The NSS Gazette Informing the Thin Stone Community Volume V: September, 2009            Natural Stone Solutions Blends It's hard these days to make a decision - there are SO many choices available.  Just last week I went to the grocery store to pick up a tube of toothpaste.  I just wanted Colgate "Regular" - red package, white letters, brush your teeth, mouth on fire, nice and clean.  But I couldn't find that product!  Now there's "New Improved", "Cool Winter Gel", "Extra Fluoride", "Organic", and on and on and on.  It seemed like there must have been 100 different tubes on the shelf!  This is America, the land of freedom, opportunity, and many, MANY choices.  Stone is no exception.  There are many varieties and alternatives to choose from. Oddly enough, stone contractors, just like me at the grocery store, often have difficulty making a decision about what product to use from the many selections that are available.  Recently, teeth freshly brushed (Colgate Regular ... With Cavity Protection), I took a few minutes to visit several projects where beautiful and creative choices had been made to blend a few flavors of our NSS thin veneer. The first project was a job where the contractor used full thickness stone on one section and needed thin veneer on the other.  It was necessary to blend a few stones to match the thin and thick stone. Can you tell where the thick material and thin material have been used by looking at these pictures?  The mason chose to blend Chestertown™, Old Prairie™, and Statesville Squared™.  Have you figured out which stones are thick and thin?  The thin veneer was used around the circular portion of the house while the thick stone was used on the large wall with the fountain and the stairs.  The circular section was originally supposed to be clad with stucco but at the last minute the project was changed so that this part of the house would be integrated with the fountain and stairs.  I think they made the right choice! The next job I visited was an outdoor living area.  Let me say that these pictures don't do this spectacular job justice.  The mason had a very creative way of blending our NSS thin veneer.  On this project he used thin brick in some areas and combined Shawnee Squared™ and Shawnee Rustic Ledgestone™ with Gold Porter Rustic Ledgestone™. The three products combine to create a beautifule showpiece.  Additionally, the mason used bluestone that was carefully dry-laid  and cut to fit with no joints between the stones and travertine was incorporated into the walkways.  The homeowner told me that her family constantly uses this space, for cooking, dining, and enjoying the fire - it is their favorite part of the house and I can see why! The last job was a remodeling project at a church in Gladstone, NJ.  The church was constructed with native stone while the school next door was built with a more recently-quarried Pennsylvania sandstone. The contractor did a large bluestone paving job, restored steps and risers and added some free-standing stone walls.  By combining Buckridge Fieldstone™, Chestertown Fieldstone™, and Chardonnay Squared™, the contractor was able to retain the overall color range of the original stones used on these buildings. It goes to show that many choices, though they may overwhelm you at first, might not be such a bad thing!