Is Limestone Good For Building Your House?
Limestone is actually good for building your house’s interior and exterior walls, countertops, and floors. Despite the many advantages, limestone also has a number of disadvantages as a building material as we shall see later on. In this post, we shall show you how to use limestone when building your house and how it can make your house stand out.
Your choice of construction material plays a huge role in how your home would look like. If you are tired of concrete, cement, wood, or steel? Limestone could be what you’ve missed out on.
Limestone has been in use as a construction material since ancient times. It was used to build some of the world’s architectural masterpieces such as The Great Sphinx in Egypt, The Empire State Building in New York City, and Kingston the Limestone City in Ontario Canada. That said, let us first explore the advantages and disadvantages that come with using limestone to build your house.
Advantages Of Using Limestone To Build A House
This material is well-loved and is becoming the new trend for builders and owners who are looking for materials exceptionally versatile, durable, sustainable, unique, and very beautiful.
1. Limestone gives your house a great cooling effect
As a good conductor of heat, limestone gives the interiors a natural cooling effect. It helps save on air-conditioning costs by keeping electricity bills low. Limestone for your house is very eco-friendly.
2. Limestone is a durable building material
Limestone is highly resistant to weather elements. It may naturally corrode over time, but only superficially. You can expect the structural integrity of your house to remain intact for a long time and therefore avoid extra costs for repairs or replacements. For instance, The Washington National Cathedral, The Lincoln Memorial, and Parthenon are predominantly made of limestone and have stood for years.
3. Limestone is Versatile
Most limestone types have an off-white color, which would match well with other colors. This provides more freedom in your choice of accents, decor, and other home features. But if off-white is not for you, you might also go for the brown or black variants.
4. Outstanding Aesthetic Appeal
Limestone brings about a high sense of sophistication levels. It is a good mix to match and mix with different tints and style variations to create a classy and unique interior with a pop of color. A good example is pairing the smoke tones of the Twilight Grey variation with a dark base of the Ebano Black type. The result is an elegant dark and light combination.
What is limestone used for in building a house?
The usage and applications of limestone are endless according to the advantages discussed above. Limestone may be used as the main construction material for the entire home, or just for a specific area in your house like countertops, floor tiles, and interior wall panels among other uses covered below.
- Countertops and fireplace hearth – With the heat-resistant property of limestone, it would make a perfect material for the hearth and countertop.
- Exterior patios and landscape pathways – It is also weather-resistant, making it a great choice for the outdoor area.
- Floor tiles and steps – The natural beauty of limestone also makes it an awesome material for flooring. You might not require additional decorative flooring features with this at home.
- Interior wall panels – Limestone has superior durability which might also be what you need to achieve a high level of structural stability for your wall panels.
Disadvantages Of Using Limestone To Build A House
Below are the disadvantages of using limestone to build your house.
- Limestone is susceptible to chemical erosion – as much as limestone is durable, it can erode when exposed to acidic conditions. This shall necessitate repairs and reduce the quality of your house.
- Limestone is porous and therefore can allow water to seep through. This might lead to cracks, especially during winter.
- Expensive to transport – limestone is bulky and is expensive to transport especially when the distance between the source to your construction site is long.
- Limestone is costly to maintain since it degrades over time and shall need re-painting, sealing, and more to keep your house good-looking and safe.
- Limestone is mined from quarries that cause degradation of the environment.
Inspirational Limestone House Designs
The versatility of limestone when building may come in handy in case the below limestone house designs inspire you.
1. Medieval European Limestone House Design
This is a great theme to follow if you would like your home to exude a regal aura in European castles, like the magical Hogwarts-like interior in Harry Potter movies or the majestic facade of Minas Tirith Castle in the Lord of the Rings.
2. Egyptian Limestone House Design
The Egyptian home style is famous for its structural stability. The use of limestone is a natural cooling mechanism meant to maintain a comfy and cool temperature in hot conditions.
3. Contemporary Limestone House Design
The natural beauty of limestone could bring a touch of elegance to the typical flat roofline and flat-face exteriors of a contemporary home style.
4. Mediterranean Limestone House Design
Consider having limestone for the courtyard, then have water features with a stone base. You may also consider using roof tiles and limestone for the walls to create a chic Mediterranean beach house.
5. Victorian Limestone House Design
A Victorian home is usually huge and imposing. It typically uses limestone for its foundation chimneys, wrap-around porches, bay windows, turrets, and balconies.
6. Cottage Limestone House Design
A cottage home takes inspiration from the cozy cottages scattered around the French or English countryside. It usually has plank siding and shingles, and limestone interior walls and flooring.
Other Uses Of Limestone As A Building Material
- Limestone is used to make Portland cement, it’s actually the highest ingredient in cement accounting for about 70% of all the materials used.
- Used in asphalt paving as an ingredient
- Limestone is used as a constituent material for paving roads
Is Limestone Good For Building Your House? FAQs
Quarrying limestone is advantageous in that it is used as a construction material for making cement, house exterior and interior walls, and countertops. However, limestone quarrying is disadvantageous since it causes environmental degradation, noise pollution, and poor landscapes after mining.
Yes, limestone is good for house foundations, especially for flooring. Limestone tiles can make a warm house.
Limestone is good for construction. It can be used for making foundations for laying tarmac, making cement, tiles, countertops, and other parts of the exterior and interior of houses.
The types of limestone for building are oolitic limestone and dolomitic limestone.
Limestone structures last for very long periods. A good example is the Great Sphinx in Egypt.
Limestone is not good for building since it is porous and susceptible to erosion when exposed to acidic chemical elements.
Limestone is not expensive to build with compared to other building materials such as granite and marble. Part of the reasons which makes limestone cheaper to build with is its abundance existence.