Paving Comparison: Limestone
Natural limestone has been a key building material throughout the ages and used all over the world – even the Egyptian pyramids are made from this stone.
What does it look like?
Photos of limestone paving used in gardens designed by ALDA Landscapes.
Style
Visually appealing limestone has a less riven texture than Sandstone. One of its attractions as a paving product is its strength and durability – it isn’t as porous for example as its Sandstone competitor.
Surface Finish
Limestone paving comes in three types of surface finish:
- in a hand cut finish
- in a tumbled surface finish and edges
- in a honed or sawn surface finish and edges
The tumbled finish is probably considered to be most suited in a more traditional garden design whereas the sawn surface finish is perfect in providing a modern clean cut look in a contemporary garden. This is particularly true of the ‘black sawn edge’ limestone paving, once laid it immediately creates a striking modern look to a garden design.
Colours
Limestone paving comes in a variety of colours for example:
- Cotswold Yellow limestone
- Antique Yellow limestone
- Kota Blue limestone (see photo top right)
- Black Sawn Edge limestone
(All the above can be sourced from Nigel Belcher – our main supplier of paving).
Maintenance
If low maintenance is a high priority for you when choosing paving for your patio, limestone would be a good choice. As previously mentioned its natural strength and low porous characteristics keep it looking good throughout the years.
Cost
For all its qualities limestone is generally considered to be a reasonably priced paving product – however it is usually more expensive than Indian Sandstone.