Modified Stone for Dummies

Nope, no "sharp edges"

A lot of the wackier prose coming out of the Demand Media "contributors" back in the days when it was only eHow.com was the result of writers desperate to collect as many fifteen-dollar stipends as possible and damn the need for accuracy. DMS¹ enabled this behavior by paying its "editors" to concentrate on style instead of substance, carefully checking submissions to be certain they used the right units of measure without verifying accuracy. The result was a site replete with half-baked material, material like "What Is Modified Stone?" – a Janet Beal post now found at Leaf niche site HomeSteady.com.

A sensible person writing for a less... demanding... website would define modified stone as a more formal synonym for "crushed stone." Beal never got around to that, although she did at one point mention that,

"Modified stone... begins as big rocks and boulders. Rocks are mechanically crushed and marketed in a number of sizes, numbered from small to large."

Beal seemed unaware that the source for modified stone isn't necessarily "big rocks and boulders," it's usually rock blasted out of quarries. Beal spent a good portion of her post on the difference between gravel and modified stone, explaining that "gravel is what modified stone is not" before immediately confusing the matter by saying that,

"Aggregate rock, river rock and shale are among several modified stone products available for residential use."

We doubt most vendors consider river rock a modified stone, and also doubt that many vendors sell much shale. Slate, perhaps, but not shale (no, Janet, they aren't the same thing). Of course, no eHow / Hunker post would be complete without misinformation and misinterpretation. Beal's contribution to the stupidification of the internet included such statements as,

"Crushed rocks are not rounded or smoothed. Their sharp edges help them cling to each other and the area in which they are placed..."

...which is a bizarre interpretation of reality. Indeed, crushed rock isn't rounded or smoothed, but to claim that the shapes have "sharp edges" calls to mind an image of broken glass, not crushed rock. The fact is that the irregular shape of crushed stone allows it to compress more readily than smooth, rounded shapes. The grains don't "cling to each other," their irregular shape allows for them to interlock like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. You can't do that with a bag of marbles.

We won't bother to point out to our Dumbass of the Day that "gravel" is actually a size designation...

¹ We like to call Demand Media Studios, now called "Leaf Group," DMS because it fits so well with our unofficial motto, "You can't spell 'dumbass' without 'DMS'!"

DD - ROCKS