were originally present as grains or layers in the limestone. Green coloration is often due to serpentine resulting from originally high magnesium limestone or dolostone with silica impurities. These various impurities have been mobilized and recrystallized by the intense pressure and heat of the metamorphism process.

Granite tiles are formed from liquid magma pushed up toward the earth's surface to form a substance approaching the hardness and durability of diamond. Granite is an igneous rock; its chemical composition is similar to that of lava. However, granite owes its hardness and density to the fact that it has been solidified deep within the earth, under extreme pressure. Over the eons, seismic activity has changed the crust of the planet, forcing veins of granite to the surface. Granite tiles are renowned for their strength and depth of colour.

Slate tiles are available in various colours and finishes that enhance the beauty of the floor. Attractive flooring schemes can be created using these beautiful natural stone colours. The permanence of a slate makes it a cost effect option. A slate floor is durable, slip resistant and easily maintained. Its combination of hardness and beauty also make it a choice for commercial applications as well as the home. It can hold up to heavy and repeated traffic and still maintain its natural beauty.

Natural slate has a look that cannot be matched using man-made alternatives. Another dimension that can also be added is that of texture; slate is available in a naturally smooth finish or a rougher surface.

Basalt is an extrusive volcanic rock that makes up most of the worlds oceanic crust. It is usually black to grey in colour and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of the planet. The crustal portions of the oceanic plates are composed predominantly of basalt, produced from up-welling mantles below the oceans ridges. Most basalt magmas have formed by decompression melting of the mantle.

Basalt is generally quarried in Asia where slabs of basalt are cut and polished and made into tiles, you would normally use basalt as a floor or wall tile where durability and strength are required.

Jura Marble or Jura Limestone are the trademarks of a beige, grey (grey-blue) limestone which is found in the Franconian region, just north of upper Bavaria in the south of Germany. Jura limestone is a sedimentary stone and has a very fine graininess and contains many fossils and shell intrusions. Mostly the fossils are algae, ammonites, siliceous sponges and Belemnites. Jura Limestone was formed approximately 175 million years ago. This time is described as the upper Malm, which is also described as the earth's middle age. Economically, it is the most important stone in Germany.

The quarries are approximately 50 meters deep and the layers of the Jura are up to 1.50 meter high, which also makes it possible to quarry this stone in blocks. The layers are divided from each other by thin clay layers. The layers are quarried by drilling and splitting machinery into suitable block sizes. We have to consider special geological circumstances like cleaves and cracks within the layers.