Choosing the right stone veneer for your particular situation can be a daunting task. Aside from choosing a color, there are multiple different styles to also choose from. There are generally three main styles of veneer stone: fieldstone, ledgestone, and river rock. They each provide their own unique look and different projects might prefer one style to the other.
Fieldstone is a very popular design for bigger projects. Fieldstone generally consists of larger, irregular shaped pieces brought together with slightly larger mortar joints compared to the other styles. A mortar joint of ½” is the standard used for these with slight leeway given either way. These larger stones and slightly wider mortar joints really allow fieldstone to spread across a surface making them ideal for larger projects such as siding a house or interior wall. The pieces are often as wide as they are tall, allowing them to populate evenly in all directions.
Ledgestone is another popular style, but is better suited for smaller projects. Ledgestone is most often made up of more rectangular shaped pieces that are wider than they are tall. Their mortar joints are generally smaller than their fieldstone brethren starting at almost unnoticeably tight joints up to ½” at the largest. They shine in smaller projects like accenting a fireplace or lining smaller retaining walls. Their more narrow and compact fit is very proficient at flushing out smaller surface areas with the color blend, providing the full veneer stone experience despite having less room to work with.
River Rock is not used quite as much as the other two styles, but brings an extremely unique flavor to your project. It is composed of rounded stones that resemble those found in rivers and streams. Their sizes vary with some having up to 12” width and height while others are as small as 3.” They come in circular shapes while others are more elongated, providing enough variety to not stagnate across the square footage. They are flexible in their mortar joints, being able to use wider joints like the fieldstone but also can use very tightly fitted joints like the ledgestone. River rock is very adaptable in that it can be used on almost any project effectively, but being that it is more uniform in the shapes, smaller projects are generally preferable; river rock fireplaces and pillars are extremely pleasing to the eye.
Each of these styles have many varieties within them; our suppliers do things many different ways, as some can have styles that seem like a blend between fieldstone and ledgestone such as Boral’s Ancient Villa Ledgestone. At Landis Block we can supply you with products from Boral’s Cultured Stone and Pro Stone, Pinnacle Stone, Quarry Cut Stone, and Natural Stone Veneer International, so there is no shortage of material to choose from for your project.