In the 4th and final part of our bespoke stone blog we are going to talk about packaging. Its probably a boring subject for most people but I find packaging an absolutely fascinating subject. All natural stone paving is potentially fragile so extreme care must be taken with the packaging. In particular bespoke and sawn paving needs to be thoroughly packaged, not just because its a premium product but because particularly with bespoke paving it can take weeks or months to make replacements for damaged materials.
I have spent countless hours with my staff and suppliers discussing ideas of how packaging can be improved. There is nothing more frustrating than a piece of stone getting damaged in transport due to poor packaging, especially bearing in mind all the thought and hard work that's gone into creating that piece of stone. Sawn sandstone & limestone are more susceptible to chips due to the nature of how they are cut. When stone is sawn, the edges are very sharp and this means that they can easily be chipped or damaged. One precaution we have taken against this is to slightly charmer the edges of our sawn sandstone. Stone steps and coping stones are also edge profiled for the same reason
One thing we have started to do with our bespoke sawn paving is to put 20mm thick foam packers in between very stone. This is done to prevent chipping which often occurs when stones rub against each other during transport and is probably one of the most common forms of damage to stone.
We also layer thick foam sheets in any areas where wood from crates or pallets has the potential to rub against the stone.
Another very common issue with natural stone paving is nail damage from the crates. In stone crates you will often find nails protruding. These nails will cause damage to the stone, especially from the rust which can leach intro the stone. On our sawn sandstone crates, any exposed nails are covered with 20mm thick high density foam
Edge profiles are applied to stone. They improve the look and reduce the chance of damage
20mm foam packers are inserted between every piece of stone produced in our bespoke department
Stone packed up and safely on the racks to avoid any damage
