Cast Stone Glossary of Terms

Detailed explanation of some of the more commonly used terms in the Cast Stone Industry demystifying the jargon of Technical Terms and offering simple definitions of the wording used by our Staff.

Arris

The crisp edge where two adjacent surfaces of a cast stone unit meet.

Artificial Stone

Product normally produced with cement and aggregate to give appearance similar to Natural Stone, see Cast Stone.

Backing Mix

Concrete material normally formed from sand, gravel and grey cement which can be used for the unexposed parts of cast stone. Addstone products are normally Homogenous i.e. do no utilise a Backing Mix.

Bay Window Sill

Sill to a window projecting outwards from the wall of a building forming an alcove to a room. The most common inside angles for bay windows are 90, 135 and 150 degrees and if supported by a corbel or bracket the bay window is known as an oriel window.

Cast Stone

Any material manufactured with aggregate and a cementitious binder that is intended to resemble the appearance of, and be used in a similar way, to quarried stone. Cast stone is either homogenous or consists of a facing mix and backing mix. Often referred to as Reconstructed Stone, Precast Stone, Reconstituted, Artstone or Artificial Stone.

Coping Stones

Components used to decorate and protect the top of walls, parapets or balustrade. Traditionally designed to drive rainwater clear of surfaces beneath by way of the coping stone's overhang and drip grooves.

Decorative Head

Stone component for use above a Window Opening which is purely decorative in nature(non-loadbearing) and must be fully supported on a suitable steel lintel. Normally decorative heads have little or no reinforcement.

Drip Groove

Continuous groove (normally half round) cast into the underside of an overhanging edge of cast stone products to re-direct the path of rainwater away from the wall below.

Dry Cast

See Semi Dry Cast Stone.

Homogenous

Single continuous mix throughout the section of the component, i.e. without a different material for Backing Mix.

Jamb Block

Vertical side of a door or window frame or other type of blockwork/brickwork opening.

Pier Cap

Building component designed to protect and decrate a brick or blockwork pillar. Often referred to as Pillar Caps or Cappings, standard sizes are single brick, brick and a half and two brick.

Reconstituted Stone

Engineered product made from crushed stone bound together by cement mix, see Cast Stone.

Reconstructed Stone

See Reconstituted Stone.

Saddleback Coping

Also described as a Saddle Coping or Twice Weathered, this is a Coping Stone that slopes to either side of a central high point, i.e. resembling the pitch of a roof.

Semi Dry Cast Stone

Manufacturing process using minimal water content to create fine textured face resembling sawn natural stone.

Soffit

The underside of a cast stone element such as an arch or lintel.

Slip Cill

Cill with no Stooled Ends normally used to only fit inside the brickwork/window opening (without over-running into the brickwork or blockwork).

Stooled Cill

Cill with flat seatings, usually at both ends, that are built in to the brickwork or blockwork normally by 102.5mm (half a metric brick).

Structural Opening

When referring to a Window or Door Opening this dimension is the size of the gap in the blockwork or brickwork.
Slip Cills are fitted within this gap whilst Stooled Cills over-run into the Brickwork or Blockwork at their ends, usually by 102.5mm.
Equally Heads or Lintels will normally have 102.5mm bearing added to the Structural Opening at each end.