Indiana Limestone –
America’s Original Building Stone

Table of Contents

• Why Indiana Limestone?
• Design your outdoor living spaces with Indiana Limestone
• Bring the outdoors in
• Indiana Limestone varieties and local quarries
• Architectural applications where Indiana Limestone is used
• How to install natural stone landscape elements
• Frequently Asked Questions
• What makes Indiana Limestone a sustainable building material
• How to care for and maintain Indiana Limestone

A Place For Family and Friends

An outdoor living space should be an oasis – an escape from the grind of the real world made simple by walking into your backyard. Shouldn’t the material you use for your masterpiece make a statement? Natural stone will add a touch of reverent beauty to any landscaping dream you have. And there are few materials better suited for bringing your vision to life than Indiana Limestone. It’s made by the earth and for the earth, right here on American soil. It’s made for your enjoyment and to connect you with the natural surroundings you create in your outdoor living spaces.

A modern home design can both fit in yet also stand out when reinterpreting Indiana Limestone detailing. Veneer slabs clad the exterior walls and base of the house, tying it into the local vernacular.  

With full river views from every room, architect Phil Kean created multiple balconies in this southern home for private relaxing and several different patio areas using Indiana Limestone – Full Color Blend™. Kean created this double-sided fireplace feature, clad in Berkshire™ thin veneer as an anchor piece.

“I wanted to create a very vertical element against the very horizontal lines of the house,” says Kean. “With Indiana limestone, you can dress it up or dress it down. Depending on how you finish it, it can be rustic or it can be classically tailored.” 

Pattern pavers, Rockford Estate Blend™ thin veneer and slab countertops all cut from Indiana Limestone – Full Color Blend™

The National Association of Realtors claims an outdoor kitchen project will recoup 71% of the initial investment. To guarantee the best ROI include features like an inset grill, stainless steel drawers, ice chest, and stone countertops.

Own A Piece of History in Your Own Backyard

Natural stone simply adds a timeless, and authentic, elegance to projects that can stand up to fads and resist looking dated after a few years when new trends come and go (we’re looking at you, terracotta and Saltillo tiles). And because of its timelessness and durability, the value of Indiana Limestone far outweighs man-made materials — engineered products just can’t compete, like concrete pavers for example.

Polycor stones have been used in the construction of iconic architecture and monuments worldwide, including some of the most admired American buildings like the Empire State Building, clad in Indiana Limestone. Engineered materials simply lack that historical connection and authenticity.

Unlike man-made products that degrade and fade over time quarried stone can handle whatever mother nature throws its way (because it is mother nature). Free of added chemicals and dyes, what you see in Indiana Limestone is what was created by father time, geologic forces and millions of years of perfection.  

National Cathedral, Washington, D.C. is built with solid blocks of Indiana Limestone and is entirely self-supporting. It requires no interior structural framework thanks to the strength and density of Indiana Limestone.

Check out more historic projects where Polycor Natural Stones have been used

According to industry reports, homeowners desire to include unique elements in their home designs and buy-up on authentic materials to make a statement, rather than settling for standard building grade materials. Because natural Indiana Limestone veneers, stone pavers and hardscape products are 100% natural stone, most buyers seeking this aesthetic prefer it over manmade materials, particularly if they are investing in the home long term. 

While natural stone intrinsically meets the same needs indoors and out, other materials need to work harder to create the comfort and style homeowners crave in both locations. And people are looking for more updated and upgraded materials that bridge the divide between their homes and their backyard, porch, or patio.

I think that is a tremendous advantage for a product like natural stone. If you’re already using it for your patio and siding on your home, why not use it inside? That blend, that continuity of product makes so much sense when you’re trying to blur the line between the inside and outside, to use the same material across both. And only a natural product can truly bring that seamless connection with nature.

Natural. Touchable. Timeless. Indiana Limestone is known for its durability, texture and aesthetic appeal in commercial, institutional and residential projects. 

Indiana Limestone is already made for us and doesn’t require any additions of colorants, chemicals or additives to make it what it is. Simply sawing the dimensional blocks into incrementally smaller pieces to predetermined specs for the application, and smoothing their surfaces with abrasives, is all it takes to get to the finished product. It’s essentially finished for us beforehand, we just need to “reveal” its inherent nature for all to admire. 

Indiana Limestone is virtually unlimited in the miles-long deposits, with geologists estimating over 1,000 years of reserves, based on current extraction methods above and below ground. The reserves are vast, but the consistency of the stone is just as important. Whether a project is large and will require several truckloads of stone or if a building addition requires new stone to match up to old stone, the grade and color selected will remain within range. This is not true for some other natural building stones.

