Blocks, slabs or cut-to-size: what to actually order
The three ways stone is bought, when each makes sense, and how ordering the wrong one costs money and look.
Slabs: the default
Gangsawn slabs (usually 2 or 3 cm) are how most stone is sold and stocked. You select the actual slabs, which matters for veiny material. Good for worktops, vanities, cladding and anything where you want to see the exact piece before it is cut.
Blocks: for control and continuity
Ordering a whole block (or reserving consecutive slabs from one block) lets you book-match veining across a large wall or run a single material through a whole project with continuity. It is how you avoid a patchwork of mismatched lots on a big job.
Cut-to-size: shaped to the drawing
Cut-to-size is finished pieces made to your dimensions — treads, copings, vanity tops, facade panels — delivered ready to install. It moves fabrication to the source (often cheaper and more precise) but needs accurate drawings and a source that can hold tolerances.
The book-matching rule
For dramatic materials (Calacatta, Arabescato, Portoro), decide book-matching at the block stage. You cannot recover a mirrored feature wall from slabs bought piecemeal — the offcut and the look both depend on selecting from one block early.