Split face mosaic or ledger panel: what is the difference?
Updated
The two names are used as if they meant the same thing, and in a price list they often sit on the same line. They describe different things: split face is how the stone's surface is made, and a ledger panel is one way of putting split face stone on a wall.
Split face is a surface
A split face stone is broken rather than cut, so its face is the rough, natural surface of the break. A guillotine splits the stone along its grain, and no two faces are the same. Split face can be sold as loose strips, as mosaic sheets, or bonded into panels.
Ledger panel is a format
A ledger panel is a group of split face strips bonded together into one staggered unit, typically 6 × 24 inches. The installer fixes one panel at a time, and the staggered ends hide the joint between panels. It is the fastest way to put up a stacked stone wall, and the most predictable to quote, because every panel covers the same area.
Loose split face strips
Loose strips come in a fixed width and thickness — ours are 2.1 cm thick in widths of 10, 7.5 and 5 cm — and random lengths. The installer builds the pattern stone by stone. It takes longer than panels, but there is no repeat, and on a large facade or a long wall that is the difference between a wall that looks built and one that looks tiled.
Tumbled
Tumbled stone is cut to size and then rolled in a drum with grit and water until the edges round off and the face softens. It looks old rather than broken, and it is used where a smoother wall is wanted: kitchen backsplashes, bathrooms, rustic interiors.
Which to choose
Choose ledger panels for speed and a predictable result, especially on feature walls, fireplaces and columns. Choose loose split face for large or exterior walls where repetition would show, and where the installer has the time to lay it. Choose tumbled for a softer surface close to the eye.