Indiana Limestone – Standard Buff™

Traditional buff color ranging from cream to light brown with some veining and grain movement visible in the face and fine to medium grained stone

Indiana Limestone – Standard Silver Buff™

Clean buff color with subtle silver colored veining in the foreground and fine to medium grained stone

Indiana Limestone – Rustic Buff™

Traditional buff color ranging from cream to light brown with visible veining in the face and medium to coarse grained stone

Indiana Limestone – Standard Gray™

Light to medium shades of gray with some veining and grain movement visible in the face and fine to medium grained stone

Indiana Limestone – Full Color Blend™

A natural compilation of the full range of buff to medium gray shades with the same great subtle veining

Indiana Limestone – Rustic Gray™  

A medium to large grained limestone keeping within a gray tonal range of light to medium gray shades that exhibits unique features and fossilized inclusions for a neutral, subtly veined, and rustic aesthetic.

Available in colors and grades from buffs to grays to full color blend, Polycor’s vast resources and reserves of Indiana Limestone mean options to match most every project need. We offer architects, builders, and fabricators a versatility that is unmatched by any other supplier of limestone. 

Time-Honored And Cutting-Edge Designs Call For Indiana Limestone

Iconic architecture on the streets of New York, like the Flatiron Building, are constructed with Indiana Limestone

The lobbies of New York’s most exciting new buildings and their wall cladding are dressed in Indiana Limestone, the same stone used to build New York in its Golden Age. 

Whether walking by one of these iconic buildings, or entering into one of their grand lobbies, you feel transported in time, yet still rooted in the exciting energy of present-day New York. 

That’s in large part thanks to the use of prestigious Indiana Limestone, which helped build New York landmarks such as the Empire State Building, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grand Central Station and Rockafeller Center. It’s a stone that has stood the test of time, like the iconic buildings that are shorthand for New York’s Golden Age of architecture.

Grand Central Terminal, New York, NY clad in Indiana Limestone

Despite its historical significance, architects aren’t restrained by the past. They are using Indiana Limestone on new builds in a fascinating, dynamic conversation between time-honored design and cutting-edge techniques. 

The Steinway Building in New York, NY is the world’s skinniest skyscraper at 1,420 feet high (82 stories) and a mere 100 feet wide, with a 1:23 ratio at the tallest point. Clad in Indiana Limestone.

Cladding panels in Indiana Limestone being installed on the Beckford Tower, New York, NY.

Learn more about Installing Pavers at Polycor U

Paver Patterns

Indiana Limestone is available in a wide array of paver patterns. From 3-piece slab paver patterns, to 4 piece paver patterns, there’s a large selection of sizes that can be mixed and matched together to create unlimited design option. Depending on the design intent, the paver patterns can be more modern by utilizing a limited range of large sizes, such as with these XL pavers, or a more formal appearance by using a large mix of sizes for a traditional, French Versailles pattern. 

See all Indiana Limestone Paver Patterns available from Polycor

Water management is vital when installing stone veneer on a home exterior. A drainage plane and a weep screed between the lath and waterproofing work together to serve as a vent allowing the water to drain freely behind the wall and facilitate airflow.

A drainage layer is key to getting moisture out and keeping it out — just remember to keep ‘drain on the brain’! A minimum of 3/16″ gap (3/8″ in Canada) will allow space for air to flow and vapors to hit the wall, drop down and evaporate.

Outdoor kitchens are ideal spaces to install Indiana Limestone veneer. They resist the damaging effects of the weather and freeze / thaw cycles while also maintaining their aesthetic appeal. 

Polymer-modified mortars are the preferred choice of setting material for adhered veneers. They are low in alkalis and have the strongest bonds, as well as flexibility that allow it to move as the structure moves in varying weather and climate conditions. 

See more on how to install Indiana Limestone Thin Veneer

Watch this video on How to Install Landscape Steps

Frequently Asked Questions About Indiana Limestone

What Makes Indiana Limestone a Sustainable Building Material

There are many sustainable practices that manufacturers of building materials can adopt, but there is only one building material that is inherently good for the earth and good for your health: natural stone.

Natural stone takes less water to process, doesn’t release VOCs and lasts longer than concrete, glass or quartz. And projects that use natural stone require less maintenance.

Natural stone requires no chemicals for production. In fact, “production” for natural stone means extraction, cutting and polishing. Contrast that with other building materials like cast concrete surfaces, which use a combination of crushed stone and portland cement to manufacture products, that have large carbon footprints due to the need to burn limestone to produce the cement. 

Natural stone produces minimal excess material and is highly recyclable. At Polycor excess stone is processed into gravel for roads, curbs, landscaping products, and even furniture and jewelry. At the Polycor Tate, Georgia marble quarry (a zero waste quarry) even the stone dust is recycled into powder for additives into plaster and cement to lighten its color. The natural stone extraction process has high yields and little excess material because the stone is close to surface. Different from mining, where large amounts of earth must be removed to extract, for example, coal.