Natural Stone Finishes, Side by Side
The finish is the last thing to happen to a stone — and the first thing you notice. It decides how a surface catches light, how it feels underfoot and how it grips when wet. Here is every finish in our range, photographed on the actual stone we stock.
The Brushed (Antiqued) Family
Brushing — also called antiquing — happens after the stone is sawn: rotating abrasive brushes sweep the face again and again, wearing away the softer minerals and leaving the harder grain standing proud. The result looks and feels naturally weathered, as if the stone had been walked on for a century — with none of the wait.
The grit number tells you how coarse those brushes are, exactly like sandpaper. Low grit means aggressive brushes and deep, rustic texture; high grit means fine brushes and a soft, velvety surface. We produce five grades — including two that run the line twice — and the difference between them is the difference between a farmhouse courtyard and a five-star spa deck.
16 GRITRustic & BoldDeepest texture · old-world character · maximum wet grip
36 GRITThe Balanced ClassicClearly antiqued · comfortable underfoot · in or outdoors
80 GRITVelvet-FineFine ripple · suede-soft sheen · barefoot luxury
24 GRIT · BRUSHED TWICEThe Rustic SoftDeep relief, rounded twice · bold character, soft touch
60 GRIT · BRUSHED TWICEThe Worn-In SoftSecond pass rounds the relief · our softest antiqued feel16, 36 and 80 grit are our standard grades — not your only options. Brushing is fully tunable at the factory: from the deep, rustic 16 to grades finer than our standard 80, we set the brushes to the exact grit you specify — and we can even run the stone through the line twice, as our double-brushed 24 and double-brushed 60 show. Tell us the number — or simply describe the feel you want under hand and foot — and your order is brushed to precisely that texture.
Brushed 16 Grit — Rustic & Bold
Brushed with our coarsest 16-grit heads, this is the boldest texture we make. The brushes carve deep into the softer veins of the limestone, leaving a rolling relief you can read with your fingertips — the closest a new stone comes to centuries of genuine wear. That depth does real work outdoors: rain, grit and foot traffic disappear into the texture instead of showing on it, and the surface keeps a confident grip even when soaking wet. Choose 16 grit for driveways, garden paths and anywhere old-world character is the point — it pairs naturally with traditional architecture and hides the everyday scuffs that would show on a smoother face.
Applications Driveways · courtyards · garden paths · patios & terraces · pool surrounds · exterior steps & landings · sidewalks & plazas · rustic wall cladding & facades · farmhouse & heritage projects · commercial landscapes
Available on: white limestone pavers · limestone patio pavers · all products
Brushed 36 Grit — The Balanced Classic
The middle grade of the family, and the one most projects land on. 36-grit brushing keeps an unmistakable antiqued character — in low sun you can watch the grain shadow across the surface — but softens the peaks so the stone sits comfortably under bare feet, dining chairs and daily life. It is the true all-rounder: textured enough for open-air paving that sees rain, refined enough to carry through covered terraces and interiors without feeling rough. If you want the antiqued look and intend to actually live on the surface — patios, pool surrounds, alfresco kitchens — 36 grit is the classic answer, and the benchmark the other two grades are measured against.
Applications Patios & terraces · pool decks & surrounds · alfresco kitchens & dining areas · walkways & courtyards · indoor-outdoor floors · covered porches & loggias · steps & copings · residential driveways · hotel & restaurant terraces
Available on: white limestone pavers · shellstone pavers · all products
Brushed 80 Grit — Velvet-Fine
Our finest brushing grade, and the finish we are proudest of. At 80 grit the brushes stop carving texture and start refining it: what remains is a barely-there ripple that scatters light into a soft, suede-like sheen — yet under your hand the stone feels close to velvet. This is the finish for projects where limestone should feel as luxurious as it looks: pool decks you cross barefoot, terraces off a master suite, floors that run from living room through glass doors to the garden without changing character. And because the fine ripple survives, it keeps meaningfully more wet grip than any honed or polished surface can offer.
Applications Barefoot pool decks · spa & wellness areas · luxury terraces · interior floors · bathrooms · indoor-outdoor transitions · feature walls · boutique hotel & restaurant floors · stair treads & landings
Available on: white limestone pavers · limestone patio pavers · all products
Double-Brushed 24 Grit — The Rustic Soft
Our second twice-brushed grade starts at the rugged end of the family: a first pass with coarse 24-grit heads carves relief nearly as deep as our rustic 16, then the line runs again and rounds off every peak it just cut. The result keeps the bold, antiqued landscape of a coarse brush — you can read strong texture across the face in any light — but the second pass takes the bite out of it, so palms and bare feet meet softened contours instead of fresh edges. Where double-brushed 60 whispers, 24 speaks up: choose it when you want unmistakable old-world texture on a surface people touch and cross barefoot every day — terraces, courtyards and floors that flow from inside to out.
