US Patent 11970853 Lightweight blocks with stone-like appearance and method of manufacture

The present disclosure describes modular blocks configured to give the appearance of natural or cut stone. An aesthetic coating composition may be applied to one or more surfaces of a block having a low-density, such as an insulating concrete form (ICF), to form an modular block having the appearance of cut stone. The aesthetic coating composition includes a binder component, such as a cementitious binder made from white Portland cement, or a polymer binder such as an acrylic binder, an aggregate component, such as a limestone aggregate component, and optionally an adhesive component. The aggregate component includes a fine sand portion and a coarse sand portion that effectively enable the appearance of cut stone after finishing of the aesthetic coating surface via sanding, polishing, sandblasting, acid etching, acid finishing, or exposed aggregate finishing.