Marble offers a multitude of possibilities when it comes to tone, pattern and finish. Specific types of finish on marble are better suited to specific areas in the home. Picking the right kind for your floors, backsplash or wall can enhance not only the functionality but also the style quotient of the space. Let’s take a look at the various kinds of marble finish and where to use them

Polished

With a lustrous finish, polished marble is one of the most commonly used stones. It provides an elegant high-end look to any space, especially in high-visibility areas like the foyer (as used here) or living room. When used as an underfoot stone, one can get regular polishing done to remove fine scuffing and scratches.

Honed

Polishing the marble using abrasives provides a honed finish characterised by a smooth, velvety surface. One can use honing as a finish or even as a restorative process to fix the damage on the stone. Honed marble is well-suited as flooring for high-traffic areas like the living room and passages, as it is less prone to scratches, compared to polished surfaces. As seen in this image, the slightly rough finish works well on countertops and backsplashes too.

Sawed

Also referred to as raw or dressed marble, this marble has a rough, coarse and dull finish achieved by using diamond wires or blades. It has a rough texture with the surface offering better floor grip, making it popular for wet areas like the bathroom or outdoors. Here, sawed marble is used on the walls.

Chiselled

Chiselling is a process that provides the marble with a raw appearance. Chiselled marble features deep, uneven grooves of varying thickness, resembling the rough finishes seen in some old marble structures. This finish is predominantly seen in Indian monuments, especially Mughal architecture. Though suitable for both indoor and outdoor use, the marble lends a decorative touch when paired with ethnic touches such as a jali, as shown in this image.

Sandblasted

The name is indicative of the finish – this marble is made by blasting small particles of silicon or corundum ‘sand’ towards the marble surface. Doing so corrodes the stone, giving it a more textured appearance – similar to the bush hammering technique but less rugged. Sandblasted marble is popular in wall tiles, backsplashes, and even as cladding and flooring material for outdoor areas such as the pool deck in this image.

Tumbled

Tumbled finish marble has a buffed appearance instead of a polished look. Marble tiles are tumbled, for instance, in a drum filled with abrasives, resulting in a smooth yet distressed and weathered finish. One can use tumbled marble as a backsplash for a textured finish or pair it with honed marble for added depth, like the flooring in this bathroom.

Bush hammered

This finish is attained by striking the stone’s surface with a bush hammer for a rugged yet uniform appearance. Based on the strike’s intensity, one can obtain a subtler or coarser finish of uniform pitting, which usually ranges from 1 to 3 millimetres in depth. In this image, anti-slip hammered marble is used in the swimming pool area.

Flamed

Exposing the marble briefly to intense heat helps achieve a coarse, uneven look called flamed marble. The technique results in alternating soft mounds and depressions with a curled surface that adds to the aesthetics and provides an anti-slip finish. Suitable for both indoor and outdoor areas, this marble is commonly used in wall tiling (as displayed here) and outdoor cladding.