Kandla Grey Smooth Sandstone · Sawn & Honed
India’s most popular grey — sawn straight off the block and honed to a smooth, near-uniform finish. Manufactured in Kota, and one of the highest-demand sawn products we export.
A saw-cut grey stone with a traditional look and a honed top surface — smooth, consistent, and calibrated to 20mm for the UK, or 1 inch and 1.25 inch for the USA and Canada.
About the Stone
Kandla Grey Smooth Sandstone — also sold as Kandla Grey Sawn Honed — is manufactured at our units in Kota and is one of the highest-demand sandstone products we make. It takes the same silver-grey stone that made Kandla Grey the world’s best-selling Indian sandstone, and processes it entirely differently: sawn straight off the block, cut to size, then honed with abrasive tools until the surface is flat, even and matte.
Honing does more than smooth the stone. Grinding away the unevenness removes the surface irregularity and produces a uniform texture, but it also enhances the colour — bringing out the natural character that a riven face keeps hidden. Typically you get a mosaic of soft mid-to-light greys with darker natural veining running through. Iron deposits within the stone sometimes produce a natural bronzing, and those darker grey and copper notes tend to become more apparent as the stone weathers.
Slabs are machine-cut on all four edges with a smooth finish and calibrated to a consistent thickness with a bevelled top edge — 20mm for the UK market, 1 inch and 1.25 inch for the USA and Canada. That consistency is what makes it a genuinely cost-efficient paving solution: less time on site, no shimming, and a finish that handles inclement weather in extremely hot and cold countries with equal ease.
Standard mixed packs cover approximately 18.5 m². Calibrated to 20mm for the UK; 1 inch and 1.25 inch for USA and Canada. Large-format 1200×600mm also available.
Sawn paving behaves differently to riven. A few honest notes that will save you trouble later.
Seal before you lay it. This is the single most important thing with any sawn stone. Sawing opens up the stone’s pores far more than natural splitting does, so Kandla Grey Smooth will take a stain quickly if it goes down bare. Seal all six sides — top, bottom and edges — with a quality impregnating natural stone sealer before installation, not after.
Use an SBR bond underneath. Paint neat SBR onto the underside and let it dry fully before laying. It creates a barrier between the sand-cement mix and the slab, which is what prevents the patchy dark staining that shows up weeks later and cannot be undone.
Sawn edges are sharper — handle with care. Unlike hand-dressed riven edges, machine-sawn edges are crisp and square. That is what gives sawn paving its clean contemporary line, but it also means the arrises can chip if slabs are dragged or knocked. Lift, don’t slide.
Order 10% extra. Standard for any natural stone — it covers cuts, breakage and any undercounted measurement.
The go-to for modern gardens — crisp jointing and consistent tone.
A sleek, uniform face for interior and exterior feature walls.
Sophisticated, low-maintenance and easy to keep clean when sealed.
Bullnose and square-edge steps to match the paving.
Care & Maintenance
Sweep with a soft broom and wash occasionally with a mild, pH-neutral detergent. Never use acidic cleaners on Kandla Grey Smooth — or any natural stone — as they cause permanent, irreparable damage to both the colour and the structure of the surface.
Because it is sawn, keep on top of spills rather than letting them sit; a honed surface shows water marking more readily than a riven one. Reseal every two to four years depending on exposure. Done properly, a good sealer does more than protect — it deepens the natural colour and keeps it reading rich for years.
Same stone, entirely different process. Riven is hand-split along the stone’s natural layers, giving a textured surface with hand-dressed edges and a traditional look. Smooth is sawn straight off the block and honed flat, giving a contemporary finish with machine-cut edges and more visible colour. Riven grips better (R11 vs R10); smooth looks sharper and is easier to keep clean.
Sawn and honed sandstone has a natural level of slip resistance and is not known to be slippery when wet, provided it is properly maintained. That said, riven surfaces do grip better. If maximum slip resistance is the priority — around a pool, or on a slope — riven Kandla Grey is the safer specification.
Yes, and before laying rather than after. Sawing opens the stone’s pores far more than splitting does, so unsealed sawn paving stains easily. Seal all six sides with an impregnating natural stone sealer, and use an SBR bond on the underside to stop the sand-cement mix marking the slab from below.
Calibrated 20mm for the UK market, and 1 inch or 1.25 inch for the USA and Canada. Other thicknesses are available to order. Calibration means consistent thickness across every slab — faster laying and a stronger finish.
More consistent than any other stone in our range — that is a large part of its appeal. Expect soft mid-to-light greys with darker natural veining. Iron deposits can produce occasional natural bronzing, and those copper notes may become more apparent as the stone weathers outdoors. It is still natural stone, so exact colours cannot be pre-determined.
Yes — it is one of the best sandstones for it. Honed Kandla Grey is popular for premium residential and commercial interiors. Seal it properly first, and it is sophisticated, hard-wearing and easy to maintain.
Tell us the thickness, quantity and destination — we'll come back with USD/sqft pricing and confirmed lead times. No agents in between.
These are the alternatives UK buyers most often weigh against Kandla Grey Smooth — including its own riven version.
Speak to our team for pricing, samples, MOQ details and shipping options to your country. Direct from India since 1996.
