Windowsill silliness

Having had to remove some of the window sills, we had to decide what to replace them with and whether to do the same for all the windows. To have somewhere to start I was looking for something a bit like our tiles and in our first visit to a DIY store we’d settled on Jura. However, once it turned out that we’d need custom cuts, we decided we might as well go straight to a stonemason.

This meant getting up “early” on Saturday and driving to different stonemasons: one that I’d found on the internet and one recommended by Mr Pulst.

We got to the first place shortly before it was closing and were given s choice between Jura and Travertine. But the guy didn’t seem that enthusiastic.

Next stop Haus der Steine, in Heerdt. Housed in an unprepossessing office in an industrial state this is well worth a visit as it not only has lots of stone, but also a museum for fruit machines and toy cars!

We arrived with our sample tile and proceeded to learn how little we knew about stone. It’s most likely that the window sills here were Belgian bluestone, which goes from blue to black depending on how it’s finished.

We quickly decided against Travertine because it tends to need filling, which makes it less suitable for window sills. In the office we were both tending towards a Spanish marble but then we went on a trip round the museum and into the warehouse which has a staggering collection of stone.

Undoubtedly, the stars were two pieces of blue green marble cut from the same block that were destined to become work surfaces in a kitchen. Works of art.

Looking at various bits of marble, granite and sandstone in different finishes we were both a little overwhelmed by the choice but right at the end were shown something called Matrix: a dark grey stone with an uneven surface. Carefully polished this gives you something to look at but doesn’t demand your attention.

Okay, so now we know what kind of stone and finish we only need to work out the sizes, including how far the sills should stick out into the room and whether we should also have sides…

Several e-mails and calls later and we’ve ordered them and, with luck, they’ll be ready next week!