Natural stone is a corner stone of modern landscaping design, particularly in Southern Queensland and we absolutely love it. But why do we love it? The reasons are varied from the uniqueness of each piece, variety of colours and shapes through to the maintenance.
To understand a little more about natural stone, it is made from real stone quarried from the earth. Natural stone features imperfections and textures that have taken mother earth thousands of years to perfect which makes every one of them unique with its own story.
A lot of people opt to use manufactured cultured stone which is a man-made product designed to resemble natural stone. This product is typically made of coloured concrete and aggregate materials that have been pressed into moulds.
The maintenance cost of natural stone is generally less than the man-made product as it can easily be pressure cleaned. Most manufactured stone won’t be able to withstand high pressure or manual scrubbing so is more labour intensive.
Many natural stone products are generally less porous than manufactured stone. Manufactured stone can deteriorate over time, especially when exposed to natural elements such as rain, sunlight, dirt and wind.
One of the main differences between natural stone and manufactured stone is its performance under sunlight. As manufactured stone is typically tinted with a paint, the colours will fade and discolour after being exposed to light over a few years. This is particularly the case in outdoor applications. If colour is a driving factor in choosing a material, natural stone should always be your first preference.
Natural stone, comes in many different colours, textures and sizes and is well suited to outdoor applications such as Paving, Pool Coping, Tiles, Feature Walling, Retaining & Steppers.
Here at Aesthetic Pools and Landscapes, we take the time to educate our clients on the importance of good material selections, to ensure they are spending less time and money on maintenance in the future.
