Limestone Skirting Options

[phykell]

Hi,

My property's ground floor is tiled in 25mm limestone paving - each piece is fixed in size at 600mm in one dimension and is variable up to 900mm in the other. It's a bit rustic looking with heavily tumbled edges, etc. and having tried a piece of timber skirting, it's obvious that limestone skirting would be better if possible.

I've seen a few options online but nothing to really match my limestone - I've got plenty of the tiles left and I just wanted to ask if anyone can suggest how I'd be able to cut my own skirting. Is it feasible or is it something best left to a specialist? What kind of machine would I need to cut 25mm limestone and to then cut a chamfer (I'm guessing a rounded edge isn't really a DIY option)?

Thanks

 

[Mr Chibs]

You need something like a wet bridge saw to cut those pieces.

Battipav

I use mine for cutting old bricks into slips or thicker.

I have one, they are pricey, so rental would probably be the way to go, you can do chamfers on them, and with a decent blade it's not that time consuming or complex to do. If you are wanting routed edges, this is probably a bit more specialised, and a granite supplier might be a good start.

Surprisingly I shaped some quartz worktop with a small rounded edge, with a belt sander, then polished it up, it came up good.

You can get diamond coated sanding drums/shapers that fit on an angle grinder etc.

HTH?

 

[opps]

Limestone is pretty soft, you can dress it with an angle grinder but I think the diamond router bits for rounded edges are designed to be used in wet systems.

To cut the upstands, I would use a wet diamond wheel table with a fence. That will enable you to cut constant heights. You can then tilt the base to 45 degrees to cut a chamfer (not quite a rounded profile though.

I have been doing some work for a mate with lumpy, bumpy lime stone tiles, I just scribed the skirting to the floor.

Edit----- I was typing as @Mr Chibs was replying. We seem to be in accordance. Just to add, a zirconium belt on a sander will last longer, but cost more... My only concern about using a belt sander on the upstands is that it will be difficult to maintain a constant profile.

 

[phykell]

Thanks for the replies - I've contacted a couple of granite suppliers and will try and get them to use my limestone tiles to create samples - hopefully, they'll be able to advise on different profiles but I'm beginning to think that the standard square edge looks the best given that the tiles are such a rustic look anyway and that may mean that the DIY option will be much more cost-effective. I might get over-ruled on the profile though

 

[opps]

I think a rounded profile might look odd anyway. The tiles are lumpy'n'bumpy, the rounded profile will not, and cannot be consistent. Rounding bits only work when the material is uniform thickness.