subject: Choosing cast stone elements for building [print this page] Choosing cast stone elements for building
Stone is one of the hardest materials used in construction; though it is not as hard as metal it is far much better in construction. Stone can be easily sourced from quarries around the world and is found in various hardness degrees such that it is even ground to concrete. Cast stone elements in constructions range from pillars columns to the single building unit of a stone. Stone is not used haphazardly in construction, it has to be shaped and refined form it to be appealing to the eye as well as stable for construction.
One of the reasons why cast elements are favored in constructions is the fact that they are cheap. For one to get the same service that stone offers, other materials to replace the stone can be quite expensive. Since stone is one of the naturally occurring materials it can be easily acquired and thus the cost involved in acquiring it are not as high as in acquiring of other materials. Mining the building stone is also not as technical as mining of metal ores and not as environmentally degrading as cutting of trees for timber. The cost used in treating the stone for it to be conducive for building also doesn't involve lots of capital or machinery. All that is needed in making the stone conducive for building is mining and shaping the stone.
Weather elements also do pose a challenge to building matter. When it's cold, it is hard for the walls of a house not to transfer heat from the outside, and in addition when it is cold the same walls do provide a challenge in heat preservation. Stone elements might not be the best in regulating the temperatures between the external and the internal, but they do provide the community with a better chance of fighting off weather elements. Wind also is not a major destructor of the stone elements for building. A stone structure will be one of the best defenses against nature since it takes nature elements longer to degrade it and thus structures based on the naturally occurring element last longer.
When it comes to the actual putting up of the structure, stone based structures are easily put up. The stone based structures are far too easy to put up since the building element doesn't change or alter in the simplest of weather changes. Cast stone for building are much easy to put up a structure with when compared to other building materials. It is easy to join building elements of the structure with cement and motor when compared to other joining techniques. The process rarely involves power as compare to welding.
Cast stone elements are also quite easy to deal with when it comes to decorations. The elements might not be the best for decoration purposes but they do present one with great decorative aspects that might be hard to establish with other materials, and in addition the decorations will last more since the cast stone for building are far much more durable than other weaker elements.
