It’s no secret that stone columns can give your home immediate curb appeal, but did you realize they can have a dramatic effect inside your home, too?
One overlooked method to transform the appearance of your home from the inside out is to use faux stone column wraps. You might be surprised to learn just how versatile they can be, and how many ways they can change the look of your home.
Faux stone columns are made from polyurethane, which is a non-toxic, eco-friendly alternative to other products. Because it’s made without formaldehyde or other toxic chemicals, it does not have problems with off-gassing, which is a concern in many of the building products now being manufactured.
This means that your new columns will be safe from the moment they’re installed, and since we use water-based stains, there’s never any concern about toxicity.
Many homeowners love using faux stone because it has the look, feel and elegant appeal of natural stone without some of the disadvantages.
Why Use Faux Stone Columns?
There are numerous advantages to using faux stone column wraps instead of real stone in the interior of your home. Let’s look at five reasons you might want to use faux stone columns.
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Affordable
Real stone can quickly run up your home renovation bill, as the price typically ranges from $7 to $19 per square foot. Faux stone costs just a fraction of that, and since it also is much lighter, the cost to get it from the retailer to your home is going to be lower as well.
In other words, you can do a lot more for a lot less when you choose faux stone. And the purchase price is just the beginning of your savings.
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Lightweight
Natural stone is extremely heavy, which not only makes it more difficult to install, but it also can affect the structure of your home. If you want to use real stone, you may need to add reinforcement to the floor to ensure that it can support the weight of the columns — and that’s not just messy and time-consuming, but costly as well.
With faux stone columns, weight is not an issue. The lightweight columns can easily be handled by one person and installed without adding stress to your floor or foundation.
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Easy to Install
Natural stone is much too difficult for the average do-it-yourselfer to install. Unless you already have a certain level of masonry skills, you’re going to have to call in experts to install stone columns for you, since they’ll have the tools and expertise needed to handle a job like this.
That, of course, means the added expense of having to contract out the labor. On the other hand, faux stone is easy for the average DIY-er to install themselves, and you can cut it with a conventional hand saw.
Faux stone column wraps, for example, have four interlocking pieces that fit together easily to help you create your new look.
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Low Maintenance
Faux stone columns are extremely easy to maintain. While different types of stone require specific methods of maintenance, polyurethane stone columns are extremely easy to care for and won’t require things like sanding, bleaching or other processes required to take care of stains that appear on natural stone.
And, if your faux stone columns are somehow damaged, it is much easier and more cost-effective to replace the damaged portion than it is to replace natural stone pieces.
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Looks Like the Real Thing
Faux stone has come a long way in recent years, and today it’s almost impossible to distinguish between real stone and polyurethane stone columns.
Because our polyurethane stone is made in molds created from real stone, every detail looks completely natural and has the same texture that you’ll find in real stone. And, unlike real stone, polyurethane faux stone is resistant to fading, chipping and cracking.
Where to Use Faux Stone Columns Inside Your Home
Faux stone columns can look right at home in a number of different environments. Our column wraps, which go around existing support, are an ideal way to dress up a basement that has pole supports throughout.
They create an entirely new look for your basement, and adding a complementing or coordinating faux stone wall made from polyurethane faux stone panels will help pull the look of your basement together.
If you’re renovating your home and want to add columns as a design feature, you can use either column wraps or a faux stone column sleeve. Column sleeves slip over an existing pole or beam, so they could be installed as part of a larger home renovation project.
Whether you use a polyurethane stone column wrap or a faux stone column sleeve, you can enjoy the many advantages of having a low-cost, low-maintenance but highly visual new addition to whatever room you choose.
Taking Faux Stone Columns Outside
Once you see what faux stone columns can do for the interior of your home, you might want to try dressing up some other features around your house. Faux stone is an affordable and simple way to immediately dress up your home’s exterior, and one of the most popular ways to do that is to add faux stone columns to your porch.
But you also can carry out the design that you’ve used for your front porch to create a clean, seamless look for the rest of the home’s exterior.
For example, in addition to creating a stunning look for your front porch, faux stone columns are a terrific way to turn a plain mailbox on a wooden post from an eyesore into an eye-catching addition.
You can transform the look of your exterior and make the mailbox an attractive visual accent that complements the faux stone used elsewhere outside your home.
Whether you want to wrap a post with faux stone or create a faux stone surround that encases your mailbox, there are several ways to dress it up. (It’s also the perfect solution for replacing an existing brick post or enclosure that has seen better days.)
And, if you want to deck out your back deck, faux stone columns are a great way to do it. They’re lightweight enough to not harm the integrity of your existing deck, but can be combined with iron or wooden rails to give the entire deck a more finished, sophisticated look. If you’re renovating the back deck, consider incorporating faux columns into the new design, since they can provide an extra upgrade to add style at a minimal cost.
They’re also a great addition for a back patio or side porch. Whether you’re adding new columns to give your home an updated look, or want to improve the look of existing columns or porch supports, the right faux stone elements will immediately give your back patio or side porch a makeover. (See our photo gallery for examples.)
There’s really no limit to the ways you can incorporate faux stone columns into your home design, and with so many styles available, you can find virtually any look you’d like. Whether you want to reinvent your home’s interior or spruce up the exterior, there are plenty of options to help you give it a brand new look.