Applications Patios & terraces · courtyards · indoor-outdoor floors · pool surrounds · covered porches & loggias · garden paths · steps & landings · farmhouse & heritage projects · hotel & restaurant terraces
Available on: white limestone pavers · limestone patio pavers · all products
Double-Brushed 60 Grit — The Worn-In Soft
This grade runs the brushing line twice. The first pass at 60 grit opens the surface the way any antiquing does; the second pass goes back over that fresh relief and rounds it off, softening every peak the first pass left behind. What remains is texture you see more than feel — a gently dimpled, worn-in face that reads antiqued in raking light yet sits noticeably softer under hand and foot than any of our single-pass grades. If 16 grit is a century of courtyard wear, double-brushed 60 is the threshold stone of an old villa, smoothed by generations of footsteps. Choose it where you want brushed character with the closest thing to a honed stone’s comfort.
Applications Interior floors · covered terraces & loggias · pool houses & spas · bathrooms · bedroom & living floors · barefoot zones · hotel suites · indoor-outdoor thresholds
Available on: white limestone pavers · limestone patio pavers · all products
Honed 60 Grit — Silky Matte
Honing takes the opposite road from brushing: instead of texturing the face, diamond abrasives grind it perfectly flat to an even, silky matte. At 60 grit the surface is smooth and shadow-free with no gloss — so the stone itself does the talking. This is the finish that shows limestone most honestly: fossil traces, soft cloud patterns and gentle tonal drift all read clearly across a honed floor. Cool, contemporary and easy to clean, it is the default choice for interior floors, bathrooms, wall cladding and covered terraces. For open-air paving that sees rain we usually steer clients to the brushed family or bush-hammered basalt instead — honing trades texture for refinement.
Applications Interior floors · bathrooms & wet rooms · kitchens · wall cladding & feature walls · fireplace surrounds · window sills · interior stair treads · covered patios & loggias · retail & hospitality interiors
Available on: white limestone pavers · basalt tiles · all products
Honed 120 Grit — Silk Matte
Honing at 120 grit takes the flat, shadow-free face of our 60-grit hone one refinement further. The finer abrasives erase the last trace of tooth, leaving a surface that feels like silk under the palm and shows the stone with total clarity — fossil clouding and soft tonal drift read as if under glass, without a hint of gloss. This is the finish for spaces experienced by hand as much as by eye: bathrooms, bedroom floors, wall cladding and reception interiors. Like every honed surface it prefers life indoors or under cover — for open-air paving that sees rain, the brushed family and bush-hammered finishes carry the grip.
Applications Interior floors · bathrooms & spas · wall cladding & feature walls · bedroom & living floors · fireplace surrounds · window sills · interior stair treads · hospitality interiors
Available on: white limestone pavers · basalt tiles · all products
Bush-Hammered — Maximum Grip
A bush hammer peppers the sawn face with thousands of tiny carbide impacts, fracturing the surface into a uniform, pocked micro-texture — the most slip-resistant finish we produce. Shown here on white limestone, the impacts brighten the stone: the fractured face scatters light into a soft, chalky white with a coarse bite you can read from across the room. The same finish is produced on our black basalt, where it lifts the color to a speckled steel-grey. Underfoot it feels crisp and mineral, closer to fine gravel than sandpaper, and grit does not polish smooth with traffic — the texture is fractured into the stone, not applied to it. If a surface will be wet, barefoot, sloped — or all three — this is the finish we recommend before you finish asking.
Applications Pool decks & surrounds · ramps & sloped paving · exterior stairs · outdoor showers & wet areas · public walkways & plazas · driveways · docksides & waterfront paving · accessibility-critical surfaces · commercial & municipal projects
Available on: white limestone pavers · black basalt pavers · basalt hexagon pavers
Split Face — Straight From the Stone
Every other finish on this page is worked into the surface — split face is the surface. The block is split along its natural grain and simply breaks, and the fracture itself becomes the finished face: no two pieces repeat, and every unit carries raw quarry character, with ridges and hollows that throw deep shadow lines across a wall as the sun moves. Some call it rock face; either way it is the most architectural finish we produce, shown here across the range — pale cleft panels, cobble setts, ledger strips and gold-toned wall blocks — and the same finish is produced on our black basalt cobblestones. Specify it wherever stone should look unmistakably like stone: feature walls, facades, garden walls and cobbled drives with a centuries-old temperament.
