Pennsylvania Blue Stone Decking & Natural/Real Stone Veneers

16 years ago

Has anyone ever used Pennsylvania Blue Stone for Decking or Coping? We're seriously considering it. What's insane is we live in TEXAS. I was wondering how HOT this beautiful natural stone gets. Any and all information would be very appreciated. How does it weather? Does it need to be sealed? Does it flake or break?

We're considering using the Blue Stone Select for the Patio and coping. We also like the Blue Stone Full. Does anyone have any comments about either or pictures?

We also have a large beam/wall that surrounds the pool area Originally we were going to use Robinson Thin Brick Veneer (School House) but now we've settled on a natural stone veneer for the outdoors. That material is made by East West Stone and the color is Sea Glass. The other stone veneer alternative was NSVI (Natural Stone Veneers International). Does anyone have experience with either? They both look wonderful but I wonder how they weather and hold up. If you're not familiar with Natural Stone Veneers you have to check these out. The products are very impressive. They appear easy to install.

Thanks for all the help! This site is da best! Amazing information and knowledge....

http://eastweststone.com/

http://www.nsvi.com/

http://www.robinsonbrick.com/products/thinbrick/colors.asp

We just signed for our Pool and we're going with the following:

Traditional Square (We have a very traditional East Coast Style Home)

3 to 7 Ft

26K Gallons

Medium Gray Plaster

Pool, Spa and Splash/Baby Deck

4x160 Pump (thx to you people)

Intellicom Converter

Jandy Controllers (Wireless and Touch, HA Module)

LXi Heater

Pentair Clean & Easy Filter

Delzone Ozone

Polaris 280 w/pump

Several Waterfalls, Fountains and Water Jets

Thanks Big Tex!!!!

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Comments (10)

rachelacey
16 years ago
Hi Big Tex! We have PA bluestone coping and it gets HOT!! We splash some pool water on it first if we want to sit on it. Our pool was just finished mid-July and closed in October (we're in Maryland), so I can't tell you about wear yet. We also used it on our stacked stone retaining wall and our raised beam. It really is a beautiful stone and we're very pleased with the way it looks.
big_tex
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Rachel,

Does the look outweigh the heat issues? Would you do it again? I'm very concerned about the heat...

