Citadel Stone in the Press
Technical articles commissioned by editors at IFMA’s FMJ, Environment+Energy Leader, WaterShapes and the stone trade press. Unpaid and editorially commissioned: no sponsored placements, no paid links. Every entry below links to the original so you can read it where it was published.
Journalists and editors: kareem@citadelstone.us — images and technical background below.
What Specifiers Need to Know about Shellstone
Bylined article for Stone World on shellstone, a market name for shell-rich limestone rather than a rock type. It sets the 1988 National Bureau of Standards results for St. Augustine coquina beside one certified batch of a dense shell limestone we supply, then covers where the stone fails and the test data to ask for before it is installed outdoors.
“Drainage, substrate, mortar coverage and joints deserve the same scrutiny as the absorption figure because a sound stone on a poor assembly can still fail.”
Bylined article for WaterShapes on stone for water walls and spillways, usually chosen from a dry sample but working under running water. It covers how the finish shapes the flow, why wet stone looks darker, what leaves pale lines on a dark face and the work behind the veneer, with a wet-offcut test to run at the design flow.
“Ask for an offcut from the same lot, in the exact finish and thickness, at least a foot wide.”
Commissioned bylined article for FMJ, the magazine of the International Facility Management Association. On the exterior hard surfaces a facility team inherits rather than chooses, and the three deterioration patterns that decide what they cost to keep.
“The physical behavior of a surface follows the rock it is made from, not the name on the invoice.”
The Heat Decision Hidden in Paving Specifications
Industry Voice column. Paving is still specified by eye when a measured solar reflectance value, a standard test method and a LEED threshold already exist; the piece sets out what to ask for and why, cited to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the US EPA and LEED v4.1.
“Paving is one of the few building materials still routinely chosen by eye.”
Will That Black and Other Dark Granite Burn Your Feet?
Commissioned bylined article. A buyer’s guide to dark granite in strong sun, built on measured solar reflectance, the temperatures at which stone becomes too hot to stand on, and the fact that most black granite sold in the trade is geologically dolerite, gabbro or basalt rather than granite.
“A reflectance of 0.19 means the stone is soaking up roughly four-fifths of the sun that lands on it. That is the whole story in one number.”
Designing Buildings That Are Easier to Maintain Without Losing Design Quality
Expert contributor. On specifying stone by measured water absorption rather than appearance, choosing finishes that hide wear outdoors, and the drip groove detail that keeps a pool surround from streaking.
“The highest-leverage decision is selecting stone by measured water absorption, not by looks. Two stones can be identical on a sample board, but the denser one resists staining, freeze-thaw damage, and moss for decades.”
How to Tell Real Quartzite from Marble and Sandstone
Commissioned bylined article. A technical guide to separating quartzite from marble and sandstone, written to ASTM C616, C503 and C119, covering the limits of the glass and acid tests and the commercial names the trade routinely mislabels.
“Ask for test data under ASTM C616 and check the silica figure: 95% is quartzite, 90% is quartzitic sandstone, and the gap between them is the one most buyers never hear about.”
Materials: New Limestone for Landscapes and Pools
Materials feature covering our limestone for landscape and pool applications, in Stone Update’s round-up of new stone reaching the North American market.
Citadel Stone Continues Commitment to Premium Products
Trade feature in Stone World on our limestone and basalt range — yellow, white and fossil limestone and Ocean Reef shellstone — and the quarry-direct model behind it.
What we cover
Kareem Klisharo, Founder & CEO, writes on these subjects for trade and technical publications.
Materials we know first-hand
- Shellstone. Few US suppliers carry it and almost nothing has been published about it. We can explain what it actually is, how it behaves underfoot and around water, and how it compares with limestone and basalt.
- White limestone — several varieties, from several quarries. The differences between them are real and measurable. We can compare varieties on colour range, density, absorption and how each takes a finish, rather than on marketing description.
- Black basalt. Including how it differs from material sold commercially as “black granite”, which is usually dolerite, gabbro or basalt rather than granite at all.
Heavy-duty and harsh-climate use
Stone that has to survive what most specifications never account for: freeze-thaw with de-icing salt, sustained heat on surfaces people cross barefoot, coastal and salt-spray exposure, vehicular and high-traffic paving, and pool surrounds. We can explain what fails, why it fails, and what to specify instead.
Testing and specification
Absorption and density (ASTM C97), compressive and flexural strength (ASTM C170 and C880), wet slip resistance (ANSI A326.3), solar reflectance and surface heat (ASTM C1549 and E1980), and petrographic identification (ASTM C1721). We can explain what a test result means in practice — and where a supplier datasheet is misleading.
A buying-side view
We are a wholesale supplier hand-picking stone at our selected quarries. That lets us be candid about the gap between what a specification asks for and what a quarry can actually certify.
For journalists
- High-resolution images on request
- Technical fact-checking on stone testing and specification
- Original comparative data for features