In my previous article on stone for fireplaces I introduced the Travertine stone. In this article, I will be disgussing Portuguese Limestone, passing particular reference to Moca Creme and Semi Rigio – there are several others, but these seem to be the most popular!
Portuguese limestone is a beautifully smooth, almost white stone and as its name hints, 
is from Portugal.
Quality grades of Portuguese limestone have only slight veining within – blemishes found in other grades, should not be sold on the market!
Take a look at the image below!
As can be seen from the image above; the veining is minimal and thus produces a smooth creamy effect – a stone found with large blemishes, demonstrates a different kind of effect (rather like porridge with melted sugar within) not a blend that is commonly recognised as aesthetically pleasing!
Incidentally; I went to a stone show recently and a competitor had some of their products on show – I Have always wondered why they have been able to under-cut our prices? (we always use the highest quality stone)
And then…
It jumped out at me! Literally!
I suddenly noticed porridge-like blemishes within the sides of one of their show-pieces – there were no blemishes on the front of the fireplace, but down the sides they were hideous!!
What did they expect (I wondered)?
Maybe they expect their customers to have a permanent plant, or similar object placed conveniently next to the blemishes to cover them up!!
I could not believe my eyes – I now know how some of these online competitors can charge such low prices – be warned!
A quality fireplace!
A quality Portuguese Limestone Fireplace, should look like the one pictured here!
Of course, if cheap stone is what you are looking for then blemishes can be hidden, but it is not an ideal choice and could ruin the effect of your room!
I chose to put the this particular fireplace in as an example, as we fitted one last week. The durrington, of contemporary design and a great centre-piece to any room… The client was more than satisfied with the finished product and his room effect was wonderful!
I have to mention here; had he been given a fireplace that had the ‘porridge’ effect, then hey… It would probably have been a complete design disaster!
Some questions to ask sellers:
- Do you cut out all blemishes?
- Do you craft fireplaces from the same pieces of stone?
- Have you got a showroom where I can see your fireplaces on display?
- Have you got any testimonials from previous customers that I can read?
I hope this post is useful?
Hasta luego…
