Go with the veneer. I've seen a few installs and, unless you have a chipped veneer, only a stone mason can tell the difference. Of course, the skill of the installer will affect any job's appearance. I have future plans to veneer a kitchen area so I don't have any lessons learned to pass on.

FYI, Eldorado is a manufactured veneer stone. There are also dealers offering real stone which has been sliced to veneer thickness. I believe real veneer stone is heavier than manufactured veneer but still does not need a reinforced foundation.

"only a stone mason can tell the difference."

Not true, assuming you mean tell the difference between man-made 'stone' and natural stone. That's not hard at all once you know how. There's a depth and range of coloration found in natural stone that you just don't get in the man-made stuff.

We have Corning's Cultured Stone on our fireplace, and if we had a do-over, we'd only go natural stone veneer. In fact, we're considering a do-over...

Thank you both for your input. The concern with the weight of real stone comes from the fact that the fireplace is over a basement, so reinforcement would definitely be necessary (we may reinforce it anyway).

Both the Eldorado Stone and the Rocky Mountain Stone are manufactured veneers. I'm a little concerned about the look, as we definitely want something that looks realistic. Sweeby, I don't want to be in your place and contemplating a re-do! Hope that works out for you, BTW.

Can anyone recommend a company that makes the real stone veneer? Or has anyone had a good experience with a manufactured stone veneer that they would recommend?

Thanks for all input.

I considered using Stone Venner on my fireplace at one point, I ended up going with faux veneer instead after i had found this page about using faux stone veneer on fireplaces. I decided that it would be a lot less work, and it would be much lighter on my wallet :). i got the veneer from FauxPanels.com

Here is the link. remember if you want to see what it's like you can order a sample if you click the "sample" button at the top of the page

www.fauxpanels.com/fireplaces.php

Here is a link that might be useful: Faux Panels

Dh and I have used El Dorado stone for the front of our house and Cornings' Cutltured Stone for our fireplace. We are very happy with both but I don't think that expecting them to look like genuine rock is realistic. I think the choices you show look beautiful and I'm sure that it is likely what you would get. The stone veneers have come a long way from when they were first on the market. You can just about get any 'look' you want. Our 2 sons worked for a brick mason for several years until they went on to pursue other careers. They still do 'side jobs' and love working with the stone veneers. They did all of our stone work and said most of the companies make good products nowdays. It is nice to see the product first hand but both your choices look great to me :) This is the El Dorado stone used on the front of our house.

Here is a link that might be useful: El Dorado stone

I haven't been over here in a while and missed this thread earlier. I have to chime in and say that I love our El Dorado.

We used the Owens-Corning on our fireplace (stacked stone). It was the best money spent

Thanks so much for the input. Everyone's stonework looks great! I wish I could say that ours is complete, but it is this weekend's project. :)

An update on what we chose. I decided I just couldn't order stone without seeing it in person first, so we traveled to a dealer that carried Owens-Corning. They also carry a brand called Natural Stone Veneers International, which is a real stone veneer. Seeing the two displays side by side sealed the deal for us. Although the Cultured Stone was very nice, and would be great for the exterior of the house, it wasn't what I wanted to see on our fireplace for the next 50 years. As Sweeby said, there's a depth and range of color in the natural stone that just can't be replicated. So we decided to go with the natural stone.

Here's the stone we chose. I'm really hoping it isn't too difficult to install. I guess we'll find out this weekend!

Here is a link that might be useful: Natural Stone Veneer

I'm sorry I'm late to this thread but glad you made a decision, I can't wait to see pictures.

For what it's worth, I was just going to say that I know a lot of people that have used Rocky Mountain Stone for their interiors and exteriors and I LOVE it! That is what we are planning to use for our woodstove surround.

