Limestone Window Sills

ozbourne

Hi, we are building a new house and have come to the stage of having to decide on window sills. We've decided that Limestone would look best and would like to buy Irish Limestone but have discovered that Limestone from China is almost half price. It's tempting to go with the Limestone from China but was wondering has anyone out there bought Chinese Limestone and had any problems with it? Or indeed has anyone bought Irish Limestone and had any problems. Would appreciate any feedback we need to decide ASAP!!!

BryanF

ozbourne wrote: »

It's tempting to go with the Limestone from China but was wondering has anyone out there bought Chinese Limestone and had any problems with it?

I have a problem with buying a natural product available in Ireland from China but perhaps that's not the problem in this case

Eoghan Barra

Word has it that the Chinese limestone is not good quality stone.

Apparently it will change colour over time, and has natural faults running along bedding planes which will often become evident after a few years exposure to Irish weather, with cracks possibly opening up. I wasn't told this by anyone connected with the industry, but have heard it through my work, which often involves stone. (However, I don't have any connection with the stone supply industry, quarries etc.)

I would go with the Irish; it's a beautiful material, and will last many lifetimes. We used Kilkenny limestone cills and got a fairly good deal by shopping around. It's significantly cheaper if you get it finished rough - which means a sawn finish, rather than honed (i.e. lightly polished). After a few years of weathering it will pretty much look the same anyway.

ozbourne

BryanF wrote: »

I have a problem with buying a natural product available in Ireland from China but perhaps that's not the problem in this case

Just to let you know we are trying our utmost best to buy Irish as much as we can with everything in the build that's why we are in a dilemma over this. We have a lot of window sills to put in and the price difference is like I said almost double to put Irish in. At the end of the day we will probably go with the Irish Limestone I was just wondering was there any difference in the Limestone quality as the difference in price was so much.

ozbourne

Eoghan Barra wrote: »

Word has it that the Chinese limestone is not good quality stone.

Thanks for your reply. Thought there might be a difference all right.

On another note we haven't chosen a window supplier yet. We priced Bonmahon Joinery but they are 3,500euro over the next competitor which was Munster Joinery. Over the years I haven't heard much good feedback on Munster Joinery but lately heard that they have changed their game and are just as good as any. We would like to go with Bonmahon Joinery as they have an excellent reputation and I believe but paying 3,500euro more for the same windows seems ludicrous. Have you or anyone out there got first hand experience of either of these suppliers. Would greatly appreciate it thanks.

muffler

ozbourne please read the forum charter regarding the naming of businesses - Section 3 in particular.

ozbourne

Hi everyone,

We are building our new house and have to decide fairly quickly on what kind of window sills to put in. We have lulled over this for far too long now. Of course the cost is playing a big part in our decision but we want them to look good too.

Can anyone whose been through building a house please help us. We have to decide with concrete and maybe paint them, Irish Limestone or Chinese Limestone. The Chinese Limestone is working out at almost half the price of Irish Limestone and is also available straight away whereas we would have to wait 4-6 weeks for the Irish Limestone. The thing is we don't know if the Chinese Limestone would be as good quality. And what about concrete aren't they quite rough looking around the edges?

All these decisions that have to made are driving us mad as you all can imagine. But the cost and time factor is really kicking in now so we really need to decide now!!!

Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

sinnerboy

You'll hopefully be a long time in the house so never mind the delivery period. Do you want to assist our economy or the Chinese one ?
There is NO comparison between stone and concrete

AntrimGlens

You said any comments would be greatly appreciated so heres mine. If you are struggling to decide over a fairly straightforward material like stone or concrete sills you'll be demented by the time the house will be built. I discovered that during the process of a self build that there are some things need a lot of time for decision and some don't so pick the things that matter and that YOU will see and prioritise them and as the yanks say don't sweat the small stuff. I am most definitiely not advocating skimping or making hasty decisions on things that aren't visible or that are structural and the integrity of the house but you'll really need to get a move on or you'll be years building the house and the number of decisions you'll have to make will have you sickened by the end and turn your dream into something that you just want finished. Like life its about finding a balance and i'll be a year into my build on the 16th June and only then will i be ready for turning on the ufh to dry out floors.

Can you keep the builders occupied for 2 months while you wait for the sills or will they go off to another job and be difficult to get back etc - only you can answer your own question but i went with a concrete sill due to price and the quality finish on them. I did check out four other manufacturers of sills and checked their quality before i decided though.

crockholm

Go with an indigeneous limestone,the limestone will blend in the way limestone has done in this country,i.e. fantastically.

No doubt the chinese mason would be glad of the work,but seriously,the conditions they work in are inhumane,no proper dust-masks or vacuums,those poor sob's die young.

The local limestone will age much better than concrete,last longer,and it can always be referenced,should you decide to sell,thus upping the house price.

Possibly more environmentally friendly too.

Eoghan Barra

This same issue was discussed only a few days ago:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056955835

muffler

Eoghan Barra wrote: »

This same issue was discussed only a few days ago:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056955835

Indeed.

We dont need multiple threads on the same topic from the same poster. I'll merge these now.