Inexpensive Alternatives to Natural Stone Tiles

Natural stone is exquisite, but it comes with a similarly impressive price tag. Take advantage of these inexpensive alternatives to natural stone that should have awe-inspiring appeal of their own.

Natural stone, tiles, bricks, and slabs are all reasonable materials to improve your home with. We place patios made of stone slabs, crazy paving, and mono-blocked bricks. Our driveways might be textured brick, or we could use brickwork around our fireplace. From floors to walls to worktops, we use stone throughout our home. The downside? Stone is expensive and not everyone can afford to keep up with the Jones’s… or the Kardashians, as the case may be.

This article features favorites natural stone, brick, and slab alternatives, scoured from across the internet. Here are the top picks for natural stone alternatives within your home.

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Alternatives to Expensive Natural Stone

Instead of splashing out on products you cannot afford, try these similarly brilliant but less expensive alternatives.

Choose Stamped Concrete

Hiring a stamped concrete contractor allows companies to create imitation natural stone finishes using concrete. With a clever trick of the eye, stamped concrete features whichever pattern you choose, cast in concrete instead of an expensive building material. For example, you could have a beautiful solid brick flooring or even luxurious tiles in your home’s exterior areas. Best of all, stamped concrete costs on average half of the price you would pay for the natural stone alternative. That’s a big saving which increases the larger your space is.

Exposed Concrete for a Rustic, Industrial Look

You could just strip your interior design idea right back down to its bare bones. Leaving finished, smooth concrete as a floor or wall surface can fit in brilliantly with the right look. Opting for an industrial, nineties factory themed room is cheap as chips and looks like you intended to create something warehouse based. Look at this article to achieve a rustic, industrial style kitchen, and don’t forget about the concrete.

Try out Cultured Stone

Cultured stone, also called Manufactured Stone, happens when manufacturers pour cement into stone molds. Although not a true natural stone, you are simply speeding up a process that takes millions of years. Cementation is a naturally occurring proves… just not like this. The beauty of cultured stone lies in the uniformity. Each stone is the same. You can use them in the garden, in the driveway, and even in roughcasting for the outside of buildings.

Or Veneer Stone

You can use veneer stones instead of real natural stone. Veneer stones are another name for Cultured Stones. Manufacturers might call it faux stone or engineered stone, too.

Use a Composite Material

Composite materials can look like whatever you wish them to look like. Composite materials comprise of other aggregates, sometimes with plastic or metal mixed in. Manufacturers press these materials into shape and use the blocks, slabs, boards, or bricks, to build with. Mud bricks, fences, cladding, and even boards for your deck, can all occur in this cheaper material.