Would seem a pretty simple question right? And yes, it’s a pretty simple answer – cladding made from stone. However from the meetings I have with contractors and surveyors, I see it often gets over-complicated in designers’ minds and confused with traditional stone masonry.
Natural stone is one of the oldest materials used by man in construction. We only have to look at buildings such as the Taj Mahal completed in 1648 using white marble, or the Great Pyramid thought to have been completed in 2560BC made predominantly out of limestone to appreciate the longevity of stone as a material. (Imagine the architect specifying the Design Life for the Pyramid….)
Los métodos de construcción obviamente han cambiado desde que construyeron el Taj Mahal, y gracias a las referencias cruzadas y la creación de redes de diferentes sectores y oficios dentro de la industria de la construcción a lo largo de los años, ya no tenemos que apilar pesados bloques de piedra uno encima del otro para crear la apariencia. de una sólida construcción de piedra.
Traditional stone masonry (not something we do here at AlterEgo by the way), is loaded onto the building’s foundations and uses stones and mortar, tied back with wall-ties – think brickwork.
Por otro lado, el revestimiento de piedra moderno se cuelga de la estructura del edificio y se ensambla de manera muy similar a como lo hace un sistema de protección contra la lluvia de metal.
Verás, el revestimiento de piedra, es un revestimiento de lluvia sistema y debe ser tratado como tal.
Looking through a cross section of a typical stone cladding build-up you’ll see lots of familiar components: spreader bars, helping-hand brackets, rails and T-bars. It’s only the facing material which is interchangeable.
There are a few nuances when working with natural stone for the first time, but nothing that a day’s training and our on-site support won’t cover.
So if you’re a contractor used to installing aluminium and steel cladding or you specialize in terracotta; don’t be afraid of stone! Check out this video showing the simplicity of our EGO-02S system EGO 02s INSTALLATION BETA – YouTube
A la hora de fijar el panel de revestimiento de piedra a la estructura portante, existen dos métodos de fijación principales:
With an undercut anchor system, typically used for larger format panels, holes are pre-drilled into the back of the stone, a sleeve and bolt inserted and fixed onto a hanging clasp and horizontal system. This method is good for natural stone panels with a thickness range from 30-50mm and can be used in both stack and stretcher bond layouts, typically in a portrait layout. Undercut anchors are always used in soffit situations.
Como todas las fijaciones están en la parte posterior del panel, este método es completamente secreto, no se ven fijaciones.
The kerf method of fixing stone is where a continuous groove is cut in the top and bottom of the stone, and the stone simply sits on a rail or clasp at the bottom and restrained at the top. A kerf system works particularly well for horizontally laid panels in either stack or stretcher bond.
La velocidad y simplicidad de instalación, junto con el hecho de que los paneles se pueden instalar de forma no secuencial, hacen de este método el sistema de revestimiento de piedra más utilizado.
Ambos métodos de instalación suelen tener juntas abiertas; sin embargo, las juntas puntiagudas con un sellador no migratorio pueden dar la apariencia de un edificio de mampostería tradicional.
If you’re considering stone for your next project, please get in contact.