Chosen by the Romans to build Porta Nigra at Trier, the basalt with its dark almost black colour is a material that possesses particular features that distinguishes itself from any other material.
Technical characteristics
Basalt is an extrusive rock with a porous appearance. Remnants from the gas bubbles during the stone formation fill its surface with tiny cavities. Although this porosity, the rock's frost resistance is not affected, as well as the water doesn't penetrate deep on the rock.
A negative aspect may be the hardness of the rock, making it hard to harvest and not as flexible to work as building material as other rocks. However nowadays with the help of innovative techniques, the rock can be worked ina variety of ways. It can be polished, sacrificing the stone's true character. The colour is typically dark grey with blue, green and brown hues. There is also a red variant with the presence of free iron.
Applications
Basalt lava is amazing for cladding for façades do to its weather resistance. Besides from cladding for façades, basalt lava can also be used for steps and threshols due probably to its "tough" characteristic, and in addition its surface its never slippery when wet because of the cavities.
Colour: Grey, blue
Glossiness: Glossy, satin, matt
Translucence (%): 0 – 20 – 40 – 60 – 80 – 100
Texture: Sharp, medium, dull
Hardness: hard, soft, despressible
Temperature: warm, medium, cool
Odour: Strong, moderate, none
Acoustic opacity: good, moderate, poor
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