Great choice Alicia!
You won't regret going with natural stone --

Good decision! I thought, too, that manufactured stone looked real, until I started looking a little closer. Outside a local bookstore they have faux stone and I thought it was real, and what I wanted. I looked closer when it got time to choose stone and could tell the pattern right way lacked depth. I went to my stone people and they recommended the Natural Stone Veneer (NSVI) to us as well. I love the look of our fireplaces and front porch posts done in it. Its called Canyon Creek. I will post below the brochure showing it and also some pictures (taken with my cell phone, so not the greatest). We're not in our house yet, but everyone that I've taken to see it loves the stonework. I'm so glad we went with real. The color in the pics is a little washed out. Partly because of the cell phone camera and partly because of all the lights on. I have to adjust my track lighting shining on the fireplace - it was just installed. I'll take some more pics with a regular camera. The color is more like the book, I'd say.

Picture from NSVI book:

My fireplace

We used EP Henry Mesa Verde ledgestone veneer for our fireplace. Has more browns and reds than your samples but it looks great. It is very neutral so it goes with about anything.

mamabear,

This is a very timely post. We just gave our plans to a builder last week for our first bid. We are meeting later this week to nail down material choices. I knew I wanted a veneer stone product and your photo has cemented that idea for us. I LOVE your fireplace and would love to see your exterior column photos also.

Would you mind sharing the brand of your insert? Is it gas or a true wood burning fireplace?

Thanks for posting your beautiful photos!

For anyone who does not have the option of using natural stone and needs to go with a cultured stone product, I'd highly recommend mixing a few different colors as a way to achieve a more natural look. In some of the brochure installations, you see descriptions like "75% Chardonnay Ledgestone, 25% Fox Country blend" -- Something along those lines will get you a little more color variation, which is one of the signatures of natural stone.

Hello all. Beautiful stonework! How did the project go alicia58801? I hope it went well. Homeagain, hope your meeting went well. I remember that phase. I am posting some pics of our yet unfinished front porch posts. I will get some pics of the downstairs fireplace tonight when I am up at the house. Same stone, just a little different look, as its shorter. Basically its right below the main level fireplace. The front porch posts will be finished off with 12 x 12 cedar posts to match the shake. The tops of the posts (and the hearth on the fireplace) are limestone. I have had several comments that the stone colors match nicely the color of the composite decking. I had been so focused on the stone that I didn't notice...Funny how tunnel visioned one can get when looking at a certain design or build phase. Good luck everyone!

Mamabear, that is one gorgeous house! The stone on the fireplace and columns is fantastic! We saw the NSVI Canyon Creek on the display and really liked it as well.

Our weekend project of putting stone on the fireplace went well, but slowly. We ended up only getting above the mantel supports. The ledgestone takes quite awhile to put up, as we had to search for each individual piece to fit just right. I kind of wish we would've chosen a larger stone pattern, like the Canyon Creek. I love the look of the Hudson Ledgestone, and the colors and variations in it are amazing, but it is really labor intensive to put up!

Here are a couple of photos.

Thank you so much Alicia! You're very kind. We are pleased with how our home is turning out. I love, love, love the Ledgestone! Aren't you happy you went that route? The colors are gorgeous! The stonework really makes your wallcolor pop. I really like, too, the look of your hearth with the Ledgestone. Yes, it's slow work, but so worth the beautiful result you're getting. Congrats on a beautiful fireplace! It's kind of like a million piece jigsaw puzzle isn't it? But, no one else will have the exact same fireplace stone design as you. Real stone is about as custom as it gets.

Thank you, Mamabear, for the kind words! Yes, I DO love the way the stone looks, and the colors are even more gorgeous in person. There is a sparkle to the stones and rich deep colors that just don't come across in photos. But WOW, it is A LOT of work! You are right though, it will be nice to have a truly one-of-a-kind fireplace. And thank you for complimenting the wall color and the hearthstones - both areas I was a little concerned about before I saw everything come together!

Despite the work, it will be completely worth it in the long run. I would encourage anyone who's looking for a stone veneer to look at some real stone. For us it amounted to a few hundred more dollars, and we all know that budget gets tight when building, but I think it will be some of the best spent money in our home. It will take me a very long time to get tired of looking at those stones.