What’s your stone style?
It’s no easy feat selecting stone. There’s different colours, shapes, sizes and textures! I mean, it can take me 15 minutes to pick a nail colour, so i’ll forgive you if you’re feeling overwhelmed.
At Cronulla Pools, we look after most of the pool building process and can certainly give you a helping hand. But to us, the aesthetics of the pool are pretty personal so it’s best you take a good look at what’s around and make these decisions yourself.
We work with Emilio at Pacifico Stone - he imports stone pavers for our clients who are building their dream pools. He has over 20 years’ experience in the industry and works exclusively with natural stone. He’s also a legend.
We asked Emilio to break it down for us.
How to choose stone?
Coping pavers should be a minimum 300mm thickness so they finish the pool edge off nicely, aren’t sharp, won’t break and are easy to hold onto when you get out of the pool
The most common size paver is 600mm x 400mm
Stone can be manufactured to any size but consider lead times. If the material has to be manufactured and comes from Europe it could take up to 12 weeks.
The most popular outdoor stone types for around the pool area are Limestone, Travertine and Bluestone. Antique Marble and Tuscan Grey Marble are growing in popularity.
How to style stone?
Natural stone is treated to give it a unique finish that meets your design requirements. Here’s six ways your stone can be treated;
Honed - A smooth finish but not shiny. Be careful with honed finishes as some might not meet the slip rating for around a pool.
Tumbled – An antique finish. It’s been eroded through vibration and etched with acid to give it a rough and aged finish.
Sandblasted – Textured. Funnily enough as the name suggests, this stone has been blasted with tiny particles of sand to give it a rough finish.
Flamed – More textured than sandblasted. They use fire to essentially blow pieces of stone off the surface.
Brushed – Smoother than Flamed and Sandblasted. Acid is brushed over the surface breaking it chemically and mechanically to give the desired texture.
Natural split – Most commonly used for sandstone. A tool is used to chip pieces off a larger piece of stone, the pavers are then used as they are. Typically used for block walls.
And Emilio’s final tips?
Consider the stone you’d like early on in the design phase. Plans can be designed around the size of paver you’d prefer which will reduce wastage and save you money. And finally, always make sure you get your stone sealed!
Get in touch with Matt or Kate today to discuss your stone style.