Applications Feature walls & cladding · ledger panels · cobble setts & driveways · garden & retaining walls · facades & pillars · landscape edging · exterior fireplace surrounds · entry & boundary walls
Available on: cobblestones · cobble setts · black basalt split-face cobblestones
Polished White Limestone — The Dress Finish
Polishing runs the stone through progressively finer abrasives until the surface begins to return light. On white limestone the effect is quietly luxurious: the color deepens, the natural figuring sharpens, and rooms brighten as floors and walls bounce daylight back into the space. It is the dressiest finish in our range — the choice for formal interiors, feature walls, vanities and window sills — and the least suited to wet or outdoor paving, where its smoothness works against you. Specify polished where the stone is meant to be admired: it is the finish that makes white limestone read closest to marble, at a limestone’s price.
Applications Formal interior floors · feature walls & cladding · bathroom vanities · window sills · fireplace surrounds · reception & lobby floors · stair risers · tabletops & counters
Available on: white limestone pavers · shellstone pavers · all products
Compare Every Finish
| Finish | Texture | Sheen | Wet grip | Feel | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brushed 16 grit | Deep, rolling relief | Fully matte | Excellent | Boldly rustic | Driveways, courtyards, garden paths |
| Brushed 36 grit | Medium relief | Matte | Excellent | Textured yet comfortable | Patios, pool surrounds, indoor-outdoor |
| Brushed 80 grit | Fine ripple | Soft suede sheen | Very good | Velvet | Barefoot pool decks, terraces, interiors |
| Double-brushed 24 | Deep, rounded relief | Soft matte | Excellent | Rustic yet soft | Terraces, courtyards, indoor-outdoor |
| Double-brushed 60 | Rounded, gentle relief | Soft matte | Very good | Worn-in smooth | Interiors, covered terraces, barefoot zones |
| Honed 60 grit | Ground flat | Even matte | Good (covered/dry) | Silky smooth | Interior floors, cladding, covered patios |
| Honed 120 grit | Ground flat | Fine silk matte | Moderate | Silk | Interiors, bathrooms, cladding |
| Bush-hammered | Uniform pocked | None | Outstanding | Crisp, mineral | Pool decks, ramps, wet & public areas |
| Split face | Natural cleft, dimensional | None | Excellent | Raw, rocky | Wall cladding, cobble setts, facades |
| Polished | Glass-smooth | Reflective | Low — interior use | Glass-smooth | Interior floors, feature walls, vanities |
Wet-grip ratings are qualitative comparisons within our own range.
Three quick rules: if the surface gets wet and bare feet cross it, start with bush-hammered basalt or brushed 16/36 grit (80 grit where comfort leads). If the project is interior elegance, start with honed. If old-world character is the brief, nothing beats 16 grit. Wholesale pricing for every product is published in our Natural Stone Price Index.
From Quarry, to Factory, to Your Site — Fully Custom
Customization is Citadel Stone’s core strength. Because your order travels quarry-direct through the factory to your site, nothing on this page is fixed: we tailor every finish to your taste, cut any size and thickness, and can manufacture virtually any natural-stone product to your specification — pavers, copings, treads, cladding and fully custom pieces alike. Tell us what your project needs, and we produce exactly that.
Discuss Your Specification or browse the full product rangeStone Finish Questions, Answered
What is the difference between brushed and honed limestone?
Brushed (antiqued) limestone is textured: rotating abrasive brushes wear away the softer minerals, leaving a naturally weathered relief with excellent wet grip. Honed limestone is ground perfectly flat to an even matte, so it feels silky-smooth and shows the stone’s natural pattern clearly. Brushed suits open-air paving; honed suits interiors and covered areas.
What does the grit number — 16, 36, 80 — actually mean?
The grit number describes how coarse the finishing abrasive is, exactly like sandpaper. Low numbers are coarse: 16 grit brushes carve the deepest, most rustic texture. Higher numbers are finer: 80 grit leaves only a fine, velvety ripple. 36 grit sits in between — clearly textured, but comfortable underfoot.
Which stone finish is best around a pool?
For maximum slip resistance choose bush-hammered black basalt — its pocked micro-texture grips even when soaking wet. For a softer barefoot feel with strong wet grip, brushed limestone in 36 grit is the classic pool-surround choice, and 80 grit adds extra comfort where slopes are gentle.
What is a split-face finish?
Split face is the one finish that is not applied to the stone at all: the block is split along its natural grain, and the fracture itself becomes the finished face. Every piece breaks differently, so no two faces repeat — that natural, shadowed relief is why split face is the classic choice for wall cladding, ledger panels and cobble setts, where the stone should look raw from the quarry.
Can I order the same stone in different finishes?
Yes. The finish is applied during production, so most of our limestone and basalt formats can be supplied brushed, honed or bush-hammered to order. Tell us the finish you want when you request a quote and we will confirm availability for that size and thickness.
How can I see these finishes before ordering?
Order samples — they will be at your door within 3 working days, so you can judge each finish in your own light, wet it, and walk on it before committing to a full order.