Customers often ask the difference between dry or vibrant tamped cast stone and wet cast stone. Both products have their place in design and construction.
Wet cast product is better when a structural product is needed and where much bigger pieces need to span large openings. On the other hand, dry or vibrant cast stone panels generally have finish similar to limestone; they look more like a natural products enhancing the beauty of the building.
Generally dry cast is going to replicate a carved stone where wet cast is going to look like a molded product that does not show detail as well as the dry cast piece. The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame project is a great example of a project where the architectural requirement was to show great curving detail in the interior walls. Dry-cast stone was chosen for the project over wet cast to achieve a refined, detailed look.
The dry cast product is actually hand-tamped into the mold offering the ability of the production artist to make sure that product follows all of the detail of the mold. The wet cast method does not allow for the additional care in finishing. When a natural looking product with great detail is needed, the dry-tamp choice is often the better method.
See in this video tutorial the dry or vibrant-tamp cast stone manufacturing process:
