Cast Limestone vs Natural Limestone: A Comprehensive Guide
This article at a Glance
At Old World Stoneworks, we make our beautiful mantels and range hoods from manmade stone modeled after Indiana limestone. Also known as Bedford limestone, this limestone rock is the highest quality quarried limestone in America — prized for its uniform colour, fine grain, and exceptional workability.
Sometimes, it’s very hard to tell cast stone from real limestone. Case in point: The Egyptian pyramids. For centuries, everybody assumed they were built with blocks of solid limestone. But scientists have recently begun to think the pyramids were built with an early form of concrete composed of limestone, lime, clay and water. Scientists analyzing the pyramids found that they had a higher water content and other traits more consistent with cast stone than naturally occurring stone. At Old World Stoneworks, we say, if cast stone was good enough for the ancient Egyptians – whose work has lasted 4,500 years – it’s good enough for our range hoods and mantels.
Today we’ll look at the difference between natural and manmade limestone, and the pros and cons of each.
What is limestone?
Limestone is found all over the world. It’s a type of sedimentary rock — formed when mud, sand, and pebbles are cemented into layers, often in bodies of water. So what does limestone look like? It typically presents as a light grey to cream-coloured stone with a fine, relatively uniform texture, composed of the minerals aragonite and calcite alongside the bony fragments of ancient marine organisms. That consistent structure and composition is precisely what makes it such a reliable and beautiful building material.
What is cast stone?
Cast stone is an imitation stone made of Portland cement, chemical admixtures and aggregates such as quartz, limestone, sand or granite.
Cast stone is easier to work with than natural stone.
Is precast concrete the same as cast stone?
No. Precast concrete is simply colored concrete and is usually associated with a wet poured method that helps to create the clean edges and dense stone. It’s a construction product created by casting concrete in a mold and curing it in a controlled environment, rather than pouring it at the construction site.
CAST STONE vs LIMESTONE: Pros and cons
At Old World Stoneworks, we’ll be the first to admit that humans can’t improve on the beauty of natural stone. However, there are times when natural stone is best for the job, and times when cast stone works better.
First, let’s look at natural stone. Each stone is unique. Colors, patterns and veining vary from stone to stone. It’s durable and low maintenance, but natural stone requires more skilled labor for shaping and installing pieces, and the cost can be high.
The uniqueness of each natural stone is both a pro and con. With cast stone, the designer can control factors such as which aggregates to use and which pigments to add to determine the color. This versatility is a big plus. Cast stone is easier to install than natural stone and usually costs significantly less.
Our cast stone production
During our production process, we use a vibratory tamping method — mixing a dry blend of finely graded aggregates and silica sand with a bonding and hardening agent, then combining it with water in a mulling machine. The result is one of our cast stone products: dense, durable, and visually indistinguishable from natural limestone at a fraction of the cost. Every mantel and range hood we produce is made this way — built to the same standard, every time.
We love to make our customers happy with a beautiful product for an affordable price. Are you ready to upgrade your mantel or range hood? Call us today. We know you’ll be satisfied with our cast stone products.
