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Natural Stone vs. Manufactured Stone

Natural Stone vs. Manufactured Stone

Once, the only way to bring home the gorgeous look of stone was by using natural stone. While the look was great, there were a handful of practical challenges that made experienced contractors and homeowners alike clamor for a better and smarter alternative — that’s where manufactured stone came in. We’re breaking down natural stone vs. manufactured stone to highlight the differences between them.

At Affinity Stone, our signature product is a line of manufactured stone veneer siding that offers jaw-dropping style backed by several smart advantages. If you’re trying to decide which product you’d like on your home or which product you’d like to offer to your customers, we’re breaking the options down right here. Learn about natural stone vs. manufactured stone — and shop Affinity Stone today!

Manmade Stone vs. Natural Stone: Advantages

Natural stone siding is a product that comes from building panels out of quarried stone. While it is a natural product, many designers, professionals, and homeowners are choosing to select the manufactured product since it is easier to work with, longer lasting, and is oftentimes more attractive. We’re breaking down the key differences between manmade stone vs. natural stone right here:

  • No Mortar Needed — One of the things setting manmade stone vs. natural stone apart is how you install them on a home. Affinity’s manufactured stone panels can be securely screwed into any type of wall. However, natural stone must be mortared in place. Firstly, this can be something of a disadvantage as mortaring takes far more time than stone panel installation. Secondly, mortar can drip on previously installed stones and make a mess on what should be a pristine stylistic focal point!
  • Lighter Weight — Practicality is a huge point for the manmade product in the natural stone vs. manufactured stone debate. The lightweight advantages of manufactured stone sums this up nicely: not only is it far easier to install, but you can install it in more places without worrying about supports to hold up the heavy stones.

    See unique ways to use stone for accents.
  • No On-Site Stone Mason Needed — Working stone is an art that takes both extraordinary skill and a careful detail eye — that is what accomplished stone masons do. To make real stone look truly gorgeous, you need a mason to handle your project. However, stone masons are rare, expensive to hire, and their schedules are very busy. For the look of a mason-worthy project, many people are opting for manmade stone veneer panels.

    At Affinity Stone, we employ an experienced stone mason to consult and work on producing our realistic-looking panels.
  • More Control Over the Style — When comparing manmade stone vs. natural stone, you’d expect the natural product would look better. However, MANY people prefer the manmade look. With natural stone, you get what comes out of the quarry — sometimes great and sometimes bland. Our manufactured stone is always gorgeous, comes in a greater color variety, and is dependable as well! This can make matching manufactured stone to your home much easier.
  • Can Install in All Weather — When installing stone veneer on an exterior, you want to be able to work in all weather. The screw-on installation of our product makes this easy. However, natural stone is very weather dependent with both rain and temperature potentially getting in the way.

manmade stone vs natural stone

How Affinity Builds Differently

At Affinity Stone, our goal is to build stone that performs well and looks as good as natural stone — if not better! There are a few elements of our manufacturing process that makes our siding stand out. When arranging the manufactured stone pieces in each panel, we vary the arrangement, creating an organic looking pattern. If the pattern is too perfect or too much the same, it stands out as looking unnatural.

When it comes to the coloring process, the base color we use penetrates all the way through each piece of concrete. This creates deep and beautiful color profiles. While each panel is different in the way it is arranged and colored, the shade will always be the same — except for the pure-white Glacier color. This means that your panels will all exactly match each other and that what you see in our gallery is accurate to the exact shade of color you’ll get.

See some great projects right here!

Shop Our Manufactured Stone Today

This is just our take on the natural stone vs. manufactured stone conversation — and we’ve heard these points from countless satisfied customers, too. If you’re interested in shopping Affinity Stone, you’re in the right place. The best way to bring it home is to find your nearest store that carries our product — enter your zip code right here.

If we aren’t being carried by anyone in your area yet, please reach out directly by calling us or by filling out the form at the bottom of this webpage.

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