Homes exist to make us feel proud every time we step inside, so it’s no wonder stone cladding, with its attractive appearance and high desirability, has remained popular for decades. When faux stone veneers first appeared, they started to take natural stone’s pole position in the market for reasons including cost and versatility. Now, natural stone cladding(thin stone veneer or stone panel) is often the preferred option once again, but what’s the difference between the two? And, which will work best for your home?

Natural stone cladding is made from real, quarried stone sliced into thin pieces to make veneers, whereas faux stone veneer is manufactured mostly from concrete with a few extra materials to convey the image of natural stone. At first glance, the two products seem almost indistinguishable, depending on the quality. However, they are completely different in many ways.

At RS DECOR STONE, we are proud to be a professional stone factory from Northern of China more than 15 years, handling various quarried stone from Northern of China for manufacture high-quality natural stone cladding, and our products add a touch of luxury and elegance to any home.

However, we understand that you need to know the difference between our biggest contender before deciding which to purchase, which is why we’ve detailed the pros and cons of each in this article.

Faux stone was born in an era when natural stone could only be sliced to around four inches thin. At the time, natural stone was expensive to extract from the ground as well as transport because of its heavy weight. Faux stone, being a thin layer of a treated concrete look-a-like, was much cheaper than natural stone, making it more accessible to the masses.

The natural stone industry soon found a way to compete with its new rival, with state-of-the-art saws able to slice stones to a fraction of the size previously possible. Thanks to this new cutting-edge slicing technique and advances in the quarrying industry, natural stone cladding(thin stone veneer or stone panel) in RS DECOR STONE is now similarly priced to high quality faux stone veneers.

Additionally, the installation and transportation costs of both natural and faux stone are relatively similar. Faux stone is a little more lightweight than its natural counterpart, but natural stone veneers are still light enough be transported without footings. Faux stone may be a little easier to install than natural veneers, but that’s not an issue if you allow us to do the hard work.

Quality is the biggest determining factor in price regarding both natural and faux stone cladding, the latter of which can be found cheaper if you’re willing to settle for a mass-produced appearance, which neatly brings us to our next point.

Admittedly, high-end faux stone looks almost indistinguishable from natural stone cladding at first glance, especially from a distance. However, if you buy cheap faux stone attempting to save cash, you won’t have something that’s truly unique.

Faux stone veneers are made by pouring concrete into pre-made designs, and if you look carefully at a complete wall, you’ll probably find two or more identical stones. If you purchase expensive faux wall cladding – which can, surprisingly, cost sometimes more than natural stone in certain situations – the stones may have been hand-painted to achieve a unique look.

However, there’s no reason to pay attention to such details with natural stone cladding because each stone is hand-picked, completely unique, and cut by hand before being put into place to achieve the desired pattern. It’s impossible to slice faux stone because that would reveal the ugly inner concrete beneath the paint.

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The Verdict