Cast Stone is a highly refined architectural precast concrete stone manufactured to simulate natural cut stone. It is the most aesthetically refined form of concrete known today. Cast stone is used as a masonry product to provide architectural trim and ornamentation on buildings and other structures.

History of Cast Stone

Cast Stone was first used in its most rudimentary form by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. The earliest known use of Cast Stone dates back to 1138 A.D. and was seen at Carcassonne, France, which contains the finest remains of medieval fortification in Europe. This Cast Stone mixture stayed virtually unchanged until an English bricklayer, Joe Aspidin, patented a Cast Stone formula in 1824 England. This modern version of Cast Stone became very popular in England around 1900 and in America in 1920. Now, Cast Stone has evolved into a highly refined mixture of graded aggregates and cement, and is almost indistinguishable from real cut stone.

Since the early 1920s, Cast Stone has earned widespread acceptance in the architectural community as a suitable replacement for many masonry materials and for all types of natural cut building stones. Cast Stone's most unique feature, aside from being extremely durable, is its versatility in color and dependability of texture. Cast Stone allows for limitless color matching, which is not an option when using natural stone. Integral steel reinforcement allows the use of Cast Stone in places where natural stone products are not practical.

How does Cast Stone compare to Natural Stone?

Cast Stone looks very much like natural stone. Upon close examination, the finish of Cast Stone looks like limestone. This dense finish is more resistant to weather and dirt and the fine aggregates retain the granular texture through decades of exposure to the elements. The character of Cast Stone, is similar in color, texture, and appearance to a good grade of natural cut limestone, but is stronger, since strength can be controlled through the manufacturing process and is more impervious to water, weather, and dirt. By controlling the proportion of white and /or gray cement, manufactured or natural sands, carefully selected crushed stone or well-graded natural gravel, mineral coloring pigments, Cast Stone can be made to simulate perfectly many other natural cut building stones, such as brownstone, sandstone, bluestone, granite, slate, keystone, travertine, and others.

Technical Features:

Cast Stone architectural elements such as columns, balustrades, door & window surrounds and other ornamental and decorative features are produced with a meticulously proportioned mix design. Mix design consists of Portland cement conforming ASTM C150 combined with carefully graded and washed natural gravel and sands, crushed limestone, marble, granite or quartz conforming ASTM C33. Coloring pigment conforming to ASTM C979, and admixtures are added to achieve desired appearance while maintaining durable physical properties (7,000 psi) which exceed most natural-cut stones. The water absorption level is generally 5%.