Natural Stone Definitions
T
TCNA (Tile Council of North America)
An organization of manufacturers serving the ceramic tile industry, with an overlapping interest in the stone tile industry, particularly in installation. The TCNA publishes the Handbook for Ceramic Tile Installation and serves as the Secretariat for the ANSI accredited A108 and A118 committees. Established in 1945 as the Tile Council of America (TCA), it became the Tile Council of North America (TCNA) in 2003 to reflect its membership expansion to all of North America; Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Template
A pattern for a repetitive marking or fabricating operation.
Terrazzo
A flooring surface of marble or granite chips in a cementitious or resinous matrix, which is ground and finished after setting.
Texture
Surface quality of stone independent of color.
Textured Finish
Any of the rough surface finishes used in dimensional stone, selected for aesthetic reasons or as friction performance for walking surfaces.
Thermal Finish
Thin Stone
Dimensional stone units that are 2” (50mm) or less in thickness.
Threshold
A flat or profiled strip of stone projecting above the floor between the jambs of a door, often marks the transition between two different flooring materials. Also known as a “saddle.”
Tile
A thin modular stone unit, less than ¾” (20 mm) thick, and not exceeding 24” (600 mm) in its greatest dimension.
Tilt Shop Cart
A device used in stone fabrication areas to move slabs and/or cut-to-size pieces within the shop. The cart has a bed that tilts, allowing it to be loaded with a slab in a vertical orientation but unload the same slab in a horizontal orientation.
Tin Oxide
A powder used in the polishing of granite with a talc-like appearance and applied with a felt pad and slow speed buffer.
Tolerance
The permissible limit of variation from the specified dimension.
Tooled Finish
A finish that customarily has four, six, or eight parallel, concave grooves to the inch. See also Bush Hammered Finish.
Translucence
A characteristic of light-colored onyxes and some light-colored marbles allowing light to diffuse as it passes through.
Travertine
A variety of limestone formed by chemical precipitate from hot springs. Some varieties of travertine take a polish and are known commercially as marble. ASTM C119 classifies travertine in both the limestone and the marble groupings.
Travertine Marble
A type of limestone regarded as a product of chemical precipitation made from hot springs. Travertine is cellular, most often concentrated in thin layers that display a stalactic structure. Some polished travertine is sold as marble and may be classified as travertine marble under the class of “commercial marble.”
Tread
The framing or edging of openings and other features on the interior or exterior of a building, including baseboards, picture rails, cornices, and casings.
Trim
A flat stone used as the top (horizontal) walking surface on steps.
Tumbled Finish
A tumble finish can be created by using sand, pebbles, and water abrasion to create an aged appearance. This is a machine-process. Tumbled finishes can give the impression of having been walked on for centuries. It looks weathered and scuffed. The edges of the stone are rough and chipped. The tumbling process stimulates further aging after installation. Surface roughness can vary from slick (< 1/64”) to rough (1/4-2″), depending on the process.