Thanks!!!!
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When exterior materials of different coefficients of expansion are rigidly attached to one another, they will eventually fail. Therefore, the attachment detail of veneer materials not only needs to allow water to drain, it must allow the materials to move independently. This is why the original "brick veneer" system had a cavity between the structural wall and a wythe of brick 4" thick and the brick was supported on a ledge and attached to the wall with flexible ties. A stone veneer wall was the same with 4" thick stone. I've designed and built many buildings with this system. Designing a tile-like cladding for a wood framed wall is difficult even in warm, dry climates. Some good systems were described in this thread 5 years ago. I'm not sure why cultured stone would perform worse than natural stone except that it absorbs more moisture, however, the joints do that anyway and in the photos above, the cultured stone doesn't appear to have cracked.
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I really appreciate the real world feedback. I'm going to go ahead and put in some pipes for sprinklers but unfortunately its a lot more complex in my case because the way the patio is laid out I need to have the heads in the stone not just in the perimeter. Because of this I've looked at alternatives to pop up heads like using a long tube with holes in it that would flush the patio with a wash of water or using pressure misters that would kick out a fog. The problem I keep coming back is how to get the water onto the stone without wetting the people too badly. I've really got two patios. The lower one sounds like yours with chaise lounges and such down near the pool. Here the problem is getting the stone wet with all the chaises and chairs around. Wetting the people isn't such a big deal because they are probably not in street clothes anyway. The upper one is where the long dining table is. It can get wet, but I can't quite figure out how the water should get onto the stone without annoying the people. Some may be in bare feet and bathing suits but it only takes one in slacks with socks and shoes to kind of mess the whole thing. That's why I'm thinking of the sheet of water idea rather than sprinklers. With the sheet water just washes over the stone without getting up into the air. The problem is the stone is uneven so the amount of water needed to wash neatly over everywhere is not insubstantial, which brings me to the idea of the mist. If I can blow the mist across the stone then I have the advantages of the sprinklers without the problems of the washer (because the mist won't wet anyone). What I don't know is how far I can throw the mist. Luckily I have a long bench I can hide the mister tube under so I've got a low mounting place. I'll just have to run a bunch of pipes so I can do anything I guess. Any suggestions?
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Wow thanks Omega for the feedback. The contractor is qualified— he’s the one who installed the flagstone 15 years ago right before the former owners foreclosed on this house and it fell into disrepair for about a decade. This particular contractor is well known in the area for being highly reputable and also for being expensive but I do believe that you get what you pay for in life. I just visited one of the contractor’s other pools to look at the Pebble Sheen color and the pool owner told me that he spent $125,000 on the natural stone in the pool deck alone. So this contractor certainly knows how to use natural stone and I am betting he fields many more requests than he lets on. I am used to this – I got the same song and dance when we were installing our foyer floor— and master bathroom shower in our old house. It is easier for contractors to use simulated materials and they get the added benefit of the upcharge for obtaining the simulated materials that consumers cannot obtain on their own. I will admit that I am not a contractor but I strongly suspect that this is the case— it’s easier for them to install and they get some financial benefit from it. Why else would they push it so hard? With home renovation, there are enough alternatives for labor that I could find someone to install real marble at a reasonable cost. With a pool, there are so few options. There is really only one other contractor in town with a comparable reputation and I can’t even get him to call me back. With a bid of nearly $30,000, one might think another contractor would be interested in the job. I know it’s not a whole new pool installation but, come on, $30,000? I am reminded of runway model Linda Evangelista who once said “I don’t even get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day.” I appreciate your suggestions about finding a contrasting stone. I am definitely going to look into that. Because the contractor has shown me very few natural stone options, I think I’m going to go ahead and start ordering samples from websites myself. Would you discourage me from doing that? Are there any particular website that you recommend? I’m not even sure if I’m allowed to ask that on this forum...
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Those are nice photos. Thank you. They do achieve the look we are going for. The contractor just suggested ipe wood to us. It’s a Brazilian teak. We are now about to grab a sample. Contractor is still suggesting a 1x1 blue tile for the hot tub spillover, with the stone In other places, (and it’s similar to a stone you have shown here)...which scares me a little (blue next to brown stone can be blah to me). But maybe the ipe wood will tie it all together. Our contractor/designer is good, don’t get me wrong. But still, not every pool every designer does meets my aesthetic, so I am worried about agreeing to soemthing I will then not like. Back to “posting what I do like,” the problem is that I haven’t found hardly any photos with raised areas that mix tile and stone that I like. But I like both of those! So thank you! Victory. That wasn’t the intention with the small photos; those are unintentional. It’s just a screenshot....I am a millennial, but I stink at using technology.
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huskyridor
16 years ago
If your in the Houston area I have some excess Bluestone pallets in both patio 1 to 1 1/2" thick and tumbled 1 1/2" to 2" thick. I think it's 5 pallets total.
It's from a pool buyer who changed his mind on his choices.
I never pay restock on items that I need to return. I wait until another buyer will take it or sell it for what I have into it, most likely less than what you'd pay for it.

If your interested send me an e-mail
kelly@atlantispool.com

See ya,
Kelly
big_tex
Original Author
16 years ago
Austin...

Is it select bluestone or full color? Why did the buyer bail on bluestone?

Thanks!
huskyridor
16 years ago
quote" Why did the buyer bail on bluestone? "quote

Because I'm a Wussy and let them change to Oklahoma multicolor.
Most of my competitors won't let a buyer out of his choices. I have buyer compassion when it comes to changes. If I'm told before the work starts on tile and coping they can make a change without additional charges as long as the product is of equal or lesser value.
At any given time I have lots of pallets of rocks behind the shop so I really don't lose any sleep over it.
I'm not sure if it's select or full color, heck I couldn't even tell you if it's from Pennsylvania.

I'll be going to the shop this afternoon and will take a digital camera to snap some shots of the pallets.

See ya,
Kelly
rachelacey
16 years ago
BT,

I'd definitely use it again - it's a beautiful natural stone. But I wouldn't consider it for decking because of the heat. Ours is not sealed and even with a swg it appears to be holding up fine.
big_tex
Original Author
16 years ago
Rachel,

I'm offically nervous... I'm in Texas where it gets HOT.... Any suggestions on what looks as good but isn't as hot or dark?

Thanks for all the info!!!
rachelacey
16 years ago
I've seen some absolutely beautiful pictures of light colored coping and decking on this site made of travertine. Maybe do a search here for that or post asking for pictures. I can't remember whose pools they were but, I'm telling you, they looked fabulous and I'm pretty sure that would be cooler just because of the light color. I don't think you need to seal it either which is a plus.

R
Ed Hill
6 years ago
Does anyone still have access to sell reasonably priced Blue Stone..?
PRO
Quarry Mill
5 years ago
Ed,

We have bluestone and would be happy to help. Thank you,

Brandon

Pennsylvania Blue Stone Decking & Natural/Real Stone Veneers

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Pennsylvania Blue Stone Decking & Natural/Real Stone Veneers

Comments (10)

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