CastCotta FAQs

CastCotta is not pre-cast concrete, Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete, Fiberglass Reinforced Panel, fired clay, Resin based, or cast-in-place. Like Terracotta, CastCotta is not structural, but rather self-supporting.

There are many factors to choose from:
Time advantage:
Time is money. CastCotta is currently being produced at a 6-8 week lead time for the first lot of production. Lead time begins upon color match, shop drawing approval and mold production. The first lot of production is defined in each order, typically the first 1-2 crates of pieces. This allows your site crew to begin work quickly, reducing wait times and increasing project flow.

Color texture match:
CastCotta prides itself on texture replication down to 1/64” deviation from the surface, allowing a virtually identical texture replication for each piece. Every project is custom color matched using Edison Coatings state of the art color matching program. Edison Coatings allow even the most sophisticated terracotta glazes to be replicated consistently utilizing Aquaspex and Aquathane gloss coatings.

Scientific advantage:
CastCotta is a polymer modified, cement-based product. It has a 6,500 PSI compressive strength. It does not shrink during casting. CastCotta is vapor permeable, allowing for faster drying cycles. CastCotta has a much lower water absorption rate than traditional terracotta and pre-cast concrete. Additionally, it is 125lbs per cu. Ft. making it lighter weight than traditional terracotta, pre-cast concrete, and Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete. CastCotta can be cleaned and maintained in place using Edison Coatings products. It has no metal rebar reinforcement which eliminates long term corrosion problems.

Engineering advantage:
CastCotta is a form and function replacement for terracotta. Due to its lower weight than existing terracotta, it can be re-installed using the existing anchorage design with existing or replacement anchorage. This reduces the load on your building and eliminates costly additions of reinforcements. Pieces can be re-formed to help aid in difficult anchorage installation and we encourage collaboration between engineer, installer, and manufacturer from the start. CastCotta and its manufacturers do not engineer, specify, or detail anchorage for installation. For anchors and anchoring systems, visit ConSpec Associates.

Traditional “Crate and Ship”; The contractor extracts the pieces from the building, ensuring they are intact. They are carefully packed and sent to the manufacturing facility. Once received and approved, the manufacturer will repair any spalls, cracks, or imperfections to develop a piece matching the approved shop drawings.

To ask questions, visit our contact us and someone will follow up with you within 1-2 business days.

To request pricing, visit our request a quote page. Keep in mind, the more information you provide, the more specific your pricing will be. Please fill out each form carefully. Provide as much detail as possible. Be sure to include your bid form, project manual, and architectural drawings. Pictures of pieces and dimensions are extremely helpful!

Once the request a quote is submitted, the manufacturer will contact you for further questions.

Yes. A minimum of 30 days’ notice for bidding documents is preferred. It is essential to provide Works in Stone all bidding documents as soon as they are available. Please upload them through the request a quote page or provide a link to download as soon as the documents and photos are ready for the bid process. If Works in Stone is not provided the proper documentation to provide CastCotta pricing, a buildup of requests days before the bid is due will create a cascading delay of bids being delivered on time. We encourage communication with CastCotta as early as possible throughout the project planning and bidding phases.

CastCotta is suitable for ANY size project. The quick production time allows for small runs through very large façade replacements. CastCotta manufacturers are equipped with professional admin staff to handle large, complicated, multi-phase projects.

Yes, please see our documentation page here.

CastCotta has been accepted on Landmark buildings but as always, is subject to the review by the local authority. Our pieces have been successfully installed at the following landmarked buildings:
1175 Park Ave. New York, NY
-Constructed 1924-1925, Designed by Emery Roth
59 Wooster St. New York, NY
-Constructed 1890-1891, Designed by Alfred Zucker

CastCotta offers two types of samples. Reference samples can be sent upon request at any time here. Reference samples feature non-specific coatings.

Custom color match samples are available through Works in Stone. Fill out our request a quote page to initiate an order. Two similar fragments from your building must be sent per color texture match. Each custom sample needed will require a separate color texture match. Typical custom color texture match is performed in 20 business days. Custom color matching costs are typically removed from your final CastCotta order.

Each manufacturer of CastCotta provides one shop drawing per mold and it is included in the price of the units. Additional modifications can be provided based on the availability of the manufacturer. Typically, shop drawings are completed within 4 weeks of receipt of pieces. Shop drawings include but are not limited to, quantity, mold quantity, weight, contractor name, project address, date, and mold name. Shop drawings do not feature anchorage or structural details.

