The Portland limestone is a fairly popular white/greyish coloured limestone from the UK. It has been used for years on a diversity of public building, private projects and much more throughout the UK and in other parts of the world. Here’s an extensive analysis on what are the best alternatives.

Finding a proper substitute for the Portland limestone might not be a clear option, since this natural stone presents some limitations, particularly in terms of price and availability. Which raises the question: which are the best alternatives to the Portland limestone? We present you here our findings:

Moleanos Classic

The Moleanos Classic is a beige coloured limestone, presenting medium grain and some occasional signs of fossils. This is one of the most popular limestones from Portugal, with an incredible demand all over the world.

The Moleanos Classic accepts well a good range of finishings, but the ones we most recommend are  the polished, honed and bush-hammered.

The Moleanos Classic is a preferential limestone for interior and exterior flooring applications, as well as cladding and some masonry. This limestone is one of the best options for outdoor applications such as garden flooring, wall and related applications.

Moca Creme

Beige coloured limestone, with medium grain and an uniform parallel vein. The Moca Creme Classic is the most common type of Moca Creme, with a great quality – price relation. This is a limestone from Portugal.

The Moca Creme is considered the ex-libris of Portuguese beige coloured limestones, with large demand worldwide. It accepts well several types of finishings, including the polished, honed, bush-hammered or split.

The Moca crème is a preferential limestone to be used on cladding projects. It is also common to find this limestone on wall coverings and some masonry.

Capri

The Capri is a white coloured limestone, with fine to medium grain and uniform background. It presents disperse small spots with a darker brown colour.  This is a well-known white coloured limestone from Spain.

The Capri accepts well certain types of finishings. The ones we most recommend are definitely the polished finishing that highlights its white colour and thin grain, but also the honed and bush-hammered.

This is a preferential limestone to be used on cladding projects, but also on masonry, cut-to-size and diverse stonework. It can also be found on flooring with moderate use.

Jura Beige

Beige coloured limestone, with medium grain and with strong signs of fossils with darker colour. The Jura Beige is a reference beige coloured limestone from Germany, with considerable hardness.

Due to its considerable hardness, the Jura accepts well a good variety of finishings. The most common ones are polished, honed, sandblasted or brushed.

This limestone is mostly recommended for flooring, coverings and some decoration. It is also commonly used on some exterior applications, such as garden flooring, coverings, pool borders and more.

Cabeca Veada

The Cabeca Veada is a light beige coloured limestone, with uniform background and medium hardness. It presents a brown coloured grain, whose main variations can go from thin to medium. The Cabeca Veada is probably the best choice price/quality for a light beige limestone.

This is considered by many as the most important alternative to the Moleanos limestone, due to its similar appearance and medium hardness. It accepts well certain types of finishings. The ones we most recommend are the polished, honed, sandblasted and light bush-hammered.

It is mostly used on interior flooring with moderate use, diverse stonework and masonry, as well as coverings and cladding. This is an ideal limestone for interior applications.

For complete information about these limestones, please check the following sources:

– Jurabeigelimestone.com
– Cabecaveada.com
– Caprilimestone.com
– Mocacream.com
– Moleanos.com
– Globalstoneportal.com
– Globalstonesupplier.com