CastCotta units are coated at the factory. If any non-Edison coatings are applied in the field to CastCotta pieces, they no longer are CastCotta units. The warranty is immediately null and void. CastCotta pieces are coated within optimal bonding conditions at the manufacturer. CastCotta properties are compromised when non-compatible products are applied, negating its unique permeability properties.

Limited warranties are provided by the manufacturer. 5 year replacement warranty limited to replacement of units delivered to site. Warranty does not include costs related to installation, staging, scaffolding, removal of existing pieces, coating surrounding pieces, etc.

Unlike terracotta, CastCotta can be repaired. Should a CastCotta unit be damaged before or after installation, repairs can be made simply on site by your installation contractor (see Edison Coatings instructions) By using additional materials provided by CastCotta manufacturers, or Edison Coatings directly. At the time of final shipment, a touch up kit can be requested from the manufacturer. Color matching regarding repair is unique to each project and special instructions from the manufacturer are needed to replicate advanced finishes.

Please watch our product release video to understand the long history and track record behind CastCotta.

CastCotta from Michael Edison on Vimeo.

Response by Michael P. Edison, President, Edison Coatings Sep. 2022:

“In terms of history, as the video illustrates, the underlying material (Custom System 45) has a 40+ year track record for successful esthetic and functional performance. We aren't claiming that it is terra cotta, just that it's the best choice for a substitute material. The coatings used for glaze replication have nearly as long a track record: 37 years for Elastowall 351, 32 years for Aquathane UA210. I've been told that somewhere in the range of 80% of all terra cotta replacements are performed using substitute materials, and this occurs for a variety of reasons, most prominently problematic logistics and lead times for new terra cotta. We have been made aware of a number of projects where replacement terra cotta units have been taking 16 months or more to be received, in spite of manufacturers' initial representations that it would be much faster. In addition, when production colors do not match the approved samples, or when additional pieces are discovered during construction that require replacement, ordering new units can set the project timeline back by another year or more. CastCotta finish colors are much easier to control, are digitally corrected to maintain extremely close color match at the factory before being applied to the cast units, and can be supplemented with additional units, if needed, within weeks.
From a performance viewpoint, one advantage of CastCotta over terra cotta is unit moisture vapor permeability. Existing terra cotta assemblies often contain large quantities of water that can take years to diminish, and glazes on new units are vapor impermeable, which can delay any drying of the building envelope. CastCotta will not be adversely affected by residual moisture and will allow the building to reach a drier state much more quickly.”

The example project of the California State Library is a good illustration of how color variations in the original terra cotta are much more readily replicated using our systems. In that project, 4 different background glaze colors and 4 different speckle topcoats were created, allowing production of very closely matching repairs. For replacement (CastCotta) units, we can readily produce finishes of varied colors to correspond with the colors found in the existing materials at various locations.
In some cases, like the Ritz Carlton Hotel project, 3 shades of off-white glaze were produced, and their use was randomized to avoid creating large, contiguous runs of replacement glaze of exactly the same color; the randomization made it much less obvious where the original materials ended and the new materials began. At the Conservatory of Music in San Francisco, a very skilled contractor was able to off-tint final finishes to create 32 very subtle shades of light off-whites in a range from slightly pink to blue to purple, and the result was completely indistinguishable finishes compared to original terra cotta.

At present, we recommend use of both Elastowall 351 (dead flat finish) and Aquathane UA210 (luster) for matching the range of samples provided to us.

The comment with regard to AquaSpex 220 is inaccurate, as we don't expect lower durability, the product has simply not been in use for as long as the other coatings. We expect performance to be the same as for the Aquathane UA210, which shares the same binder chemistry.

All of the coatings are designed for maximum stability and durability. Although regular inspections are recommended, as any sort of evident distress may tend to be an indication of an unresolved underlying condition, no maintenance is otherwise anticipated for at least 15-20 years. All coatings are easily touched up or re-applied without necessitating removal of residual coatings.

Our experience with Elastowall in urban environments is that cleaning may become desirable after something on the order of 20-25 years in an urban setting. This can be achieved with low pressure water and Edison Coatings E-WASH 30 non-ionic building wash product. Aquathane tends not to need maintenance, but can also be cleaned with E-WASH 30. In some cases, where there is high wind and dust, some localized erosion may occur and these areas can be easily touched up.

On street-level applications there tends to be exposure to scuffing or rubbing as people brush up or lean against coated areas. We should attempt to use Aquathane in these areas due to its greater toughness and chemical resistance to salt water.